I have a dog safety warning I'd like to pass along from a personal
experience of only two days ago.

If you participate in the sport of paintball, or have any family
members who do, be sure to store your paint balls in a secure place.
I had to find out the hard way from Poison Control that the shells of
paint balls are made of, or with, pigskin of all things. Need I say
more? Other than the safe handling of the paintballs in the game
itself, the only health warning on the box said- "Do not ingest."
Duh. No "ingredients" or pet attraction warnings at all.

Boomerang, my one year-old German Shepherd puppy dug his way through
my son's paint ball gear to get at a box of paint balls. My sons
normally purchase a brand that comes in a relatively safe heavy
plastic lockable 'ammo can' type container, but the store was out of
those and this brand came in a simple cardboard box.

I am neither a vet nor a vet tech, so hopefully what I relate to you
that was told to me by Posion Control will be relayed accurately.
Please consult your vet for totally accurate information if you have
paint balls in your house. That said, PC told us that the paint is
not caustic, nor severely toxic in an of itself, but it draws fluids
from the system causing a large electrolyte imbalance and greatly
increases sodium level requiring the animal to be given intravenous
fluids on an emergency basis. Boomer did begin to have small seizures
as we left for the clinic.

PC also said that dogs ingesting paint balls is a faily common
occurrence. Thankfully, dogs have survived eating almost an entire
box of paint balls, which Boomer did too, and which can number up to
1000. However the condition must be treated immediately on an
emergency basis. It cannot be ignored to pass.

Something else to keep in mind. There was no visible evidence he had
eaten any except for the noticeably missing paint balls. He may have
swallowed the paint balls whole, but if he didn't, there was no paint
on the floor, in his mouth or anywhere and no smell on his breath.

As Boomer's owner, of course I take full responsibility for not
having my eye on him for even that short time as I was busy at my
desk. I also don't think anyone with a dog or puppy would leave paint
balls lying around out in the open anyway. We didn't and wouldn't
either, but I did not realize they are made of a material that would
actually attract dogs where "out of sight" isn't good enough. It's a
mistake I won't make again, that's for sure and I'm thankful to have
a second chance! Sorry if I sound defensive, but I do try to keep our
house pet safe.

Anyway, I do think this warning is well worth passing along in light
of PC's statistic that this happens fairly often. Indeed, it took
only seconds for them to give me the information as if it was fresh
in their minds.

Boomer seems back to his normal self, and should be able to go back
to work in a day or so.