FIRST: IF IN DOUBT, CALL YOUR VET. There are some poisons / items that are best left in the dog. Inducing vomiting could cause further damage in some cases. Most vets will tell you over the phone to induce vomiting or not. The following info all came from my vet after Ruby decided to snack on a bottle of ibuprophen.
In the case of ibuprophen it always a 'make them vomit', as the longer the pills sit in the stomach the higher the risk for gastric ulcers and/or renal damage.
If you just watched your dog gulp down a pair of underware or a rat (and you know who you are!) and you'd like them to return them to you, follow the simple steps outlined below!
1. Feed the dog a nice big bowl of food so it has some extra 'stuff' to throw up. In the case of pills this makes it more probable that that all of the pills will come up. In the case of other nasty stuff, it gives the dog more volume to help things come up easier (important when you need to get bones or plastic to come up)
2. Give them a nice big bowl of water mixed with milk or broth so that they will drink a LOT of it.
3. Use a medicine dropper - sold at any pharmacy for giving kids medicine - to give the dog 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide. Three teaspoons = 1 tablespoon. Hold the dog's mouth open and stick the dropper in their throat, then hold the dog's mouth shut to force them to swallow.
4. Back up and wait.
You MUST have 'fresh' hydrogen peroxide for this. To test your HP, put a little in your mouth, it should fizz immediately. If not go get a new bottle. The HP will fizz when it hits the dog's stomach, your dog may foam at the mouth for a bit and vomit a little. DO NOT bring your dog in after the first 'spit up'. Until they have really heaved a few times they are not done. It can take about 15 minutes. If they have not vomited in that time, give another tablespoon of HP.
One bowl of food turned into three large piles of vomit because the food expands a good deal in the stomach. If you bring the dog in too soon you WILL be sorry!!!!
Don't let the dog eat or drink for a few hours or they may vomit it up again. I let Ruby drink and vomit a few times to clear the bad taste out, so we just stayed in the yard for an hour or so.
Be prepared for lots of dirty looks from your dog.
Michelle