For animal lovers

[Rattus]

Originally Posted by queenb

Rattus, Boo Boo went anywhere but the box when I first got her. What I did was put her in my smallest room with the floor covered in paper, and put 2 brand new boxes with litter in there. It only took a few days for her to start using the boxes every time. Also, to begin with she would not use a bow rocky had been in, but now does sometimes. I also figured out she poops about the same time every morning, so not to have her out of the room at that time.
Speaking of Booboo, we just got back from the vet--she got a shot and more drops for the conjunctivitis (eye trouble)--Oh boy, more eye drop fun. If anyone has a suggestion to make it easier to put the drops in, I'd like to know...pleasee!
I also had him do the anal gland thing recently discussed here...yuck. The vet said he has never seen that much discharge-people, don't wait till your animal is 12 years old to be treated!

Unfortunately, with Lincoln's long history as a street cat, shutting him in a small room for any amount of time is not an option. He goes quite literally insane - he actually started biting and clawing a hole through the door of the bathroom we had to keep him in the first two nights he was with us. Also, since we have never seen him at his business, we have no idea what his bodily function schedule is.

If you get any helpful hints with respect to the eyedrops, please let everyone know (especially me ). Harvey is going in for his shots today and will be getting an eye infection looked at as well. I just know we're going to have to eyedrop him, and if the excrutiating pain and terror involved (for all of us) in getting pills down his gullet is any indication, the eyedrop thing is not going to go well.

[Google]

 

[Unklescott]

This is weird. This guy leaves his dog at the kennel while on vacation but thinks he got the wrong dog back.
Oregon man thinks his black Labrador is an impostor - Yahoo! News

Oregon man thinks his black Labrador is an impostor

Tue Apr 15, 8:04 PM ET

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. - Ken Griggs likes his new dog, but he preferred the old one. Then again, it might be the same dog. In a possible case of mistaken identity, Griggs said the black Labrador named Callie that he left at a Dundee kennel before spring break was not the same dog he picked up a week later.

"It's a sweet dog," Griggs said of the impostor living at his Lake Oswego house. "It's tough because now we've had the dog for 10-plus days, and the kids, especially the younger ones, start to get attached to the dog. I like it, but I want mine."

Allison Best, owner of the Tail Wag-Inn boarding kennel, said Griggs has the right dog. But Callie's vet examined the dog Griggs brought home and found evidence that it's not Callie.

"We know it's not Callie," veterinarian Andrea Frost told The Oregonian newspaper.

Griggs said he immediately noticed differences in the dog he picked up from the kennel. The family cat — normally friends with Callie — hissed at the dog. Callie would heel; this dog did not.

Griggs returned the dog to the kennel and Best examined whether Callie might have gotten mixed-up with any of the other black Labradors staying there that week.

Owners of the seven other black Labs all said they had the right dog.

However, the owner of Dixie, a dog Callie shared a kennel with, said her dog had undergone a "personality change," Best said. But after three or four conversations that day, the owner maintained she had the right dog.

Still, Best arranged for the owners and their dogs to meet March 31 for a possible exchange. The woman called saying she was late, Best said.

Meanwhile, Griggs had arrived with his family. A black Lab got excited when the Griggses approached, the kids declared it was Callie, and into the car the dog went.

It was the same dog the Griggs had just returned.

"It's uncanny how much it looks like my dog," Griggs said. "I'm sure it was happy to see us and recognized us from the day before and mistook us."

But still unsure, Griggs took the dog to his vet.

Callie had once surgery to her left elbow; this dog showed no trauma. Callie also had steel sutures after being spayed; this dog had none that showed up on the X-ray. The dog also seemed to have had a rapid weight loss.

Griggs has hired a lawyer, but Best says the case is closed.

"Mr. Griggs kind of lost his credibility with me the second time he came into the kennel with his family and reclaimed the same dog," she said. "If he can't recognize his dog, I don't feel I can be any help."

[Newfherder]

Have they never heard of microchips? I'd chip a three-legged Heinz 57 if I had one; I'd definitely chip a dog as ubiquitous as a Lab.

[myrosiedog]

Wow, that's strange. I think I would know my dog. I hope I would anyhow. And I would think my dog would know me too.
We keep collars on our dogs at all times with ID tags, did the owners not have a collar on the dog? Or if so, what happened to it?

[ArchieComic Fan]

My husband runs a small kennel operation and he never boards dogs from different clients together, even if they don't look anything alike. He'll board dogs from the same client together though, if that's what the client prefers. As for the collars, he often removes them if it looks like it could become a safety hazard with getting caught on something in the run. I just don't understand why the owner of the kennel put dogs that could get mixed up in the same run. So she definitely holds some blame. I agree that an owner should know their dog but if they were in a hurry and just picked up and left I could see how a mix-up could occur. We've had dogs that looked very similar at the same time, down to coloring and body weight so for those my husband made sure to keep the collars on even though they don't share a run.

I hope they get the mix-up worked out. I'd be crushed if someone else had mine and wouldn't give him back.

Our local Humane Society happens to be running a microchip special right now and we plan to get ours chipped. For $15 you can't beat the piece of mind.

