#it basically had to go that way unfortunately. shes always been difficult with kennels and car rides and shes just a typical cat that way

[pale-cheezit]

Sooo the last year of my life has been pretty hellish. Not gonna get super into details but i lived at home with my mom and my step dad. My mom decided to divorce him. The house has been sold and i just offically moved out today. I moved in with my dad. Annnnd my step dad ended up being the one who had to take Gigi.

Gigi is gone guys. First Griffin pasaes away a little over a year ago and now i dont even have Gigi anymore ): I dont have any pets now. It hurts.

I really hope Gigi is going to be ok. She was the most attached to me, im the one that spent every day and every night with her. She practically lived in my room. It sucks so bad that i wasnt able to take her with me. Im so worried about her and im laying in bed and keep forgetting that shes not around anymore and wont be jumping in bed to bother me and try to get under my blankets

Pray for Gigi guys. There will be no more cool Gigi situations/pictures to share with you. But i do have thousands of pictures on my phone at least. I can always share those when im missing her.

[pisati]

been mentally preparing myself for today all week because I KNEW it was going to be some nonsense working with my one coworker

like I get it. you’ve been doing the vet hospital thing for 8 years. you’re tired of the same conversations on the phone. I get having MS and not getting enough sleep and being in pain but... I don’t know. I know the chronic illness struggle. you can’t say someone can do things now because they’ve done them before. other people have different pain and annoyance thresholds. I get it. I do. but I’m honestly annoyed

like. we open together. I check the emails, voicemails if we have them, deal with those appropriately, check the online portal confirmations, send out email appointment reminders, get the cash box and count it, scan whatever papers had come up front the night before, and rename the scanned files and attach them to charts. she prints out labs from the day before and preps monday’s surgery forms. I end up taking the lab list and checking each one of the fecal tests, blood tests, urinalyses, etc. from the day before (and there were a lot today) and I don’t finish before we open. once labs are done I print the follow-up lists for the doctors that are in and leave them on their desks. she just kinda.. sits there on her phone.

granted she did take a number of calls today, and she did do all the confirmation calls for monday, which surprised me. I get that I’m still relatively new and practice is good, but come on. I can’t be doing all the opening shit while you’re just doing one thing that honestly hardly takes any time. and she doesn’t even do it the way she showed me, and it’s kind of annoying when I have to check people in for surgeries and while they’re standing there I have to go digging through the pet’s labs to see if they’ve had bloodwork done recently because she didn’t put the date on the forms. surgery paperwork is literally previewing the documents that come up with the surgery case history line item, going through and changing the dates to the day of the surgery (there’s only like one date on each of the 4 pages), printing that out, highlighting the emergency phone number/medication/food fields and the procedures/services that they’re in for, looking in the chart to see if there was bloodwork done within the last 3 months, writing the date of the last bloodwork on the N/A line of the “do you authorize us to complete pre-anesthetic bloodwork?” part, then printing out a copy of the estimate we emailed to the owner (also with date changed, but there’s only one on that one). we take an index card, print 4 owner/pet labels, put an owner and pet label on the index card and write what the pet is there for on the card, plus the doctor’s initials, and then fold up the other labels and paperclip everything to the forms. that is it. it seems like a lot, but I can do surgery paperwork in like half the time she takes to do it.

on the days she brings her kitten to work, it’s kind of difficult. she keeps trying to keep him up front with us behind the desk, but he knows he can jump over the door now, and he’s known how to do that for months. even before he could jump it, he’d climb boxes and then climb over. he always makes a beeline down the hall to our last exam room. he’s done that while I was on the phone and she was in the back, and I had to try to flag her down while I was talking to someone so she could catch her damn cat before someone with a dog came in. she’ll go grab him and cradle him and bring him back up front and she’ll tell him “if you keep being naughty I’m gonna have to put you in a kennel!” and this will go on multiple times before she ever considers putting him in a kennel. today she shut him in the manager’s office so he could have room to play, because the kennels are basically big cages, and he chewed a hole in a huge bag of dog food (I think for one of the managers’ dogs). she even told me today how she and her husband have to keep the bedroom door shut at night so he stays in with them because if he’s left to himself he’ll destroy everything during the night. today I think was the first day I’ve ever seen her put him in a kennel. he may have had to go in one before, but she like.. never actually disciplines this cat. and when it’s quiet enough that she can hang out in the back, she’s carrying him around and chatting with doctors and the office manager and I’m up front, ya know, doing actual work.

