The Dog Ate My Engagement Ring: One Couple’s Amazing True Story

When Jim Perrow* decided to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Amanda, he knew he wanted to do something special, something unique, romantic, but most of all, he wanted to make her laugh. He started out by visiting a jewelry store in the local mall to pick out the perfect engagement ring, but the rings there seemed boring, and he wanted something as unique as Amanda herself.

Jim found himself sneaking online late at night, reading diamond forums and researching online engagement ring retailers. Finally, he found the perfect ring—a three-stone engagement ring with a prong setting and an elegant raised profile. “I picked a more standard design than I originally imagined,” explained Jim in an email, “but it was the right choice in the end and everyone loves it.”

But now that he had the ring, Jim wanted to present it to Amanda in the most creative way possible. He headed back to the diamond forum, and read about dozens of funky marriage proposals, from hot air balloon rides to romantic picnics. Jim realized that the best proposals were the ones that came straight out of the girl’s life—the ones that showed how much her guy knew her. So he turned off the computer and started to brainstorm.

Amanda is a fun-loving but studious veterinary student who loves animals and learning about how to care for them. She spent most of her time at the veterinary school and hospital, and most of her friends were there. When she got a notice that she was being assigned to perform a surgery on a dog that had swallowed a “metal particle,” she was excited to finally be able to perform a real surgery on her own. She carefully studied the x-rays before heading into the operating room: to her surprise, the dog seemed to have swallowed an engagement ring. Amanda realized that she was going to be able to help a suffering animal and get somebody her ring back!

When she walked into the operating room, there was another surprise waiting. Instead of a dog waiting for its procedure, her boyfriend Jim sat there with a smile on his face. In his hands was a stuffed dog. Amanda was confused until Jim handed her the dog and reminded her that she was here to perform a surgery. And yes, inside that dog was a stunning three-stone engagement ring.

Jim revealed the secret behind his personal and funny proposal. “I worked with a local vet and her professor to get some x-ray images of a dog with what would look like the ring in its stomach,” he explained. “Don’t worry, we just tape the ring to a dog’s side and made it look like it was in there!” He convinced the professor to assign Amanda the fake surgery and to let him into the operating room. “It went over really really well,” Jim recalled, and the three-stone setting turned out to be the perfect engagement ring.

* Note: names have been changed to protect customer privacy.