ohmidog!

Sierra, a West Highland terrier in Colorado, had 26 cents in her stomach.

But it was the single penny that killed her.

Owner Maryann Goldstein said Sierra was always attracted to change. As a puppy, the Westie swallowed 32 cents and had to have it surgically removed. In March, Sierra got sick again, and X-rays at the vet’s office showed a quarter and penny in her stomach.

The smaller coin was the bigger concern.

Pennies minted after 1982 contain zinc, and that’s toxic to dogs and cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Rebecca Jackson, a staff veterinarian at Petplan pet insurance, told CBSNews.com that newer pennies are toxic because gastric acid from the pet’s stomach reaches the zinc center, causing it to be absorbed in the body rapidly.

She said zinc interferes with red blood cell production, and the longer the exposure, the greater likelihood red blood cells will be destroyed. Symptoms of zinc toxicity include vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, lethargy, red-colored urine or looking jaundiced.

“Be sure to bank your spare change before curious pets can get their paws on it,” warned Jackson. “and if they do, get them to the emergency vet immediately.”

Goldstein, who now wears Sierra’s ashes in a heart-shaped container on a necklace, shared her dog’s story with CBS in Denver as a warning to others.

We interrupt our regular Monday “Sleeping Dogs” feature to present some singing dogs.

For your Christmas Eve enjoyment, here are Crooning Cody and Singing Sierra, who have appeared here before, and also once made it on Anderson Cooper’s show.

They belong to Adam Yamada-Hanff, a friend of mine in Baltimore and proprietor of the website singingdogs.net.

“I have started to record a few special and unique versions of classic Christmas songs,” Adam informs me. “We are still working on a couple currently but we decided to start off with the well known classic, ‘Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer’ since that was requested via email by a fan of the singing dogs.

“While I was playing the song I started laughing, since it was just too funny not to laugh! Even after playing with Cody and Sierra for awhile it is still very hard not to laugh when they are both singing loudly together.”

Here they are performing “Oh Christmas Tree”:

Adam and  his family work with the National English Shepherd Rescue, Ltd.

As for our sleeping dogs, they’ll return next Monday.

Since we’ve shown you the musical stylings of the world famous Adam Yamada-Hanffff and his dogs, Sierra and Cody, a few times, it’s only fair we give some space to this relative newcomer to the field, some guy named Kiefer Sutherland.

Sutherland posted a video on Twitter of his dog singing along as he played guitar, along with the comment, “Even the dog can sing better than me.”

The actor, who’s now starring in the TV series, Touch, didn’t bother to mention his dog’s name in the post.

Russ Berkman considered himself  pretty lucky when he scored four passes to a practice round of the Masters in the prestigious golf tournament’s ticket lottery in August.

But he was pretty unlucky when — the evening before he and three friends were to depart — he found his dog had eaten them.

Sierra, a Swiss mountain dog, gobbled up pretty much everything but the strings.

It appeared Berkman’s once in a lifetime opportunity had vanished.

Frantic, Berkman, who lives in Seattle, called his girlfriend, who recommended he give Sierra some low-concentration hydrogen peroxide solution to induce vomiting.

Not long after that, with just hours to go before a 6 a.m. flight east, Berkman was sifting through Sierra’s vomit and trying to piece together the passes. Sierra hadn’t eaten much recently — other than the tickets — so it was “not as bad as you’d think,” Berkman said on Thursday.

Hoping the reconstructed passes would be accepted once they arrived in Augusta, Berkman didn’t tell his three friends about what the tickets had been through.

The foursome made a stop in Myrtle Beach to play some golf, and then headed for Georgia.

On Monday, Berkman called the ticket office and sent them photos of the original tickets and an e-mail verification of his purchase. He offered to present the passes that had passed through Sierra as well.

Berkman said he was hoping they would be ”gracious Southern folks” and let him and his friends attend the event.

