Ok, it is spring break here and Im booked with dogs for spring break. Ive been watching dogs for over 10 yrs so its not new to me to have a lot of dogs here. I have my friends dog here this week.This is the first time Ive watched her, she is a 7 yr old yellow lab, very sweet. Yesterday I noticed some blood on her, on her side. After looking at it, I can see she had a small hole there.I couldnt figure out how it happened. I thought maybe she got it caught on something the yard? My husband looked outside, couldnt find anything and declared it was a dog bite. I had a hard time believing this as she is not a wild dog, and I did not see any other dogs bothering with her. I cleaned it up a couple of times, and applied some ointment. This morning, it still did not look like it was closing or healing. I decided to take her to the vet. I took her to my vet. They shaved it and said it was not a dog bite, but could not tell me exactly what happened. Said it looked like it got caught on a piece of wood or maybe a screw etc..but definetly not a dog bite, because dog bites have 2 puncture wounds not just one. Anyways, they cleaned it out,and put staples in it and sent us home with antibotics for the dog.The whole visit was 132$ which Im not worried about. Im worried about that my friend will be upset. Would you be upset if this was your dog? She has been here for a week now, and this just happened yesterday. My friend will come get her tomorrow. I have her cell phone number, but have not called her as I did not want to worry her. It is not a life or death situation. I know that I would be worried if somebody called me long distance to tell me my dog was injured. Now Im going to have anxiety over this until she comes here tomorrow.

By Cat on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 01:22 pm:

The only thing I might be upset about would be not knowing/you not calling. I'm the kind of person that I would want to know. I may or may not worry (if you'd told me it's not life threatening I probably wouldn't worry). Of course, you know your friend better than I do. It sounds like you did a good job dealing with it, though. Sorry you had a problem with your friend's dog. Poor thing. Gotta wonder how it happened, but like with kids sometimes you'll just never know!

By Heaventree on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 01:47 pm:

I think I would be upset if you hadn't taken the dog to the vet. Otherwise I'd been fine with what you've done.

Do you normally ask the dog's owners what they would like you to if this type of thing happens while they are away?

By Jackie on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:03 pm:

Well, most of the customers I have will write their info(emergency contact number, and Vets name and number) down on some paper for me. I guess with my friend,it was more casual. I did not even think to get any more info then just her cell phone number.

By Colette on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:06 pm:

I would call her and tell her.

By Truestori on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:13 pm:

I would call and let her know. That way she knows what to expect when she gets home.

By Reds9298 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:17 pm:

I also would call her and let her know. If it were me, as long as I was convinced that it was nothing serious and that the dog had been to the vet, I would be fine with it.

If I found out when I got home, I would kind-of be wondering why you hadn't called me. Knowing me, I might even be upset that you hadn't called. For us, our dogs are like our kids, and I want to know everything that's going on with them. If my in-laws didn't call me to tell me Natalie had to go to the ER for 2 stitches in her finger, I would be ticked. I think I would be upset about the dog, too.

Just my take on it though!

By Yjja123 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:28 pm:

I agree. I would want to be called.

By Cocoabutter on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:38 pm:

Goodness no! If you hadn't taken the dog in, it would have been infected and probably gotten worse by the time I got back from my trip, so if nothing else, you saved her time and money by taking care of it before it got worse. Besides, it shows how much you really care for the pets you take in.

I suppose a call would have been nice, but it's no sweat to me.

As for the wound, I found a hole in my cat's skin on two different occasions. The vet said it was probably a bug bite that got infected. She pulled out the "plug" which was pus that had dried in the wound making it impossible for it to drain. She gave her an antibiotic and sent us on our way.

By Janet on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 02:57 pm:

I totally agree with Lisa. I'm not a dog owner, but as a pet owner, I think you did absolutely the right thing. You are a great pet sitter!

By Kate on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 03:06 pm:

I am not a pet person, but even so, I KNOW I would have wanted to be called ASAP. You took good care of her dog, that's not the issue. But had you called, she might have asked you to take the dog to HER vet, and she might have been able to tell you of any issues the dog has medication/allergy wise, or anxiety over the vet and ways to calm her, etc. I would definitely still call her at this point.

By Jackie on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 03:37 pm:

Well come to find out, my friend just called me and she is home now. I told her on the phone exactly what happened. I said I treated her as I would my own dog. She seemed fine with everything and said she knew that I would take good care of her dog, as that is why she left her with me.She is on her way over here now to get her.

By Shalom2t on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 04:18 pm:

I'm so glad it worked out great.As a dog owner and a animal rescuer the condition of the animal is always the most important. You did everything right. Try to see if the wood piece or screw can be found at your place - it could hurt you or your family. I only leave my pets with 2 trusted ppl - yet I would give you a reference any day1

By Dawnk777 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 06:43 pm:

I guess, since it isn't life-threatening and you took care of it, then I would be fine with it. Accidents happen. For something life-threatening, then I would want to be called right away.

I'm glad it all worked out for you.

By Annie2 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 09:01 pm:

Glad everything worked out. You took all of the right steps. Just wondering, who pays the vet bill in a situation like this?

Did you ask your friend if she would have wanted to be called about this wound or it could have waited until she arrived home? I'm curious to what her answer would be.

In this case scenerio, I wouldn't have wanted to be called. Everything was handled above and beyond and there wouldn't be anything I could do but worry.

I also think comparing a dog having two stitches for a small puncture wound to a small child needing stitches is comparing apples to oranges. JMO

By Jackie on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 09:35 pm:

Well when I took the dog to the vet this morning, I paid the vet bill. It came out to be $132. Before my friend left, she had asked me how much I charge for petsitting. I never gave her a price, because she is a friend, and I dont want my friends paying me. Anyways, she came in sat down and we all talked. She told me about her vacation etc... I gave her the dogs antibotics and the paper from the vet. She took out her checkbook and asked how much she owed me for the daily fee for her dog. I again said Nothing.. She insisted on paying me, I told her just pay for the vet bill and that would be fine. Anyways, after going back and forth , she paid the vet bill and 80$ for my services(10$ a day for 8 days). It was way beyond anything I expected.I never asked her if she wanted to be called. I think because I came back from the vets office at almost noon time and she came and got the dog at 4pm.

By Tripletmom on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 09:49 pm:

I think you did the right thing by not calling her.If she wasn't a friend I would have.You have a very good friend who respects what you do and just wanted to pay you.You are definatley the right person for the job because you cared enough to look after her when she needed it.Kudos to you
P.S. I'd leave my dog with ya!!

By Annie2 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 09:53 pm:

I'm glad everything worked out Jackie. We have to board our dogs when we travel. I wish you lived near us!