I’m glad we have a work environment where we feel comfortable talking to each other and joking around and it’s not weird, but like. you have to know when you should be working. I’d like to think she does, since she’s been doing this for 8 years. but a lot of the time it seems like she just wants to pass the basic shit off. except that there’s a lot of basic shit happening. there was one day I’d just gotten off the phone with someone and had to log the details of the call, and someone came in for a surgery drop off, and she looked almost annoyed that she had to put down her next-day surgery paperwork and check them in. today I was checking someone in and getting their fecal sample form printed, trying to get those things to the back, meanwhile someone else was waiting to check out, and she was just sitting there on her phone. and I had to be like “hey, can you check on [pet], see if they’re ready to go?” like how does that look to people when there’s one person running around doing shit, you’re waiting to pay, and the other person on staff is sitting there at the computer on their phone?

I had a difficult call today. someone called about her 23yo cat who’s got health issues. probably on death’s door. cat can’t live with her because of her apartment’s rules, so cat is staying with a friend. but it’s just getting to be too much. she wanted to euthanize, so I said I’d speak to a doctor. we’d just booked up for the day, but we make time for euthanasias. but since she wasn’t a client of ours (and I’d asked what she was thinking as far as aftercare options, she replied to that with “I don’t have any money” in a tearful-sounding voice), the doctor wasn’t too keen on seeing her. we don’t like turning people down, but the cheapest euthanasia we have for non-clients is almost $400, and we’ve been burned before. people who come in, use our time and resources, and then never pay up. plus our doctors didn’t hardly have time to deal with it, so I had to be the one to call this lady back and tell her that those are our prices and if she can’t pay we just can’t do it. I did tell her that CareCredit has 6 months interest-free payments, I have it for my pets, but she said she didn’t think she’d qualify for a new credit card. they do seem to take on people that don’t think they’ll qualify for a new card, so I told her it’s worth a shot anyway. she said she just didn’t know what else to do, and I told her unfortunately she’d probably have to call around. I did a little research and looked at other clinics in the area, but they don’t quote their euthanasia prices online. the other option is going to the county animal services; my thought was, if she surrendered the cat, they’d do a health check, probably determine that she needed to be put down, and then do it there. since the cat is surrendered to the county she wouldn’t have to pay for it. but I didn’t tell her that. if she wanted to talk to the county she said she had the number. but what killed me inside was hearing “so you can’t help me?”

we don’t like to turn people away. we just talked about this in a meeting, and our head vet told me this one-on-one one day when I was getting really stressed about clients getting snippy with me; lead with “yes”. we want to do what we can for our clients, and often we do. when we have clients who have been coming to us for years, we’ll waive euthanasia charges and just charge for the aftercare, since we use another company for cremations. I did try for this lady. I wanted to tell her we could squeeze her in. but the doctors and the head receptionist weren’t keen on it, because that’s a big bill to take a gamble on, especially when someone says they don’t have money.

she said she’d called us back in october asking about it (we have a client profile specifically set up for conversations with non-clients in the event that they don’t make an account with us but still want us to follow-up on something; I didn’t see any note about a conversation like this in october). and she said someone had quoted her $30 for the exam and a waived euthanasia charge. we don’t...... do that. even our managing vet would always charge the standard $90 exam and euthanasia drug charges for new clients. she also said that her son had posted on nextdoor asking for help with this and someone had recommended us, so. I don’t know if that was back in october or just recently. she seemed pretty confused about the whole nextdoor thing herself.

alexa told me I handled it well, given the circumstances, but... ugh. I still feel bad. it’s hard when you have an old pet and you know they’re suffering but you can’t do much about it.

