Poodle dines on lizard served two ways

Meet Rolly, a standard poodle in Florida with a taste for adventure.

“Rolly really is the most amazing dog. It’s been a beautiful nine years with him,” says Nationwide member and poodle mom Lucia M. “He’s part of our family. My first baby, if you will.”

Together, Rolly and Lucia have navigated the delights of life for nearly a decade. “When he was a pup, we were absolutely in love,” Lucia remembers. “Then, he became more of a companion for my husband and me. He was always a part of our adventures, whether we were on the boat or if we were running around. He was always on the go.”

When Lucia and her husband had children, Rolly was asked to settle down and share attention with his new human siblings. Luckily, he took on that big brother role joyfully. Lucia continues, “I was a little bit worried about that transition, but he’s been amazing from the beginning.”

Life comes in many stages, but some things never change. From puppyhood on, Lucia says Rolly has been a choosy eater, sending the family through a long trial-and-error process of finding his foodie favorites.

“He would always just be a very picky eater,” she says. “It’s something that we’ve always struggled with, even today.”

However, that pickiness does not apply in one specific instance: The wild iguanas surrounding the extended family's Florida Keys getaway, both alive and … not so much. That unusual appetite is what earned Rolly this Hambone Award nod.

What happened?

“All over South Florida, there’s a lot of iguanas. It’s just part of our life,” Lucia says. These wild iguanas are considered an invasive species and a problem in the area. And, according to Lucia, they’re everywhere. “I'll see multiple iguanas a day on the property, and Rolly has always liked chasing them.”

In most instances, these lively lizards could easily outpace their poodle pursuer. “They will jump into the water, and he would quickly forget about it,” says Lucia. Then, one time, Rolly was fast enough to catch and eat one. Worried, Lucia took him to the veterinarian for a consultation. She remembers, “The vet essentially told us that, because it was a fresh iguana, nothing bad was going to happen. He had probably eaten his best meal.”

Unfortunately, Rolly was hooked. A few months later, Rolly grabbed another iguana, but this time he made a grave mistake. “The iguana was already dead,” Lucia recalls. “So, he started getting really sick.”

Rolly was taken to the veterinarian for treatment. “They needed to essentially clean him out to make him feel better,” Lucia says. “It was not pretty.”

For now, Rolly is back to full health and wary from his experience, but the iguanas are still all over, waiting to be chased. To be safe, Lucia is keeping a close watch on her ‘guana gourmand. Lucia says, “I’m always thinking like, ‘Where's Rolly? Is he around?’ Making sure he's not getting into trouble.”

How Nationwide helped

Fortunately, cleaning out Rolly’s carrion caper did not involve difficult decisions due to cost. “I’m so grateful we have pet insurance,” Lucia says. “It's just the fact that I don't have to think about it. I don't really factor in the cost. If he needs to go to the vet, he's going to the vet.”

It’s one less thing to worry about when her beloved poodle needs care. Lucia says, “Having that insurance really gives me a lot of peace of mind. Just having the reassurance that, if something does happen, I do not have to think about it.”

She continues, “I can just go to the vet and get what he needs, so we can get back to enjoying what we like to do, which is to come down here and be together as a family and do all the crazy adventures that we want to do.”