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one hell of a weekend
#1
One hell of a weekend

So to start in the middle of a story. Saturday at 12 noon my dog Graham was attacked by one of our Rover boarders.  The owners have been so apologetic and are covering the ER Vet costs. They’ve also been contacted every step of the way in case I leave out a call here and there.

Friday these two dogs were dropped off. A GSD mix I’ll call Dolly and a Corgi mix I’ll call Jazz. We had two meet and greets because the owners were nervous about boarding them. I always love having more because it’s a great play date for my dogs and I get a good feel for the dogs personalities and how well the dogs listen. Both play dates went well there was some barking but nothing that would make me think aggression. The owners were present for the first and did a drop off for the 2nd to see how the dogs would do without the owners around.
Both are beautiful dogs and super sweet. Just want love and to play and run. So great! They booked it and dropped them off Friday morning. Friday evening Dolly attacked Jazz as he was running to the door wanting outside. It took both me and my husband to break it up. I grabbed Jazz my husband grabbed Dolly and we waited for Dolly to let go. Jazz was screaming and turned only able to reach Dolly’s eye. I inspected both dogs cleaned them up and contacted the owners. I told them I was going to have to restrict Dolly’s access to the other dogs. I did that by putting a slip lead on her and keeping her next to me all night and took her on a 3mile walk Saturday morning. I then left for an hr to walk my moms dog and got back home a little before 12. I let my 4 and Jazz outside then brought Dolly out on the lead. My youngest Graham was playing with his favorite Jolly Ball. I kicked it out into the yard when he dropped it close. Making sure to keep Dolly back. He ran and chased after the ball as I stood there with Dolly. As he ran up again he shook the ball. It’s the bigger 12” one so it’s hilarious to watch this 38lb rat terrier mix with a red ball that’s bigger than his whole chest.

