Ricky Bobby, a Jack Russell terrier protected by Nationwide

Every year, Stephen and Karen Fulton, host a family get-together to celebrate Christmas, and their social 3-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Ricky Bobby, wouldn’t miss it for the world. However, Ricky Bobby had a little too much fun during the family’s last holiday party after he got his paws on a bottle of spiked eggnog and suffered from alcohol poisoning.

The boozing binge took place a few days before Christmas last year. Stephen was in the process of brewing his annual spiked eggnog for the family party and had placed a large bottle of ingredients on the back patio to ferment. Ricky Bobby and his German shepherd brother, Elliot were playing in a field across the way and took notice of the bottle.

“We think Elliot must have figured out how to get it off the counter, because there’s no way Ricky Bobby could have gotten up there,” said Stephen. “We were really busy preparing for the Christmas party, so we didn’t notice anything wrong at first, but when Ricky Bobby came back inside the house, we knew something about him was off.”

Ricky Bobby stumbled into the house through the back door and wandered aimlessly around the living room. Stephen and Karen immediately tended to him, fearing that he may have suffered a serious neurological injury.

“We were really alarmed by his appearance,” said Stephen. “His steps were staggered, and he had trouble focusing. We thought that he may have had a stroke or seizure, but then we looked out back and realized what had happened.”

After a little investigating, Stephen found an empty bottle of eggnog in the grass. The family realized that Ricky Bobby had no neurological issues, but that he was in fact severely intoxicated, and took him straight to the animal emergency hospital to get checked out.

Upon arrival, the veterinarian confirmed that Ricky Bobby was indeed suffering from alcohol poisoning and treated him with intravenous fluids. Ricky Bobby stayed at the veterinary hospital overnight for treatment and precautionary watch. The next day, he was deemed okay and returned home.

“We’re just glad Ricky Bobby is okay,” said Stephen. “We’re really fortunate that we had Ricky Bobby insured with Nationwide; it helped with the costs immensely. We have pet insurance for situations just like this, because we know accidents and injuries happen, and it’s nice to know that we’ll be covered.”