Dog Bite

First of all I'd like to say "thank you" to everyone who wrote to check on me... it really made my day to see so many messages from my friends. 😊 So this means that you love me! You really LOVE me! 😃

Anyway, so here's the whole story: Yesterday I was about to bathe a little 5 month old Jack Russell Terrier named Snoopy... but before the bath I wanted to get his nails clipped and his ears cleaned. Well, I was doing his nails and got both of the back feet without much of a hassle. Then I moved to the front... he allowed me to clip his right foot, but not without some fussing. He wasn't really growling... just sort of grumbling at me. If you've ever trimmed a dog's nails you know that most of them DO NOT like it. And quite a few of them will grumble at you and fuss and some will even put their teeth ON you... not even necessarily with their mouth open, but they will do that pretty much as a warning that they don't like what you're doing.

So... all I was getting was a little bit of fussing on the first front foot, which I didn't think much about. When I picked up the other front paw he just grumbled some more and lowered his head (which isn't unusual). So I started clipping... and then he went all Cujo on my hand. The first time he bit hurt the worst so I'm assuming that's when he left the puncture wound although I didn't know it at the time. The other few times he bit were a little less forceful probably because he realized that (for reasons I'm not even sure of) it wasn't making me let go of his foot. Honestly, until I saw the wound I thought he was just protesting... I didn't know that he was really trying to prove his point.

So after his tantrum (with me STILL holding his foot), I noticed my hand throbbing and saw the little hole... one of the other bathers came over and muzzled him and I finished his nails. See, if you let them show their asses and get their way they'll just be that much worse the next go round. So I finished what I had to do. I know I didn't hurt the little shit... he had clear nails so I could see his quicks and I hadn't cut any of them. He just didn't like what was going on.

After I finished I got a better look at my hand... it was a small hole, but it was there. We decided that we should probably tell management (since that IS the rule) and so we did. I had to call a nurse who STRONGLY recommended that I go to the ER... mostly because the puppy hadn't had his rabies shots yet. We take them in the salon up to 6 months old without them and he was only 5. Not only that, but I don't have insurance and if I hadn't went when they sent me I would have probably been liable had there been any complications so... I went.

It was GRUELING. I got there before 9 pm and I didn't make it out of there until 2 am. I am on antibiotics and I had to have a Tetanus shot (which is killing my shoulder, btw). Not only that, but the incident had to be reported to the authorities and the health department. It was even recommended that I call Animal Control, but I'm not going to do that. He was just a puppy - probably spoiled to hell and back and not used to his feet being handled. OH, and here's the best part: if we don't go through the proper channels and have him quarantined for 10 days I'll have to take rabies shots. The hospital and health department both have their eyes on me.

So yeah... all this fuss over a puncture that within two hours closed up to be about this long: -- And the moral of the story is: Handle your dogs feet. And have them vaccinated ASAP. It sure would make my life easier. 😝

What a day...

It started off quite shitty. I went to work 2 hours late due to some major miscommunication (which translated into me staying two hours late to make up my time) and was almost involved in a car accident on the way there. I missed out on washing two dogs that I was really excited to meet... I did, however, see them on their way out. They were Irish Wolfhounds and they were BEAUTIFUL.

But, I got an awesomely pleasant surprise visit from Chocolate Dog - now named by his new family "Choco." 😁 Jim said that he'd been to the vet (he did have a rabies tag on today) and that he's been tested and treated for all the routine stuff and he's doing well. Also, the vet said that he appeared to be a full-blooded lab and that he was probably about a year old. 😀

So far the kids love him and he's getting along with everyone just great. Jim still seemed really happy to have him as part of the family (even though he chewed the corner of one of their couch cushions). We talked for a while and I just feel really good about how the whole situation played out.

Gosh, when I saw Jim walk in front of the salon I'm telling you - I LIT UP. I recognized him right off and I rushed to the window to see if he'd brought my friend to see me. When he had that was it. My day was good.

Also, I tickled a snake today.

Not only that - one of my favorite doggies to wash came in. She comes so often that her dad just sat her down in the floor and she ran right to me. She knows who gives her baths and paints her nails! Her name is Lulu and she's a baby English Bulldog. She's a trip. Every time that I wash her she grabs my zipper charms and unzips my smock. She sometimes even bites the water. She's so playful. ... Ok, I wasn't going to do this, but here's a picture of her & Mo (one of the other bathers). 😁

She is totally winking. 😂

The End. 😊

Daxter

Rats aren't supposed to live alone, you know. 😁

The other one, btw... his name is Jak. 😍

Doggie Christmas 2007

My name must be Tinkerbell...

because all the lost boys find me.