That’s when hell broke lose.
I saw Dolly lunge as Graham’s back is turned. I was already pulling back on the lead but Graham had gotten too close to quickly and Dolly yanked me forward all 84 lbs. She clamped down on his neck and pinned him in the mud. I grab for her regular collar to hold her back until she lets go. Graham was screaming and I knew if I could hold her back until she let go then he would run off to safety. I grabbed the buckle and the collar fell in the mud. I’m in total mama bear mode at this point and I two handed scruff Dolly and just pull up enough so Graham has room to drop and run. It takes me 3 tries because of the mud we’re all slipping around. I brace myself so Dolly can’t turn on me and the last little pull up she finally let go and Graham ran. Dolly stopped her fight mode and I’m able to walk her to a crate surprisingly calmly and I ran for Graham. I found him in my bed. He was caked in mud, smelled of anal glands and I could see blood on his shoulder. It took me 20 minutes to get him to even let me touch him. My husband works nights so he was asleep right next to Graham. So even once I was able to get close the second I picked him up he screamed out and woke my husband up as I ran out of the room to the tub. I didn’t even stop to check if my husband got up. With Graham in the tub I then started looking around for wounds and found a big thumb size tear on his right shoulder. I wash him up and trim away the hair around the holes I can find. Poor Graham is shaking. I call my mom to get her to look up the vet as I check the other dogs over and get Graham in the car. I also call the owners with no response at first but got a call back before we left for the vet. We walk in the vet at 1. They check him to make sure he’s stable. He’s walking fine just very stiff and cautious and he’s kicked up his shaking but he’s already scared of the car and the vet so nothing is going his way. After about an hour and a half we are finally let into a room and a tech comes in to look Graham over. I point out all the puncture wounds and scratches I found and they do the regular weight stuff and and ask what happened. They go away and we just wait.  At 3 I text my husband. I wanted to make sure he knew what happened and DO NOT let Dolly around the other dogs. I’m texting the owners and my mom little updates. Everyone is worried and the owners can’t get a flight back until Monday. At 4:30 they take him back to shave, clean out his wounds, and give him pain meds. He was so good with the whole process they didn’t have to sedate him. He’s such a good boy! Somehow while there was pulled skin and lots of wounds we made it out of there in under $300. We got home a little after 5.
So the rest of Saturday and Sunday was much of the same. I would let the 5 out and then let Dolly come out of the crate for love then I would crate her to get all the dogs inside before walking her by her collar outside and walking around the yard with her.
Around 10 Sunday the owners call because over night the husband’s Grandmother died of a massive heart attack. He ask if I can keep Jazz another week but take Dolly to their house so the wife’s parents can care for her. I tell them no problem and to just start a new stay with only Jazz. A couple hours later they call because it’s going to be too expensive with everything going on. I totally understand and the new plan is to take them both home Tuesday and they will be kept separate until the owners get back. Monday I’m shifting out the dogs and let Dolly out to potty she squats and I see brown but I’m pretty far away. I trying follow her but after two failed attempts to catch her peeing I go ahead and alert the owners. They tell me to keep an eye on it if it get worse so I go back to following Dolly around the yard, this dog marks a lot so I knew eventually I’d catch her if I stayed close. Sure enough I caught her and it wasn’t brown, it was bright red! So I send a picture of the leaf she had peed on and the owners asked if I could take her to the vet. Of course, no problem, I didn’t feel good about waiting any more than them. I had a dog walk but I offered to drop the dog off at their vet and I could pick her back up. Got Dolly in the car looked at my phone, walk canceled. Good news because also the regular vet is slammed so I run her to one down the street, not my regular vet but it’s close. I get there and they are slammed too and couldn’t see her until 4:30 I call my regular vet and they have an opening at 3:30 so that’s better than nothing. I have the owners call to give their information and to give me the ok to have her treated. Perfect! I love this vet BTW. 6 yrs ago they saved my boxer Mia from immune mediated thrombocytopenia and they were amazed we even caught it. I’m still amazed they/we caught it! I get there early to make sure they had all the information and then waited in the car because I don’t want Dolly getting any ideas as dogs passed in and out. I get in a room with her and they get a urine sample immediately. It comes back as a possible UTI. The very same vet that caught Mia’s IMT is the vet over seeing everything she asks what all is going on. She knows I’m the pet sitter and that this dog was responsible for two dog attacks over the weekend. As she’s examining Dolly I notice and I point out that her right eye is red and that’s new. They take a look and it looks suspicious of something else so she does a CBC. She comes back in the room with the CBC results and asks if I’m a vet tech. I tell her “no but you’re the one that treated my mom’s dog when she got IMT.”
She then says well you’re very in tune with animals. Dolly has a a similar form of thrombocytopenia just not the autoimmune kind. They gave me doxycycline and I made an appointment with her regular vet at 8am Tuesday morning. I’m just in shock. The vet couldn’t believe it, I can’t believe it, the owners are beside themselves and want to write a book now. Like I couldn’t make this up if I tried. Dolly hadn’t eaten since Saturday morning (typical behavior) and the meds they prescribed could make her sick on an empty stomach so they gave me a can of prescription dog food to try to entice her to eat. Which worked fantastic she ate and got the pill down without any coaxing.
8am Tuesday I drop Dolly off so her regular vet can figure out what is going on. I pick her up at 5 and then take both dogs home at 6:30 once the owners parents get home. The owners are out of the country for another week.

I just don’t even know what to say anymore. This whole weekend has been a blur. I keep hearing stories about how some Rover or Wag client had a horrible experience with the platform or sitter... I treat every animal in my care as they are my own. I care and protect them as I would my own. I don’t do this for the money I do it because I care about the animals wellbeing. I wish more sitters took it as seriously.
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#2
What a weekend. You must be exhausted. It was your worst nightmare times two. Your dog got injured by a boarder and then the boarder turned out to be seriously ill. Boarding can be a scary business.

I am glad that you were fast enough to keep Graham from worse injuries. I wonder if Dolly had a history of aggression that they didn't warn you about. She did get in a fight with Jazz too. I hope Graham makes a full recovery.

