Great Dane gobbles up turkey troubles

Meet Foxtrot, a beloved Great Dane pup from Texas with a taste for treats.

"My husband is retired Air Force, and so we spent many years overseas, "says Nationwide member Beth T.

Military life meant a lot of travel for this pet parent. "We had little dogs," Beth continues, "But I always wanted a bigger dog."

When Beth and her husband settled back in the States, the opportunity for Beth's large pet became an opportunity for a large family of pets! “Long story short, we now have four dogs, two cats and two horses,” Beth says. “Thankfully my husband is so patient with my obsession with animals!”

In celebration of their 21st wedding anniversary, Beth was gifted a Great Dane named Whiskey, who soon became one of her most beloved pets. When Whiskey had puppies of her own, they named each after letters in the military alphabet. Beth felt an extra special connection with one of them.

“As soon as she came out, I was like, ‘That is my puppy,’” Beth continues. “And my husband’s like, ‘Slow down, lady—you don't know!’ And I said, ‘I absolutely know. I absolutely without a doubt know.’ And she was—she was my baby.”

Now, Beth goes about her day with that baby, whom she named Foxtrot, by her side. However, in one surprising incident, Foxtrot tactically planned an ambush to secure a high-value target—and captured this Hambone Award nomination.

What happened?

Beth returned home from a Black Friday shopping trip and started heating up Thanksgiving leftovers—the delicious turkey leg. That’s when everything went wrong.

Beth was loading the turkey leg into the oven when the unexpected happened. In an instant, Foxtrot stole the leg from Beth's tongs, then swallowed it whole. “I don't even know where she came from,” Beth remembers.

Unsure of how dangerous the situation really was since Foxtrot wasn't acting weird, Beth reached out to Nationwide VetHelpline for advice. Beth is glad that she did—Foxtrot needed immediate emergency surgery to remove the bone.

Once at the veterinary hospital, the veterinarian readied her for bad news. Foxtrot would need an extensive, costly procedure. Beth remembers, “I almost felt bad for the vet, because it seemed like she was so apologetic about the cost of the treatment, for fear of my reaction—I finally had to say to her, ‘Cost doesn't matter. I have insurance.’”

Fortunately, the veterinarian retrieved the turkey leg without issue. During the surgery, Beth also opted to have the veterinarian perform a gastropexy, a preventive procedure that helps prevent a potentially dangerous condition called bloat in large dogs.

“Since she was already going to be under, we went ahead and did the gastropexy too.” Foxy made a full recovery, and the family is now more cautious about where she hangs out in the kitchen. The eligible expenses related to her emergency care and the preventive gastropexy were both covered by Nationwide.

How Nationwide helped

Beth and her husband are experienced pet parents with a long history of pet protection—more than 10 years with Nationwide, thanks to the voluntary benefits available through her husband's workplace.

Beth says, “It’s not the first time that we’ve been covered under pet insurance, but it's the best pet insurance that we've ever had.”

One member feature that stands out among the rest is Nationwide VetHelpline, which Beth relies on when her pets do something unexpected. “I'm a frequent flyer now,” Beth says. “It's like having a vet in your purse.”

“Nationwide helps me take care of my pets, because they take away all the pressure, right?” she continues. “I know that I can just focus on her and her care, and I don't have to worry about cutting corners to make sure that she's cared for—and I love that.”