Aug. 10—Some dogs are born great. Some achieve greatness. And then there are dogs like Wash and Maddie. The two are contenders for this year’s Hambone Award — given to the pet with the “best” hijinks that led to a trip to the vet.
Wash’s favorite thing to do is eat — everything. So, one time, as cicadas came out of the earth, the Tennessee herding dog ate them, of course, before being told not to. But it was only a pause, as the all-you-can-eat endeavor continued until it couldn’t. “He got really gassy to the point where we had to open all the windows,” not to mention he lost his appetite altogether, said his person, Chris.
As for Maddie, she started upchucking “strange objects” — a blaring health alert that appeared at the same time a preserved alligator in the family home vanished. “I showed my dad and my mom what I found, and they started putting the pieces together,” said Oscar, the bulldog’s parent. “It was the preserved alligator — or what was left of it.”
Those rascals are just two of the 10 finalists — nine dogs plus a cat — for the Hambone Award. The annual honor, presented by Nationwide pet insurance, celebrates the “unexpected, the unusual and downright outrageous events that lead to surprise veterinary visits,” the company said, but also shows how pet insurance can come in handy.
For the unfamiliar, the Hambone Award is named for a Nationwide-insured dog who got stuck in the fridge and ate an entire holiday ham. He was found with the bone, minus the meat, and a mild case of hypothermia, according to company lore.
Voting for this year’s Hambone Award takes place through Tuesday, Aug. 12, at petinsurance.com/hamboneaward. The results will come in on Aug. 19.
The tales of how all of this year’s finalists fell in to contention — including the above information about Wash and Maddie — were told by Nationwide. (Don’t fret, all the nominees made full recoveries and their owners received reimbursements for their eligible veterinary expenses, the company said.) And the other nominees are:
Bella, a Havanese from Illinois, “feasted on a beautiful bouquet” while her people were gone. “We stop back at the house, and as soon as we open the door, we see a minefield of vomit and diarrhea and leaves everywhere. Then we walk in, and we see Bella staring at us,” said her mom, Flavia. “Happy,” added dad, Igor.Boone, a golden retriever in New Jersey, was in the perfect spot to snag a piece of hot chicken that fell off an outdoor grill. “He went right for that chicken bone,” his person Amanda said. “He started choking on it immediately. Because it was, you know, a whole piece of chicken that fell off the grill.” He also got some burns.Duke, an Ohio Lab mix, lined up with other dogs to get his licks in — sampling peanut butter from a silicone spatula. “He not only licked it, but he pulled the spatula head off and swallowed it,” said his person, Jennifer, who was informed by the dog sitter: “Yes, he swallowed the whole spatula.”Foxtrot, a Great Dane in Texas, knows there’s always room for Thanksgiving leftovers. So as his person, Beth, was loading a turkey leg into the oven, Foxtrot stepped in, swiping it from her tongs. “I don’t even know where she came from,” Beth said. The bone needed to be removed — from Foxtrot.Hazel, a Dane-St. Bernard mix from New Jersey, took a shine to a small hole in the yard and started digging there one day. “Then, she went into a downward dog pose and jumped up in the air — like literally did like a 360 — and boom, bolted out into the yard,” said Nationwide member John, who realized it was a groundhog hole. Everything seemed fine until they found blood and a puncture mark on Hazel’s paw.Ozi, a California Yorkie, apparently didn’t like what was on TV, or as the pet sitter texted to her people: “‘Ozi chewed up the remote’ and she sent me a picture — he had taken off the back of the remote for the battery holder and chewed it up into like 100 pieces.” Then, they couldn’t find one of the batteries, necessitating a trip to the vet clinic.Salem, a shorthair cat from New York, was suspected of swallowing an AirPod that was nowhere to be found. Unsure if that was so, “David listened close to his feline friend: ‘I put music on loud, and I’m like, Do I hear anything? I swear I did.'” Two visits to the vet followed, and “it’s been a year now, and I still have not found it,” he said.Ziya, a California Bay Area Belgian Malinois, was out for a walk with his people when they came across a loose bull. “This bull starts snorting and stomping his feet. So, we’re like, ‘OK, we’re in a bullfight right now,'” companion Tim recounted. The couple backed away, while protective Ziya took on the beast. “Ziya misjudged it and the bull kicked him right in his upper jaw,” Tim said. Ziya lost a tooth, but earned his chops as a matador.