Dog mauls 3 week old

[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.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It truly sounded to me that the dog treated the baby like a puppy. A dog doesn't carry it's prey by the neck, it carries it's puppies by the neck. A dog kills and eats it's prey right then and there. If that dog was trying to harm that baby, that baby wouldn't have lived.

Yes. This. Until this incident, Dakota had shown no indications of behavioral problems at all. Everything I've read/heard about this story leads me to believe she's a really good dog.

Originally Posted by AGDee

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".

Make sure you ask about Glucosamine. Our arthritic dog had been on Rimadyl for several months and showed a slight improvement over her non-Rimadyl days, but not as much as we would've hoped. Our vet suggested we try Glucosamine. After being on it for two months, our dog showed significant improvement. She now gets a dose daily and seems to be much more comfortable than she was while taking Rimadyl. Plus, Glucosamine is much more affordable than Rimadyl. Just thought I'd mention it so you could ask your vet if it's right for your dog.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by AGDee

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.

My vet expenses are a lot more like yours, but I was going by what Cheerful said, "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 assumed it varied a lot by region. And I also suspect that we pay more to get the better products when we could be economizing more. For example, I do Frontline for flea control, and I'm sure I could be doing flea shampoo, sprays, etc, instead. If I had totally outdoor yard dogs like some people do in Georgia, maybe I wouldn't be worried about it at all.

[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.