Horsefeathers!

Thanks, y'all. :angel:

Cassie, izzat you?

To be honest, I'm sure the doctors are just trying to cover their ass(et)s. :wink: They probably mean well enough, but they are people, too. Even they can succumb to that "vicious Rottweiler" stereotype. Still, some municipalities are taking dog bites more seriously, just kind of lumping them into a general category without as much regard to circumstances as we would like sometimes. I once was very upset with a doctor who pretty much came right out and called me abusive toward a little boy I was fostering at the time. He was about 3 years old and we were living in a town that had been flooded. We had to be evacuated and were given vouchers for a motel room. Our room was on the second floor and you had to climb stairs to it (no elevator). It was late, we were exhausted, and I had a shoulder bag on one arm and my little boy's hand in the other. Toward the top, he missed a step and fell. I instinctively grabbed his hand that I was holding and snatched him up. He never made a sound, didn't complain at all, but the next day he couldn't move his arm. I took him to the doctor and his elbow was dislocated :-? . I told the doctor what happened and he yelled at me that you couldn't handle children that way. He took the boy into another room and was contemplating calling the police and having him removed and me hauled off. I NEVER meant to hurt that baby. It was just an instant reaction to keep him from falling to the pavement below. I felt awful enough. I was VERY angry with that doctor, but in hindsight, I can see what they're up against and believe *mutter* he meant well enough. Think of all the stories we read of child abuse (or animal abuse for that matter) where several red flags were raised, but no one got involved until it was too late. I think many people have become super sensitive to "possible" scenarios. Anyway, my whole long drawn out point is that, looking at it objectively, I can see where the doctors are coming from. WE all know that accidents like that happen. Some doctors just think a dog bite is a dog bite is a dog bite. My personal accidental dog bite story... I was playing with Perry with a toy when he lunged to grab it. I bobbed when he weaved and he grabbed my hand... HARD. Not only did he grab it, he held on and shook before he realized it was my hand. We'd been playing tug of war, only now it was my hand. He had me in such a way that I couldn't even scream. It took my breath. Boy, did that hurt. :-? I hope that X can shake this off and he and Asim can be buds again. :angel:

My job really sucks. At least today it does. It sucked last Friday, too, when a longtime client's dog finally went to The Bridge. BoBo was old, so it was coming and to be honest, I'm glad he went downhill quickly enough for a definitive "it's time" decision to be made rather than suffering on and on. Bobo was a little Yorkie that had been gracing our clinic with his presence for the last 15 or so years... long before any of us were ever there including the present vet. I will miss Bobo. Today, though... wow, my heart is breaking. Boomer is... WAS a big ol' happy happy happy lump of a Cocker Spaniel. I LOVED this dog! He came faithfully every 4 weeks for the last few years and usually came in for a bath between groom visits. I have never in my life seen a dog that enjoys grooming so much, but anything that involved paying him attention was ok with Boomer whether it was the bath, the haircut, or whatever. He would nearly fall asleep in the tub as he was bathed because it seemed to feel soooooooo good to him. He really was such a character. When Boomer first started coming to me, I never was able to groom him and send him home dry. He ALWAYS panted and hassled and drooled and carried on. I'd put fans on him, elizabethan collars padded with towels, every trick I could think of to catch the drool that would pour down his face, chest and onto his feet. His whole front end would be soaked. Then one day, a lightbulb went on (duh). Instead of addressing the DROOL, I addressed the PROBLEM. As it turned out, Boomer just had kennel anxiety. He HATED being caged. The whole problem was easily enough solved by just closing the door to my groom room and letting Boomer have free run. He'd play for a while and find a spot and go to sleep. The drooling and panting ended. Yay! We graduated that into making a bed for Boomer on the table that sits next to my work table (I usually just use that other table as a catch all for junk). I'd put a front and rear harness on him so he couldn't fall, or get down and he was happy as a clam. He'd nap on that table all day long. I have pictures of him snoozing the day away on that table with a couple of fans on him. As long as he wasn't in a cage, he was perfect and went home bone dry. Last week, Boomer's family went to bed one evening and things were normal. When they got up the next morning, Boomer was paralyzed. Xrays showed some kind of damage in his back. He lost control of everything... his back end, bladder, bowels and all. They spent a week agonizing over whether to take him to a university hospital for surgery, but it apparently was still a slim chance with whatever damage Boomer had that he would regain any function. This lady is taking care of her granddaughter, recently became in charge of caring for her elderly mother and it didn't seem feasible to be able to give Boomer the care he would need. I know she loved him unbelievably and made the best decision for him. So today, Boomer was put down. She uses another clinic as her primary vet and I drove as fast as I could and tried to catch her so I could be with them, but I missed her (she didn't know I was going to try to come). I am so upset. Boomer was like one of my own. He had to be one of my very favorite dogs ever. Man, it hurts just like losing one of my own. It just goes to show that you never really know. That's part of this job that sucks. I've lost some really good dogs unexpectedly. Hug your babies because you never really know when they won't be there. It would be so easy to second guess her, but I know this lady and I know it was not an easy decision for her, nor an easy way out. It had to have been pretty bleak. Anyway, I just wanted to vent. I'm really upset right now. I'm going to go make duplicates of the pictures I took of Boomer and buy a card tonight and send them to his mom. I think I'll enclose a copy of some of my favorite poems. I think I'm going to start saving and filing away snippets of hair that I clip from all my regular dogs. Then I think when something like this happens, I'll tie the snippet with ribbon and put it in a picture frame with one of my favorite poems. Maybe it's too hokey. I don't know right now, but I just wish I could do more than say, "I'm sorry." :cry: RIP sweet Boomer. :cry:

Terra, here is a Chi forum run by a wonderful lady named Marie. It's a Chihuahua group and is a good resource for a lot of these issues you are coming across. Marie actually continues to use the wee wee pads for her little Chi (Manny) because she lives several floors up in an apartment in Philadelphia. Anyway, I just thought you might be interested in talking to some other Chi lovers as well as us. [url]http://groups.msn.com/MyLittleManny[/url]

Paging Behle, K, and Bentley's. Yoo hoo... 8)

Did you do that flower with the chalk? That looks great!!

Kat, that kind of surprises me coming from you. You usually seem to react with more reason than emotion and it just surprises me to see you just assume the worst. I'm just going on the assumption that many things can make a dog not act its usual self and is not necessarily indicative of anything "wrong" happening. Not saying it COULDN'T have happened (again, I'm not here to defend), but it's really hard for me to lay blame when I don't know what happened. I guess that kind of thinking just scares the crap out of me because if the lady I mentioned above had sued me just because her dog was acting different and because it APPEARED bruised, I would be out of work and probably bankrupt just because someone reacted so quickly without finding out what really happened which was nothing like what she initially thought. I honestly mean no offense. I'm just surprised is all. :oops:

Good freakin' point!! :o Boy, is my face red. We don't typically do things like that all at one time where I work and I didn't even think about it. :oops:

That just made me think of something else... When I have Rocco (Doberman) in the car with me and stop at a store or anywhere else, I've seen people refuse to get out of their cars with him sitting there. What's weird is that he's just sitting there minding his business. He doesn't bark, snarl, growl, or otherwise look menacing. There is also a doggie wheelchair sitting on the seat beside him which would, to me, imply that he isn't really able to come leaping out of the car at anyone even if he wanted to. Still, I've had people flatly refuse to get out of their cars until Rocco is gone. One lady even got nasty with me because her son was afraid to get out of the car at a gas station. I don't remember now how she put it, but she said something about what if that dog got loose, or how easy it would be for him to get loose or something like that. I'm sure she did a bangup job of easing her son's fears that day by berating me about my dog sitting in my car minding his own business. However, these same people are the ones who will try to approach all 15ish lbs of Devin (Lhasa) in the car even though Devin is hitting the glass barking and growling because they think he's "cute" (funny thing about Devin is that he is plenty friendly and loves people OUT of the car, but would cheerfully sever the hand of someone reaching INTO it :oops: ). If it were me, I'd be avoiding DEVIN and approaching ROCCO. :-?