So yeah, he came here tonight in the crappiest of conditions. He'd been left at a friends house (probably on their porch in this cold ass weather) in a 10 gallon aquarium with a wooden board on top with a t-shirt and half a bucket (for shelter, I guess??) thrown in the tank. And his food and water dishes were the bottoms of 20 ounce soda bottles. My friends then brought him to me seeing as how they have a bunch of cats and couldn't keep him.

So uh... I guess I have myself a new man rat.

Chocolate Dog

The other day on my way to work I saw a dog in the middle of Quintard. There was traffic all around and he was just running back and forth across the lanes. Had he not been near a traffic light that happened to be red I'm sure he would've been hit. Anyway, I couldn't just leave him there... so I pulled over and called him to me. He looked scared, but he came anyway. I petted him and got him to follow me back to the car. Then I hoisted him in and took him to work with me. Good thing I work at a pet store.

Well, we arrived at work and I left him in the car while I got a lead for him. (He had no collar so I couldn't just hook a leash to him). I persuaded him to walk as far as the doors, but then he wouldn't come in. We finally lured him just inside the doors with treats (he seemed so hungry that he probably would've done anything for something to eat). But then he still wouldn't walk with me - he was too scared. 😟 He wasn't a tiny dog by any means, but I managed to carry him back to the grooming salon. Our manager donated a small bag of food to him so I set him up in a large kennel with some food and water. Poor thing... he ate and drank so much. 😓 A bit later I gave him a bath. He acted like that was a first... he was SO freaked out. But he did need a good cleaning up.

All day I tried to figure out what I was going to do with him. He had no ID on him... I even had him scanned for a microchip. No luck. 😑 No one else could take him home so he ended up spending the night with us much to Nick's dismay.

The next day he went to work with me again. Before we even made it in the doors good a man came up and commented on what a beautiful dog he was. I told him thanks, but that he wasn't mine and explained the situation. He said that he wished he could take him, but that he didn't think he could. We talked for quite a while and then I ended up giving him my contact information just in case he found anyone who might want him. It wasn't even a half hour later that he called me at work and said that he'd talked to his wife and it was ok with her if he took him home.

Though I very much liked Chocolate Dog I knew that I couldn't keep him. After talking to Jim (the kind man who wanted him), I really felt like that was the best place for him. He said that he had two kids and another dog at home, and two cats, also. Chocolate Dog looked like a lab or lab mix and a vet tech told me that he couldn't have been more than 8 or 10 months old. He was always very excited when anyone came into the salon... he would bounce and bounce like he was saying, "Oh you, please play with me! Come on, I'm ready!" So between the kids and the dog he would have plenty of playmates. Jim also said that he had a fenced back yard, though Chocolate Dog would be living inside. No more wandering in the road for him, thank goodness. 😌

Later that day Jim called to let me know how things were going (which made my freakin' day). 😁 So far Chocolate Dog had made friends with Jim's other dog and they'd been playing and playing. 😀 His kids weren't home from school yet, but he was sure they'd be excited about having a new puppy. He was going to let them pick out some names seeing as how "Chocolate Dog" was just one of many nicknames I'd given him (along with "Lost Boy", "Fella" and "Brownie"). He said that he'd be going to the vet this coming week and also that he'd bring him in to the salon to see me from time to time. 😄 So needless to say I'm very pleased that Chocolate Dog lucked up on such a happy ending. He was such a sweet boy and deserved so much better than wandering hungry in the streets. I can't wait to see him again. 😊

Yay! :D

We bought Rock Band the other day and I can't not play it. That is the MOST AWESOME game EVAR! 😁😁😁

Shadow's our front man and I LOVE to hear him sing. When he's not singing he's dancing. Nick plays bass and guitar (I think - but not at the same time) and I'm on drums. It's SO much fun. I don't even care what songs we play; I just want to play.

It's great because I haven't played anything drum-like in YEARS. You probably can't even imagine how much I've missed being in the high school band... mostly marching band. That was more fun than concert band (although that was cool, too). But anyway...

I own a set of drums, but I never had a clue as to how to get all my limbs to work together... so playing this game was sort of challenging at first because it has a bass pedal and all that jazz, but I'm catching on pretty quickly, I think. I'm scoring pretty good, (like in the 80's, AT LEAST - even on the harder songs). I think I've done as well as 97 on some of the less hard ones, though. It makes me excited because, hey - maybe one day I'll actually get un-shy enough to wail on my real-life drums. That would be nothing short of exhilarating.

Also, you get to create the rock star you play with so there's a bald drummer with taped up glasses and a skinny guitarist and a cute little mohawked singer in our band... which is called "The Sneak" btw. I wish I could put up a picture of our characters... I'll have to find a way to get our images - even if I have to somehow photograph them from the TV.

Now that you know what a dork I am I guess I'm done. Laterz!