That was strange about Dolly having something similar to Mia. It is not a common condition is it? Of course you recognized there was a problem because you are in tune with animals and you have seen it before. Dolly was sick when she came to you. She might not have been diagnosed if it hadn't been you caring for her. Maybe you saved her life.

We know now that when people say they had a bad experience with a sitter there could be another side to the story. Their dog attacked your dog and their dog was not in good health when she came to you. Those two things were not your fault and you handled them very well.

I hope the rest of your week, the rest of the month and the rest of the year go well for you.
I hope both dogs recover well. Try and relax. You deserve a rest after all that.
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Catherine

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#3
(11-13-2019, 05:07 PM)Catherine Wrote: What a weekend. You must be exhausted. It was your worst nightmare times two. Your dog got injured by a boarder and then the boarder turned out to be seriously ill. Boarding can be a scary business.

I am glad that you were fast enough to keep Graham from worse injuries. I wonder if Dolly had a history of aggression that they didn't warn you about. She did get in a fight with Jazz too. I hope Graham makes a full recovery.

That was strange about Dolly having something similar to Mia. It is not a common condition is it? Of course you recognized there was a problem because you are in tune with animals and you have seen it before. Dolly was sick when she came to you. She might not have been diagnosed if it hadn't been you caring for her. Maybe you saved her life.

We know now that when people say they had a bad experience with a sitter there could be another side to the story. Their dog attacked your dog and their dog was not in good health when she came to you. Those two things were not your fault and you handled them very well.

I hope the rest of your week, the rest of the month and the rest of the year go well for you.
I hope both dogs recover well. Try and relax. You deserve a rest after all that.


Dolly had been attacked when she was younger and since then she has been different.  She's actually originally from Thailand.  Owners found her as a puppy in a trash can.  During the meet and greets she did fine.  She would bark at the dogs if they got a little too rowdy and she would pin them but there was no biting.  It's pretty typical play behavior what I saw. The last meet and greet was a week before the stay.  They brought the dogs over and left the dogs for an hour.  I spent half inside and half outside.  However Friday when she went for Jazz it was completely different. She had totally changed. The vet said she had an infection causing the throbocytopenia, which is a fancy way to say internal bleeding. When I dropped the dogs off the wife's mom hugged me because she was so thankful and apologetic.

We are taking a boarding break until Graham heals.  We are also looking into buying a house.  I found one in Kentucky south of Bowling Green that has 35 acres that's on our price range.  It would give us tons of room to build a "kennel".  I use quotes because I don't want a traditional kennel. 

I'm not mad or upset about the situation.  It's more a learning experience.  I'm just glad I was there and able to stop it.  I never allow the boarding dogs to be left alone for this very reason. Even if I step outside for a second or go to the bathroom I crate them or have my husband watch them.  We have dog gates as well. Dogs are not themselves in new environments. They can be nervous and on edge causing stress.  Most dogs aren't used to being around this many different dogs so I allow for timeouts as well to lessen the stress.  Everyone needs a break now and then. I encourage multiple meet and greets as well to allow the visiting dogs to get used to my house, smells, and me.
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#4
I can see how Dolly's health and history were part of what happened. Being found in a trash can is bound to have some kind of effect on a dog. It was good you recognized that Dolly was ill. Will she fully recover?
I do hope Graham is okay. 

You handled the whole thing well and you know what you are doing, but you must be really tired. I know I find boarding can be tiring and I only do small animals. With small animals there is so much that can go wrong..
Taking a break is good.
A new house is even better. Thirty five acres is a nice sized piece of land. I grew up on one acre and it seemed big.
You would have room for some good sized dog play areas. Your own pack of dogs would love it and there would be room for boarding animals to have a good run around. You would be more of a dog resort that a traditional kennel. 

