Well, it’s been an interesting 48 hours in dogland.
First, we had an overnight visitor.
Second, Zoey is in a cone.
Let’s talk about our visitor first. Tanner went out for a run on Sunday night just as it was getting dark and called me about 15 minutes into the run. When I answered the phone he said, “I found a dog.” So of course I went to get the dog. She didn’t have a collar on but it was clear that she belonged to someone and was well taken care of.
She wasted no time making herself right at home. I posted her picture on a few Facebook groups and on our neighborhood Next Door page hoping to find her owners. We gave her water and food and let her spend the night. Unfortunately, she had to be kept separate from ours because while she was so sweet and full of cuddles with us, she was terrified of our girls and was growling. We thought it in everyone’s best interest not to chance it.
I took her to an animal hospital in our neighborhood on Monday morning to check to see if she had a microchip. The good news was that she did. The bad news is that if you take an animal to a vet to see if they are chipped you have to surrender them if they are. So I had to leave her abruptly and hope she’d be reunited with her family. If they can’t locate the family, the dogs go to Animal Control. I was VERY happy to learn that she did make it home…but apparently has already escaped again. I saw on Next Door that she’s now in someone’s garage!
I always try to help when I see a dog that’s lost or on the loose because I pray someone would do the same for us if one of ours got out. It was a great reminder for me to check our microchips…and I’m glad I did. They were both expired because my card on file changed. I also ordered both girls new collars from Orvis that are personalized with their names and my phone number.
As soon as I got home from taking the lost pup to the vet, I sat down at my desk to start working and Zoey came in. I noticed she had a hot spot on her flank that seemingly came out of nowhere. Work was put on hold while I trimmed the hair around her hot spot, gave her a bath, ran to the drug store to get medicine and then got the house cleaned up from the dog craziness. I’m trying to treat this one at home since we caught it early. They can grow and spread quickly so you have to stay on top of them.
I’m dabbing it with a mix of apple cider vinegar and warm water a few times a day and then dusting it with medicated Gold Bond powder (I read on some golden retriever forums that this is an effective and recommended treatment?). I’ve also got her in a cone to keep her from licking/chewing on it. And I’m giving her Benadryl.
I finally sat down to work around 2 p.m. These fur babies! Goodness.
Luckily, this one is giving me a break and is just being her normal chill self. 🙂
I’ve got a ton of work to crank through this afternoon but I just wanted to share these two stories with you and remind you to a) make sure your dog has a collar and that the address and phone number on it is current and b) check your microchip registration and make sure it’s valid and the info is correct!
Have a wonderful day.
xx
Jen
Any tried and true hot spot remedies? Really trying to avoid a vet bill on this one.
Has your pet ever been lost? Or have you rescued a lost pet?
