Sent to me, just thought I'd pass it along:

Evidently this works - personal experience of someone on the list and her
vet - if your dog eats pieces of glass, open staples, etc.
Before the holiday go to a pharmacy and buy a box of cotton balls. Be sure
that you get cotton balls not/the "cosmetic puffs" that are made from
man-made fibers. Also, buy a quart of half-and-half coffee cream and put it
in the freezer. Should your dog eat glass ornaments, defrost the
half-and-half and pour some in a bowl. Dip cotton balls into the cream and
feed them to your dog. Dogs under 10 lbs should eat 2 balls, which you have
first torn into smaller pieces. Dogs 10-50 lbs-should eat 3-5 balls, and
larger dogs should eat 5-7. You may feed larger dogs an entire cotton ball
at once. Dogs seem to really like these strange "treats' and eat them
readily. As the cotton works its way through the digestive tract it will
find all the glass pieces and wrap itself around them. Even the teeniest
shards of glass will be caught and wrapped in the cotton fibers and the
cotton will protect the intestines from damage by the glass. Your dog's
stools will be really weird for a few days and you will have to be careful
to check for fresh blood or a tarry appearance to the stool. If either of
the latter symptoms appear you should rush your dog to the vet for a checkup
but in most cases, the dogs will be just fine.

Half-and-half is not necessary - you can wet the balls and smear on
liverwurst or anything they'll devour.

FYI, with hopes that it's never needed,

Lucinda