but that also led into a conversation about, like... don’t get pets for the novelty of it. pets are big responsibilities, and that’s not just a line you feed your kids to teach them that they have to feed the dog every day. you do have to provide food, water, toys, a bed, so on, but you also have to provide medical care. and that gets really fucking expensive. we had an owner come in with a little puppy, cost about $200 for the first exam and some vaccines and so on. she brought in another puppy maybe a week or two later, and just. fundamentally didn’t understand what was going on. the techs had apparently talked to her in the room about puppy vaccine schedules; they’re very strict, and puppies need a lot of boosters. that’s why we offer puppy wellness plans that include up to 9 vaccines, because vaccines are between $50-60 a pop. but also the timelines themselves are strict. weeks matter. this lady wanted to bring the new puppy in over a week after the vaccine’s due date because she wanted to bring both puppies in together. like, no. that’s not how this works. she was also complaining because her other puppy’s vaccine was done as a tech appointment, but we told her that this doctor requires it to be a doctor appointment (which it should be anyway), and she was annoyed about that. then I gave her the cost of this second visit, also over $200 (and a little more expensive than the other visit, because they did something different) and she goes. “wait. I was just charged $200 last time. is that preventative free? because if it’s not then I don’t want it.” we do give free first doses of heartgard and nexgard for puppies, so yes, her nexgard was free, but... fuck’s sake. you’re really going to fuss over the cost of a preventative? and tell us your puppy doesn’t need it? she also seemed baffled that we could charge her $200 two times, like, no shit. we’ve never seen this puppy. we had to charge an exam fee. the distemper vaccine is almost $60. I forget what else they did but it was enough to push the bill a little. and she just looked annoyed. like... don’t get a fucking puppy if you can’t take care of the fucking puppy. do your research. learn how many vaccines a puppy needs. prepare to have to do this on a strict timeline. know that vaccines cost money. don’t get a puppy because it’s cute and you think you have the right to own a pet. owning a pet isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. you should never take responsibility for something you can’t take care of. people just really don’t get it. and then it’s our fault, of course.

this week was just.. really stressful. easily one of the most stressful weeks I’ve had at this job. usually it’s just a day or two in a week, but this week I maybe had one not-stressful day. I had to work today and I maybe have one day off before I have to work straight through next week. at least I have next saturday off, but I’m volunteering that morning. I might be hanging out with a friend tomorrow. I’m... I was burning out a few weeks ago. it’s really hard not having two consecutive days off every week. it’s nice getting a random day off here and there, but it’s only one day’s worth of down time. I’m finding it hard to remember things. not that I wasn’t before, but it feels a little harder lately.

[azworkingdogs]

Should You Buy a Dog or Should You Adopt (Pros and Cons)

Adopting a dog is a subject that is very close to my heart.  Petfinder helps people find the right pet every day!

After all I work with dogs all day, and some of the best are adoptions.

So let’s discuss the pros and the cons of adopting a dog; and the pros and the cons of buying a puppy!

Puppies

We all love them!  And, to be honest I bought one puppy and adopted the other.

Puppies are a little bit less of a gamble when it comes to competition and integrating with other pets.

I  wanted a dog that I could compete in a very high level of protection sports with at that time in my life.

I did my research, her father was imported from Belgium and had earned a Schutzhund or IPO 3 (it was Schutzhund then).  He was also a known producer meaning his puppies were doing well in the competition world as well.  Her mother was a working police dog.

Ironically I grilled the police officer and tried to ensure that I would get a dog with an “off” switch.  Anyone who knows extreme working dogs like police or military dogs knows that sometimes they never shut off.  They are constantly moving and wanting to work.  Because I had kids in my life, I wanted a dog that could chill when she wasn’t working.

Thankfully, my hard work and questions paid off.  She was able to attain many titles including agility, protection, and dock diving as well as excelling in lure coursing.  We were even invited to compete together in AKC obedience.

Don’t get me wrong, I think I pretty much got the perfect dog (which isn’t always the case despite the effort) but thankfully it lessens your chances that the dog can’t do the work.

However, most people aren’t looking for a “working” dog.

My rescue was given to me because he had panosetitis and was given back to the breeder.  I also had high aspirations for him being able to compete at a high level in protection sports but he had different plans.  I later realized he was dropped from their bed bug sniffing problem (an indicator that his drive wasn’t as high as I wanted).  Or at least it is only on his terms.  I jokingly call him my flying dragon because he has no off switch!  And, that getting along with my other pets, even though I got him at 6 months he had aggression and possession issues

Instead of excelling at protection sports, we discovered he was really good at swimming and was a national champion in dock diving, fetch it, and chase it with Ultimate Air Dogs.

Long story short, if looking to compete is what you want; look into dogs that have pedigrees and high producing puppies.

If I want to compete at a high level in agility, I would be looking at Border Collies, Sheltland Sheepdogs, Labrador Retrievers or other breeds who’s mother and father have competed at that level.

