(Mom asked about Simon in a comment she left for my Some Sabbath entry.)
We have come to a point where a decision needs to be made. And it's going to be an expensive decision, most likely. The past two weeks have been really bad with his tail. We have gone back to using the cone. But he can't eat with it on, so we take it off while we watch him eat, then replace it immediately when he's done.
Yesterday we took the cone off, Ryan went to go put the food in the bowl. When Simon started eating, Acadia noticed he had pulled off the bandage. It had only been a minute or two! And in that short time he had already managed to spray the entire kitchen with blood! It was another thorough job and I'm just glad it wasn't in a room with furniture or carpets.
Ryan threw him outside and he hasn't been in since. I think this is the first night he has ever spent outside since we adopted him 7 years ago!
We realize we have 4 options.
1) Keep him as an outside dog. (That would be fine when the weather is nice, but not realistic during winter.)
2) Give him away.
3) Dock his tail.
4) Put him to sleep.
We were really close to ending it all. We were ready to just put him down. But after we sat on the idea for awhile, we started thinking we should bite the bullet, pay the money, and dock his tail. It will be another several hundred dollars, but hopefully it would solve the problem once and for all.
We just feel like it would be a better lesson to teach Acadia to take care of him, and not just get rid of him because he is annoying right now. Truly, he is a good dog, it's just this stupid tail problem!
4 comments:
'Sariah' posted this on Tue 22 Mar 2005, 1:54 pm
Simon Update:
I called the vets in our area and they all say that they don't dock dogs tails, it isn't humane. They want to just amputate an inch or two above the wound. This would still leave a wound on the end of a very active tail, just what we have now.
Finally, we found a vet in Camas who will do it! He said, what is the difference of docking it a couple of inches above the wound, or higher up on the tail? Thank you!!! And it looks like it will cost less than we expected! But we have to wait until April 1.
We all feel better about this, and we're switching vets permanently!
'Barbara' posted this on Wed 23 Mar 2005, 10:20 am
I am glad that you are going to be able to get Simon's tail taken care of. I agree that it is a better lesson for Acadia - if you can manage to afford it - and he is a nice dog and part of the family. Glad you found a vet who understands the problem AND isn't charging so excessively!
I like the look of your blog.
'' posted this on Thu 24 Mar 2005, 12:00 am
I'm glad you found a vet with some horse sense. ;)
Do those other vets dock doberman ears and tails? That is all for "beauty." Why couldn't they do something for the health of the dog?
Norma [mawcawn@hotmail.com]
'Sariah' posted this on Thu 24 Mar 2005, 8:17 am
No, that's the thing. They don't dock at all because they say it's cruel. But in our case, it is necessary. We don't care about the look, we just want that tail to heal and not have anymore problems.
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