I would hope that the vet would at least be willing to take a look to see what's wrong. THAT part disturbs me. However, on the other hand... Last year, I had a lady whose white Poodle I'd been grooming for 4 years call me a week after a groom and asked me to explain some bruising on her dog's abdomen. She also said the dog had been acting funny and wouldn't come out from under the bed. That dog always had a fuller clip, but on that particular visit, the dog had to be clipped down very short because of matting (the owner was aware). I know from experience that buzzing down a dog that is used to having a lot of hair feels funny to some of them and they often will "go into hiding" just because of all that air hitting their skin and they just don't feel "right." My own dogs have done it here at home when I've taken a very full coat down short. I guess it would be similar to us if we were used to walking around very heavily clothed, but now all of a sudden we were naked. Anyway, I was quite concerned and indeed wanted to see any "injuries" I was being blamed for. It turned out that the dog just had some color change on her belly that was made more apparent after having the hair clipped away. You know those age related spots that appear as we all grow older, dogs included? The dog still has them a year later and then some and I still groom her. Fortunately, I had been grooming this dog long enough to have some credibility. All I'm saying is that perhaps there is another explanation other than bruising or trauma. It is disturbing that the vet or groomer won't even talk about it, though. Did you actually talk to the vet, or did you talk to a receptionist or tech? Most times, they won't put a vet straight on the phone, so perhaps you could arrange to talk to the vet personally. I think I would either insist on having them take a look, or find another vet who will check it out and give you an answer. If you look for another vet for a second opinion, it's often wise to find one that doesn't have a groomer, or isn't competing for business. I have seen it happen in some practices that another vet will automatically lay blame on another clinic just as bad business practice. Vets are people, too. Some great and caring and honest, and some conniving and apathetic and not so honest (we have one of those here in my town). Receptionists and techs are the same... some are wonderful and some we could do without. Heck, the same is true for groomers, or any industry. Some are better than others. I know in our own clinic, important things have come up that the vet was totally unaware of because the person answering the phone just blew it off in "handling" it. To be honest, it's exactly why I handle ALL of my own phonecalls and appointments and client comments/concerns/whatever... because some of my own clients were being blown off by the receptionist answering the phone. I'm certainly not offering excuses. Just food for thought and hope that it is something much less serious than abuse. It pains me greatly to know that abuse is sometimes a part of this industry. Sadly, I've had to personally fire another groomer I found to be abusive toward dogs, so I know it does happen. :(

:bigok:

Not really another animal, per se, but Devin is most commonly known as Devil Dawg. :oops:

[quote name='Beautiful Border Collie'] Hey horsefeathers, i have a toy poodle and my man hates being seen with him. Poor little guy. [/quote] I guess I am pretty lucky. My husband will go anywhere with the Standard Poodles and even the little Toy who is usually in his arms. The little one is a daddy's little girl and he's proud of it! He's a typical NASCAR watching, NFL fan, pickup truck drivin' feller, and he'd cheerfully kick the arse of anyone who'd give him grief about his little Poodlette. Then again, this is the same man who is absolutely gaga in love with his Bunny and understood my heartache and tears when one of my fish died last week :oops: . He got up in the middle of the night to be with me when I discovered my fish and ceremoniously flushed him away to the great beyond :cry: . Geez, I love that man! :angel: Smooshie... handbook, aye? So THAT'S where all that collective wisdom is coming from. I feel better believing that than just believing some people are so hopelessly clueless. I mean, I don't have a problem with people just not knowing better. Heck, we all gotta learn. It just really bugs me when people don't know better AND spread their "wisdom" as gospel.