ETA: Another reason this particular mix-up could have gone unnoticed right away is if the one dog was picked up first. Then when the owner who is questioning the mix-up went to get his dog, it would have been the only one left out of the two and he would have just assumed it was his. The whole thing is upsetting because the lady who has the other dog is not being cooperative. You'd think she'd want to make sure she had the right dog too.

Sounds like a case for Judge Judy

[doxie]

We always board Simon and Henry with our vet when we are out of town. The vet's office does take the harnesses (and id tags) off of them to prevent the dogs from injuring themselves by getting the harnesses or tags caught on the cages/kennels. I think that if someone took Simon (our JRT) home by mistake, they would immediately bring him back and beg for their own dog. Henry, on the other hand, might not be returned. He's a sweetie and would be nice to anyone who offered up half of their bed (electric blanket included), plenty of snacks and some tummy scratching. I don't worry about this when we board the dogs though. The receptionist at the vet's office LOVES Henry and lets him sleep on a fuzzy pillow under her desk. She knows who Henry owns and she would never turn him over to anyone other than Mr. Doxie or me.

Last weekend, we went out to dinner and came home to find Simon with a plastic Wal-Mart bag draped around his neck. He apparently busted down the baby gate that we have at the foot of the stairs and went up to my husband's "office" and chowed down on hubby's secret stash of snacks. Henry was (as always) looking innocent but I did notice that his tummy was bulging out and I am thinking that he got a few snacks too!

[queenb]

Originally Posted by Rattus

If you get any helpful hints with respect to the eyedrops, please let everyone know (especially me ). Harvey is going in for his shots today and will be getting an eye infection looked at as well. I just know we're going to have to eyedrop him, and if the excrutiating pain and terror involved (for all of us) in getting pills down his gullet is any indication, the eyedrop thing is not going to go well.

I feel for you. I hope your vet demonstrated--mine showed me how, of course I'm not near as good at it as he is. You do your best to not let them see your hand coming-- (yeah ,right, after a time or two!) and get a nice big grabb of the scruff with your thumb and first finger...and pick up on it enough to stretch the facial skin to the point the eyes won't quite close. Then put the drops in. Obviously, you have to work with the kitty for ten or fifteen extra minutes with treats, petting, etc. so she thinks I somehow accidentally did the eye drops. Thankfully, they worked in only a couple of days. Booboo gets this eye junk every couple of months, and it's a pain. Good luck!

[myrosiedog]

Doxie,
I think the same thing would happen with my dogs, whoever got them would bring them back. Well, they would barely get out of the parking lot with Waldo before he got carsick, so he'd be brought back immediately!

I had the dogs out last evening and they were all in the yard, behaving for a change. A man walked down the street and they started barking at him. (usually anyone walking is fair game for them to try to get petted and they are happy and tailwagging). This is the first time they've barked like this at anyone. I had them all under control and rounded up headed for the back door, when the man yelled something at me. (we were clear on the otherside of the house from the street which is a right far piece. ) I turned around to see what was going on and he stepped into my yard and the dogs went ballistic! They were growling and snapping. I had Waldo's collar and he was lunging against it, and the other two were standing between me and the man with their hackles raised. I have NEVER seen this happen. They all LOVE people. The man stepped back out of my yard and told me I'd "BETTER get my dogs under control". Duh, they were all under control and circled around me in protection mode. I was slightly ticked at this point and I told him, he'd better not set another foot in my yard again.
They have NEVER acted like this towards anyone. They wouldnt' settle down even once I got them in the house. They all paced and stood sentry at the windows for almost half an hour afterwards.
It made me very uneasy. Usually we have a lot of walkers and joggers in the neighborhood and most of them know Waldo, Bogie and Rosie and will either stop to talk to me and pet them or will wave and the dogs just wag their tails. This is the first time they barked and went into "protect mom mode".
And the guy was middleaged, in jogging pants, so he didn't look any different than anyone else. What do you think spooked them like that? They had started barking at him and raising hackles before he stepped in the yard.
I'm telling you, I'm really glad that Waldo is big and has a big, deep bark. And this is the first time I've ever seen him, not in his happy mode, but in a "this is MY house and yard and mom and you'd better not mess with me" mode.

[Newfherder]

Newf protection mode is a little different. They'll get between their people and the interloper, and just stand and stare. Not too many people want to risk a confrontation with a 3' tall, 150 pound dog who is sizing them up

Gustav had a different protection mode for Bjorn. After Bjorn was neutered and healed, my then-wife and I decided that we'd take the stitches out ourselves. Bjorn was more-or-less agreeable, and was laying on his back for us. Along came Gustav, slightly agitated, and looking to protect Bjorn. Gustav straddled Bjorn, and used his big head to push our hands away when we tried to snip the stitches. That got Bjorn to thinking that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, so he stopped cooperating.

[prhoshay]

That's amazing! You see, that's where cats are different. They want to get close enough to see what is going on, but they seem to be of the opinion that their housemates are on their own! It's like, I'm curious, but I'm not in this mess....

mrd, that is a scary scenario, and I would trust the instinct of the dogs. Why did that creep enter your yard? I think I'd be making a report to the local authorities....especially if the encounter left you uneasy. You just never know what else may have been going on in your area that could have involved a person fitting this description.