If I want to compete in barn hunt, I would probably be looking for a Jack Russell or Norwich Terrier.

Sure, competing isn’t for everyone; but it can be a lot of fun and it gives you a great job to spend with your best friend.

I Don’t Want to Compete

So you don’t want to compete but you do want to know a little bit more about what you are getting.

If I want a 30 pound dog and I am adamant that I can’t have a dog that is bigger because of the apartment complex that I live in; I probably don’t want to take the risk on a puppy at a shelter.  I would want to stick with a dog that I know what size I am getting.

Also, different breeds have different personalities.  Want a couch potato get a Greyhound.  Want a dog constantly ready to move and you like hiking all weekend for hours at a time, get a Rhodesian Ridge Back.  The AKC can help you find local breeders.

Figure out what fits in your family with your lifestyle.  Everyone is different when it comes to lifestyle, and what preferences people want to look at as well as size so look up lots of options and visit lots of breeders so you find the right person and a good ethical breeder.

Good breeders should welcome your questions and concerns because it ensures the time and effort that you are putting into keeping a dog that will likely live 8-15 years.

Adoptions

As much as I love choosing the right competition dog I also love shelter dogs.  The ASPCA can also help you find the right pet!

When I owned (although you never truly own a 501 (c)(3) non-profit), I got all of my guide dogs, service dogs and assistance dogs from shelters or rescues.  Although, I adopted mine as adult dogs.

And, although I love great rescue groups, there are some rescues that exceed normalcy in their requirements.  One rescue I know won’t adopt a Boxer to anyone who hasn’t had a Boxer, me included.  And, let me tell you I could handle just about any breed.  I also provide routine medical care and would walk my dog if I didn’t have a yard.  I understand that these rescues want to provide the best homes but sometimes I think they take things a little far.

The one nice things about really good breed rescue groups is that they intricately know the temperament of those in their care better than a shelter would.  They would better know if the dog has lived with other pets, or children and what environment may be best.  Just be careful.  I know one dog that was adopted out to a home and it takes 5 veterinary technicians and a giant muzzle to trim this dog’s nails or do anything it doesn’t like, like clean ears or bandage feet… again probably not something someone wants in a dog.

Puppies

Again, puppies are a little bit of a “crap shoot” if you will with their temperament as they age.  However most will get along with your cat easier if you teach them basic training and manners around them.

It is difficult to determine what breed of dog or dogs (let’s face it typically two pure bred dogs don’t get together and make puppies) most shelter puppies are a mixture of many things.   I think this makes them even more endearing.

A veterinarian I work with has a love affair with Mastiffs.  He has wanted a Mastiff for year and the bigger the better.  We often combine and comment about his favorite and my favorite Caucasian Ovcharka.  I suppose one day we will each have what we want.

However, his wife, who is also in law school accepted him adopting a puppy of unknown origin.  They called him a Cane Corso/Lab mix.  I joke that I see “pibble” (the nicer way to say Pitbull).  He is adorable no matter what breed he is but at 4 months old he is only about 27 pounds.  Clearly as an experienced dog owner it is still difficult to determine size.  And, btw Pitbull mixed breeds are some of my favorite puppy adoptions.

Again, he is adorable no matter what, but even his veterinary degree can’t tell him how big this puppy will get.  Another vet friend of mine adopted what she thought was a Shetland Sheepdog mix who turned out to be 70 pounds and also adorable.  Adopting a puppy can be fun but lots of work.

If in doubt and you want a small dog, try and stick with a dog that comes from a smaller and known mother.  Giant breeds are a bit bigger to accurately determine for any dog owner.

The only slightly negative thing I will say about shelter puppies is that most often their history is, of course, unknown and I am a firm believer in temperament genetics.  This is why I am so adamant about finding a dog that fits with my goals for a working dog.

I have seen puppies with EXTREME aggression at six weeks.  I know that is an unpopular opinion, but the truth is that you can see videos of it.  No one wants to think that anything is born with aggression issues but unfortunately I am more believer in nature versus nurture.  Sure, nurture is important but all the love in the world can’t change an aggressive dog into a dog with no issues.

Also puppy temperaments can change, just like going through puberty can change your temperament a bit as from who you were as a baby or young child.  The same can happen with puppies.  The puppy may have been social with other dogs at 5 months but not at one or two years.

