Dog mauls 3 week old

[Penguin08]

And THIS is why you give away your dog when you have a baby... Some people just shouldn't be parents.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Penguin08

And THIS is why you give away your dog when you have a baby... Some people just shouldn't be parents.

I don't think you have to give your dog away. But you have to be careful about the dog and the baby.

[Jill1228]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I don't think you have to give your dog away. But you have to be careful about the dog and the baby.

Exactly! It kills me that some people give their pets away just because the woman is pregnant or a new baby is coming (a lot of cats wind up in shelters this way)

You just don't leave an animal alone with the kid
These dumb assed parents should be banned from breeding

[Xanthus]

Can't they give dogs like this some kind of meds to mellow it out or something? I've heard of some people doing that.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

What was this guy like? I ask because I think some people have fundamentally different attitudes about animals and pets, and it's not simply irresponsibility exactly.

For example, I think, that sometimes farmers have more of a utilitarian attitude about animals and since they also might have a lot of land and little chance of contract between their animals and other people or pets, they don't really think about rules and laws that say suburban pet owners are kind of consumed with.

I think this is especially likely to be true of old people.

I'm not sure what he was like. I guess you could say he was in his fifties. He just kept complaining about the cost. We quoted him $655.00 just to look at the dog, and he freaked over that. I mean, if he would have been taking the dog in for regular check ups, he wouldn't see anything near that amount of money. I blame the owners most of the time, because it's not like the animal can take him/herself to the vet. I agree, people do have different attitudes about pets, it's when they have a "I don't care" attitude that bothers me. He just kept mentioning the cost. 9 times out of 10 he'll be back to have the dog put down. That dog was in terrible shape.

Originally Posted by Penguin08

And THIS is why you give away your dog when you have a baby..

And this is why you shouldn't own a dog to begin with.

Originally Posted by Xanthus

Can't they give dogs like this some kind of meds to mellow it out or something? I've heard of some people doing that.

I've seen owners who think psychiatric drugs for dogs are borderline animal abuse, and I've also seen others who think it's the ultimate cure for behavior problems. It just seems to provoke a strong response from owners, regardless. Really, there isn't a "magic let's make it go away pill" for behavior problems in dogs. It's just that resolving a behavior problem requires behavior modification, not just only for the dog but for the owner too. I mean, there are certain psychiatric drugs that can help some dogs with some behavior problems, but there isn't a drug that can work a miracle cure on its own, and that's what a lot of owners don't understand.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

I'm not sure what he was like. I guess you could say he was in his fifties. He just kept complaining about the cost. We quoted him $655.00 just to look at the dog, and he freaked over that. I mean, if he would have been taking the dog in for regular check ups, he wouldn't see anything near that amount of money. I blame the owners most of the time, because it's not like the animal can take him/herself to the vet. I agree, people do have different attitudes about pets, it's when they have a "I don't care" attitude that bothers me. He just kept mentioning the cost. 9 times out of 10 he'll be back to have the dog put down. That dog was in terrible shape.

I'm sorry for the dog. At my vet, they have you fill out paperwork when you first take in the dog that let's them get a feel for the kind of treatment options you'll be looking at. I think one of my choices for one question had the option of "my pet is member of the family and I would like to know about the best treatments, regardless of cost." But there were other options, and this guy apparently would have check whatever was at the other extreme.

There's no excuse for letting your animal get to the point when it is suffering because of lack of care, but I'd be wary of normalizing the "spare no expense" model of vet care too.
I'm not saying you are and you were there and I wasn't, but for some people $655 is more than a house payment or rent for the month, and they really need to think about whether the pet is the right thing to spend it on. But again, he could have been taking care of the dog all along for a lot less money.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I'm not saying you are and you were there and I wasn't, but for some people $655 is more than a house payment or rent for the month, and they really need to think about whether the pet is the right thing to spend it on. But again, he could have been taking care of the dog all along for a lot less money.

I guess I have to disagree about being able to take care of the dog all along for less. My dog's annual visit costs me around $366. Her semi-annual is about $180. And yes, I take her and yes, I pay it, but it's definitely a lot more than $655 over the lifetime of the dog.

I ask for all the treatment options and try to make the best decision on what I can afford and what will help her out. For instance, I talked to the vet last year about her arthritis, because I could see a difference in how she gets up, etc. So the doctor gave me a month's worth of medicine and said "Try this for a month, if it helps her, we'll get her some refills". The final bill for that visit? $576. I was expecting around $366 and asked about the difference. Yes, the anti-inflammatory for the dog for one month was $210. I love my dog dearly, but I don't have an extra $210 in the budget every single month. I do wish that vet had discussed the cost of the meds with me so we could have explored alternatives. Next visit, I will have to ask again.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I'm not saying you are and you were there and I wasn't, but for some people $655 is more than a house payment or rent for the month, and they really need to think about whether the pet is the right thing to spend it on. But again, he could have been taking care of the dog all along for a lot less money.

Bingo.

eta: I read the rest of the posts. Remember guys, when I said we quoted him $655.00 that was NOT for the treatment itself. That was just for the blood work, xrays, test, etc.... We didn't even get to the cost of the treatment added on to the tests. He'll be in to put this dog down, if he hasn't already done it somewhere else. I know he will. I could just tell by his reaction to the cost. Vets are expensive, but in the long run, you do save more money for regular check ups and shots. I'm not even going to get into the possible cancer he may have had, or the tumors we felt on his body etc. This could have all been prevented if the owner wouldn't have waited 9 years to take a 10 year old dog to see a vet. I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by Penguin08

And THIS is why you give away your dog when you have a baby... Some people just shouldn't be parents.

I would say it's fairly common knowledge that dogs / cats live to be 9-15 years. I don't think people should get a dog if they aren't up for the commitment.

I know plenty of people who had dogs/cats before kids, but they were smart enough to not let the animals around the babies/kids unsupervised and everyone grew up and turned out great.

Some people just shouldn't be pet owners if they are just planning to dump the animals somewhere else once they get knocked up.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

Some people just shouldn't be pet owners if they are just planning to dump the animals somewhere else once they get knocked up.

lol lol texas princess, may I use this as my siggy? I hope you don't mind.

[Jill1228]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

Some people just shouldn't be pet owners if they are just planning to dump the animals somewhere else once they get knocked up.

You are my new hero! I am so borrowing this!

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

lol lol texas princess, may I use this as my siggy? I hope you don't mind.

Originally Posted by Jill1228

You are my new hero! I am so borrowing this!

haha glad you liked it and yes, you can use it

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Penguin08

And THIS is why you give away your dog when you have a baby... Some people just shouldn't be parents.

I do think that if there is a SERIOUS problem with a dog AFTER you have kids, that the safety of your kids needs to come first and another home for the dog needs to be found (a dog should never be dumped or given to just anyone--a good home needs to be found).

However, to just give a dog away JUST BECAUSE you had kids doesn't make sense.

If you know you won't want an animal once you have kids, you shouldn't get one to begin with.

I know plenty of married people who skipped getting that "just married" dog (that some folks get when they get their first place) because they wanted kids right away and didn't want to deal with the responsibility of an animal and a new baby.

That's the smart thing to do.