• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Stephen M. Miller

Award-Winning, Bestselling Christian Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog Features
  • Bible
  • Contact
Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

A writer interrupted by garlic

Stephen M. Miller
Stephen M. Miller with Mosby, a black lab
LAP DOG WITH GARLIC BREATH. After a day of dealing with three dogs and a bowl of dog-toxic garlic, I settled into my basement man cave to watch TV and wait out the severe thunderstorm warning. The only dog of the three who actually ate the garlic insisted on sitting on my lap and looking into my face. I will not eat Italian for a week or more.

I HAVE AN ODD SCHEDULE these days, as I write my easy-reading Bible background books.

It has to do with grandkids and dogs.

Take Tuesday, for example. It was a three-dog night. But I was happy the dogs survived until night.

We have one dog, Buddy, a black lab. But we were dog-sitting my son’s two dogs while he was out of town. This took a little pressure off his wife who is nursing a month-old daughter. It’s tough enough to take care of a newborn baby by yourself. But it’s even tougher when you add two lively dogs to the mix – a black lab named Mosby and a Siberian Husky named Juneau.

I wrote all morning and into the afternoon that day, working in the Gospel of Luke. It was a productive morning – my best time for writing. In the mid-afternoon I had to leave for a short time to meet with my pastor at 3:15.

I left my wife sleeping because she had to work a 12-hour shift that night. She would get up at 5 o’clock and leave at 5:30 to head off to the hospital where she works as a nurse.

When I got home from the meeting at church, a little after 4 o’clock, I stepped from the garage into the kitchen. The house reeked of onions and garlic – both of which are toxic to dogs.

Before I left the house we had several large softball-size onions along with some garlic bulbs resting safely in a bowl in the kitchen on a shelf. The shelf was not high enough.

When I walked into the living room, I saw that the floor was littered with the remains of onions and garlic.

The dogs smelled funkier than normal.

I quickly picked up the onion and garlic remnants and threw them in the trash. Then I rushed upstairs to my computer to search the question “Can dogs eat onions and garlic?”

Which has an obvious answer.

Yes they can.

And did.

But is it safe?

I read with increasing horror until I got to the phrase “red blood cells explode.”

I read no more.

I woke up my nurse wife and said, “We’ve got a problem.”

She called our vet, who said if the dogs ate the onions and garlic less than one hour ago, we need to induce vomiting.

We could take all three dogs to the vet and pay the doctors $1 million. (People with pets know what I mean.)

Or we could force-feed them hydrogen peroxide.

You give them 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) per 10 pounds. These dogs range from about 40 to 60 pounds. If the dogs don’t vomit within 15 to 20 minutes, give them another dose.

We had enough hydrogen peroxide to treat a mouse.

My wife made a run to the store and came back with three bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

We took the dogs out in the backyard just as a wave of thunderstorms started to roll in. I could feel the first sprinkles began to fall, and I thought “Crap,” or something of that nature because we had to keep the dogs outside long enough for them to vomit.

One by one I held the jaws of a dog, noticing how large and sharp those teeth are, and remembering that I type on a keyboard for a living.

My wife jabbed a syringe down deep into the throat of each dog, and squirted it so hard that some of the hydrogen peroxide splashed out.

We started with Mosby because we figured she was the culprit.

She has a long and well-established history of seeking out anything that might possibly be edible. Juneau is not so picky. She eats dirt. I can confirm that now.

Mosby and Buddy both vomited within 15 minutes. Juneau did not. Juneau had to get a second dose. Then she vomited.

Neighbors were out in the backyard watching. I hope they were not videotaping.

When it came time for us to dig through the partially digested remains, like an archaeologist working in an ancient garbage dump, the neighbors decided to take their kids back inside.

Only one dog had anything inside that looked suspicious.

Mosby.

Three bulbs of garlic.

My wife left for work on time, at about 5:30.

A couple of hours later I fixed myself something to eat.

It was not Italian.

For more about the life of an easy-reading Bible reference writer

  • What writers do when the book arrives
  • Me: One writer’s to-do list
  • My most persistent battle as a Christian writer

Blog subscribers who win books this week

  • Don Evans
  • Paula Taylor

I give away free books each week to randomly selected subscribers to my free blog and quarterly newsletter.

Winners get the option of choosing my new release: A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible – among about half a dozen other titles.

Bible Gateway Blogger Grid

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Like this:

Like Loading...
View All Posts - Ordered by Most Recent First
« Previous
Next »

About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Steve Grisetti

    April 28, 2016 at 7:16 am

    Steve, your life is anything but dull! Thanks for sharing another great story.

    Reply
  2. Wayne Sacchi

    April 28, 2016 at 7:57 am

    Steve I made sauce yesterday — thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Stephen M. Miller

      April 28, 2016 at 8:38 am

      The trashcan in my garage is working like a scented candle from Sicily.

      Reply
    • Stephen M. Miller

      April 28, 2016 at 8:38 am

      Thanks Steve.

      We’ve entered a new reality. But it’s good almost all of the time.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Casual English Bible Website

Featured Book

Complete Guide to the Bible

Complete Guide to the Bible
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Christian Book Distributor
Buy from Google Play

Latest Posts

  • When our faith glitches May 5, 2025
  • Job is the right book for me now April 16, 2025
  • Q for AI: “Do most scholars say Jesus never existed?” April 3, 2025

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog Features
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Stephen M. Miller · All Rights Reserved

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Reject AllAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
%d