Oh my... :o What an.... interesting.... dog. :drinking:

Actually, he stole... *drum roll* Advantix! You know, the flea and tick control drops. What's really funny about it is that he doesn't even have a dog! He stole it to give to his girlfriend for her dog (the girlfriend had no idea it was stolen). What's even funnier is that now the girlfriend has dumped him because he's a liar and a thief. So now Stoopit Dude has no job and no girlfriend. Hope it was worth it to ya, buddy! 8)

I am unsure as to whether the Poodle was attacked up the street away from home, or if the other dog was FROM up the street, but wandered into your yard. That would make a difference. To be honest, I could see the validity of pointing out a dog's monetary value. Hear me out before stoning me to death. Since dogs are still considered "property" and thus have no rights of their own, you really can't claim trauma, emotional stress, or any of that on the loss or injury of a dog, though it is usually extremely traumatic to lose a furry companion. However, being "property," dogs can have a monetary value attached to them. If it serves nothing else, at least it could dig into the pockets of other, more irresponsible owners and inspire them to be more responsible. So even though you couldn't effectively charge someone for the trauma they caused through their own negligence or indifference, perhaps they can be penalized by paying for a "valuable" dog (though we all know that the value of a dog is their love and companionship). In the end, it still might just be the thing to motivate someone to behave more responsibly in the future. Then again, these are just my perceptions. I have no idea how Judge Judy would rule on it. :oops: Sorry about the loss of your dog.

Most people who meet my Standard Poodles think they are the coolest dogs, especially when they realize they are REAL dogs and not just some weird ornaments. Even the biggest, burliest machomen wannabes are drawn to these dogs when they see them. What gets me is how many times I've heard this: "Yeah, them's cool dawgs, but I couldn't have one because it'd make me look GAY." Idiots. :-? I guess another stoopit thing that kind of gets on my nerves is this: "Wut kind of dawgs iz them?" :o "Standard Poodles." :D "No, seriously, wut are they?" :-? "Seriously, they're Standard Poodles." :roll: "Then you done bin scammed... Poodles don't get that big." :o I've had entirely tooooooo many dog "experts" tell me that Poodles just don't get that big.

It always smells like a bar or pub in here when we've done the peppermint thing. If her feet still "stink" of peppermint after getting wet, I wouldn't think you'd need to redo it, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you did.

Well, here's my little update. I've been using it since it was first posted here and it is working pretty good. We have regular afternoon thunderboomers and a couple of the dogs get really upset. This stuff has helped settle them without sedating them. I hope it works as well for you.

Remember Stoopit Dude... the guy at the clinic that I am sure tormented my dog? He's freakin' out of there, man! 8) The vet was virtually tapping his toe waiting for me to get to work this morning to tell me the news. Dude was lazy, shiftless, lazy, a liar, lazy. Seriously, there can not be a lazier person on the planet. I always cringed when I saw how he washed dogs (the clinic staff does their own baths... my grooming is a separate business). I could go on and on about some of the stoopit, lazy things he did, but nah. The final nail in his coffin? He was caught stealing! :B-fly: :bigok: :laola: :klacz: :ylsuper: :banan:

[quote name='Dog Lover'][img]http://www.minibite.com/passion/images2/hottitle.jpg[/img] [/quote] Intermission: DL, isn't it you who likes Nelly? If so, click on "Snot In Here." Turn speakers up. Enjoy. 8) [url]http://www.bobrivers.com/show/vault/alpha.asp?Var=S&Page=2&[/url] Ok, back on topic. Pit Bulls... hey, what a dog, aye? 8)

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0YQAYA5wf00PWpLbhXWCnAkR5hUs6yHFEBZEQsenMMq*dvDIbnGPBZb0mA41gN6T5!re8JBdqqnWZ7aPuaevdKsW8YV4!jXZz*DJ8ZZR3dB8FAPMt*mi0rupqhkooGd07hWrnI8!wE1LDoHi8u8vXQQ/smiley%20lurk.gif?dc=4675441322264543506[/img]

How dare you! :x I'm going to close this thread and pretend I never saw it. When I come back, there'd better be some pictures, lady! :o Wuz that intimidating enough? Cuz I practiced real hard. :D

Why, you were just thinking Carol would use the doggie door to enter and exit herself. Perfectly logical, I think... 8) :P