Thankfully this is not frequent, shelter puppies most of them turn out to be canine good citizens.  And, remember as a dog trainer, I see the worst of the worst when it comes to aggression and behavior.

Adult Dog

Adopting an adult dog is probably my favorite option for most people.  I also love Greyhounds because I think they are usually great couch potatoes.  Paws on the Mountain can help you find the right one.

I know we have been through all the other pros and cons but adult shelter dogs or rescue dogs are like diamonds in the rough.  I think adopted animals also feel some gratitude when they get a forever home.

Also most of them have been to a veterinarian for a general vet exam and heartworm test.

People are soooooo worried that they are going to get someone’s problems but the truth is that it is just usually lack of training.

Don’t get me wrong, there are dogs with serious aggression issues in shelters and rescues.  But now a days it is more common for both of these kinds of organizations to temperament test prior to adoption.

Again, I am going out on a limb, and I know it is controversial.  But aggressive dog, dogs with possession issues or any dog that fails these tests should be euthanized.  Not all dogs are adoptable, it isn’t worth the risk.

So many good dogs get euthanized each day, why not euthanize the ones with aggression.

10 years ago I did a lot of temperament testing in a local humane society.  As we went through the shelter we kept passing a dog that was 8.  “Why aren’t we testing her?”   “She is 8 she will never get adopted.”

I was horrified and demanded to test her.   Not only did she pass (I could tell by her submissive behaviors in the kennel) she was also adopted out to a family that had a 4 year old.  They didn’t want a dog that needed potty trained and they didn’t want a dog that was rambunctious, would knock him down or steal his food.  She had several good years with her family.

I don’t understand all this time spent on “rehabilitation” when non-aggressive dogs get killed each day.

I have a friend that is known for this.  Her current “rehab” dog has to wear a muzzle in the house and out of the house.  That makes no sense for me.  This is a dog I would never trust and would never adopt out around kids.  But even those of us who don’t have kids of our own, we have kids in our life or that walk down the street or peer in your yard.

It has been proven that the majority of people who adopt from shelters are brand new pet owners.  Why add aggression to their already overwhelming plate!

So if you are looking to adopt a dog from a rescue or shelter look for those that have a 0 tolerance and also temperament test.  Ask to see the test.  Possession aggression can run rampant in adult shelter dogs.  But what happens if your child wanders near your new dog’s bowl?  Also what happens if your new dog steals “Barbie” and chases the dog down to take it away.  You want a dog that has NO possession issues at all!

NEVER, EVER, EVER take your children.  Yes, whether it is a puppy or adult  dog it will need to love your kids… but kids can’t leave a dog they fall in love which, which is basically all dogs.

When I was temperament testing for guide dog and service dogs there were several days if not weeks where I never took a dog home.  Trust your instincts.  You will find the right dog, there is no time limit on it and there should not be!

Look for temperament first in an older dog.  If you want an active dog, look for that active happy dog.  If you want a couch potato, look for a dog that is relaxed and happy.

You May Choose the Wrong Dog

It is OKAY to admit you chose the wrong dog, especially an adult dog.  It took about 3-4 weeks for an adult dog to begin to fit in well enough to show his real temperament.

I remember taking home a Golden Retriever that did great at my house but we liked to switch them up among us professional trainers.  He went to snack out of the cat box and my trainer friend’s 9 year old went to take him out and he snarled and lunged.

Tests are good and they weed out a lot but they aren’t perfect.

It is find to admit that the dog you chose isn’t a good fit.  People want to make you feel bad but this is a commitment that you are making for possibly 12 years or more.  You have no desire to live in an abusive relationship or have your child mauled.

Don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work out.

Ironically we had a Doberman in our clinic on Friday of last week.  She was there for possible bloat and was 7 months old.  She was TERRIBLE.  She screamed she paced and was basically a terror.  I think she had lived with the breeder for all 7 months and had never been alone.  The owners had only had her for a week but were going to give her back because she wasn’t the right dog.

She had kids and the kids scared the dog and the dog undoubtedly screamed all day and night.  I fell in love with this mess and would have certainly fostered her!  This wasn’t the right home for her but with some serious work she could find the right home.

Remember adopting a dog, whether it be puppy or adult is a big deal and a commitment for the lifetime of the dog.  Do your research but don’t punish yourself with the wrong dog!  The right dog is out there for you and your family.

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