He also shared his story with “Mitch in the Morning” on sports radio station KJR.

Two days later, Berkman and his friends picked up their graciously reprinted tickets and watched the final practice round for the Masters.

In case you missed it, here are Adam Yamada-Hanff and his singing dogs — well, one sang anyway — in their appearance Monday on Anderson Cooper’s show.

Sierra belted out “Auld Lang Syne” as Adam played saxophone and Cody, whose a little newer to the act, checked out the audience.

Here, as promised, is Adam Yamada-Hanff’s big news: He and his singing dogs, Sierra and Cody, will be on the Anderson Cooper show.

Adam tells me the segment was taped last week and is scheduled to air Monday.

They’ll be performing Auld Lang Syne, one of their earlier renditions of which is shown above.

Adam said one of the program’s producers called him last week, asking him to come on the show with both dogs. She told him she’d been searching YouTube for interesting New Year’s videos when she came across Sierra and Cody.

“We think they’re hilarious!” he quoted her as saying. “We would love to have you on the show. We just thought it would be perfect for our New Year’s special …”

Adam said they drove to New York last Wednesday for the Thursday taping. Both dogs sang during a rehearsal, as they generally do when he starts playing the saxophone. But when the crew asked him to perform it again, for a sound check, neither dog uttered a sound.

“Sierra just lay on the floor and had a look as to say, ‘We just did this!’”

Adam said he was a little nervous they might not perform when the time came, and he didn’t divulge how the final performance went.

“Watch Monday,” he said.

The show airs in Baltimore at 2 p.m on WBAL. To find when and where it airs in your part of the country, click here.

Surely, you remember Sierra and Cody.

Who better to turn to for a saxophone-accompanied Christmas Eve carol?

We met Sierra and her human, Adam Yamada-Hanff, a Baltimore area community college student, back in May of 2010, when he agreed to perform with Sierra during my “Hey, That’s My Dog!” photo exhibit at Captain Larry’s in Baltimore.

Adam later brought his other dog, Cody, in on the act, and they’ve posted several videos on YouTube.

When he’s not playing saxophone and performing with his dogs, Adam writes about automobiles for several websites, and has his own blog called Adam’s Auto Advice.

Adam’s goal is to use the dogs’ performances to raise money for animal shelters and rescue organizations.

He also has some big news to share, but we’re going to make you tune in tomorrow — and get serenaded again — to find out.

Singing Sierra is back, and just in time for Christmas.

Adam Yamada-Hanff, a Baltimore area community college student, has posted several videos on YouTube of Sierra “singing” as he plays his saxophone. This latest one also features Cody, who clearly considers himself a backkground vocalist.

We met Sierra and Adam back in May, when they — well, Adam, anyway — agreed to a quick sidewalk performance during my “Hey, That’s My Dog!” photo exhibit at Captain Larry’s, a bar and restaurant on Fort Avenue in South Baltimore.

Adam uses Sierra’s singing abilities to help raise money for animal shelters and rescue organizations.

Granted, you can find plenty of singing dogs on YouTube. Granted, not all of them appear to be enjoying their performance. And granted, not all of them are ready for American Idol.

But Sierra, shown here with her rendition of “Love Me Tender,” is a dog that “really likes to sing” — especially this particular song, according to her owner, Adam Yamada-Hanff, a 21-year-old community college student. (That’s him on saxophone.)

Besides, she’s a Baltimore dog.

There are some songs Sierra doesn’t like (“Sierra is a Doggie Diva!” Adam says). But “Love Me Tender” is one of her favorites, and Adam’s.

“The lyrics are very fitting for dogs,” he said.

Sierra is an English Shepherd, almost 2 years old. Adam is trying to figure out a way to use her singing talents to help out animal shelters and rescue groups. “A singing dog will definitely encourage some donations,” he said.

Adam grew up with a dog named Roger — that’s them to the left –  a stray that, though he died several years ago, Adam and his family still think about often.