I had to look Bowling Green up on the map. It is not far from where you are now so the weather would be similar. At least that is how it looks on my map. You could have a really good boarding business and you would have room for rescues. I wish you luck in house hunting. Keep us posted.
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Catherine

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#5
The house itself is only about an hour from where we are now. We go up there a lot anyway because there’s a drive in theater and a theme park, Beech Bend, that’s also where my husband graduated college. His bachelors and his masters degree. It’s a college town with people like us. I even put in my moms head that her and my stepdad could build a house when my stepdad retires.
It would also give me the space to still board if one of my dogs gets hurt or sick. I could separate them much better instead of having to crate as much. Where now I either have to cancel or take time off if something like this happens. I have an idea to create a walking trail around the property for walks/hikes. There’s a huge field I’d love to fence in for dogs to be able to just all out run. The house itself looks like a Pizza Hut so I’ve been joking that I could call it the Puppy Hut, Doggie Hut, or The Pizza Pup.

I haven’t heard anymore about Dolly. The owners won’t be back until early next week. They told me they would get in touch with me once they got back. My understanding was as long as they can knock out the infection then Dolly would be fine. No lasting effects and then they can start training to ebb out any other aggression. Because there was some underlying fears from being attacked herself. They got a muzzle for her as well and I think were going to get a crate as well for when they aren’t home. They are being fantastic and taking complete responsibility for everything. Which I love to see. It’s also why I was so willing to do all I could for them. They love reptiles as well and were really interested in buying a ball python or CRBoa from me if I produced them.
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#6
The new house is actually closer than my map show. You would enjoy life there. All that land would be wonderful. A fenced field for the dogs and walking trails makes it sound like a dream come true. You could really have a good boarding facility and still give your dogs lots of space. That is a good idea about a second house for your mom and stepdad. It would be good to have them around and it would help them out. I like the name pizza pup, but doggie hut is good too.

You would be closer to the drive in theatre and the theme park. This would really be a good move for you. You could even expand your reptiles. I hope it works out. I can see so many possibilities with a larger property. 

I am glad to hear that Dolly can get better. Her people sounds really nice. If they are understanding about what happened and admit that Dolly needs help, then Dolly can get help. 

How are your CRBs. My BRB has really grown and now looks like a female. I have access to a male so maybe in 2020 I will try and breed her. I hadn't planned on breeding, but who could resist little baby boas.
How old are your CRBs. Are they breeding age? New born snakes are so cute. You are going to love it. You never get tired of baby snakes, eggs hatching or newborns, It never gets old.
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Catherine

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#7
My crb’s are getting big! I need to upgrade their enclosures so they have more top climbing space. But outside of that they are pretty much breeding age. I’m paying close attention to feedings, weights, and time of year for breeding. My balls too are getting into the breeding mood so I’m going to put my pastel Zuko with our new Mojave female we named Janeway (Star Trek Voyager). I still want to get a couple good meals in everyone. I’m a little hesitant to breed because moving would complicate things greatly but I also don’t want to put it on hold either.
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#8
Ok my husband just came up with the perfect name for the house! The Mutt Hut! My aunt already said she would get us a sign if we get the house.
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#9
The Mutt Hut is perfect. Now I really hope you get the house so you can call it The Mutt Hut. Your aunt could get you a really good sign with a name like that to work with.

Breeding could complicate moving, but reptiles are pretty good about being moved. We moved the whole reptile store and an incubator full of eggs and it didn't effect breeding season at all. The eggs hatched just fine. We didn't lose and animals or have any problems with them.

If your CRBs are getting big enough you are not going to want to wait. I think boa pregnancies are fairly long. If you are careful in the move a pregnant female will be just fine.

Mojave and pastel should be a good breeding. I like the name Janeway. It is a good choice.
You would get some Mojave Pastels. I have a Mojave pair and I keep thinking she is pregnant, but so far no eggs.

Let me know if your girls breed. It should be breeding season soon enough  
Maybe my male is too young. The female is big enough. She eats very well these days. She should produce some eggs by now.
I am used to corn snakes who mature and breed much younger and they are so obviously pregnant and I can tell when they are ready to lay their eggs. I don't think I understand my ball python female. I can't tell if  she is ready to breed or is pregnant or ready to lay eggs.
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Catherine

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