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Actually, I shouldn't really be surprised. They kinda sucked at parenting in general, why should they be any better with dogs? For those of you who have been following my recent posts, let me both apologize and thank you for listening to my bitchy ranting about my parents. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind now that moving 3000 miles away was the best thing I could have possibly done.
As some of you may remember, my parents just got two new puppies. They are 11 weeks old. One is a very small female, she weighs a little under 4lbs now and will get up to maybe 15lbs when fullgrown. The other is a larger male, he is 14.5lbs now and will get to be around 50lbs. They are not litter mates but came from the samepuppy mill breeder and were born 2 days apart.
My parents first started getting suspicious of the breeder after they put the initial deposit down a couple months ago. They found this breeder's website and did very little research on her before they fell in love with the tiny female and put a deposit down on her. After that, the breeder became very "flighty" and "flakey", to use words my parents used, and was difficult to contact. My parents would leave messages for her, she would not call them back for five days. And never offered an apology or explanation as to why it took several messages and days for her to call back.
About 2 weeks ago, my parents decided they wanted two dogs. They had been talking about getting another, bigger dog, in a few months or a year, after the little girl was a bit older. Then they decided, "why wait?" and reserved a second dog from the same breeder. Again, the breeder was difficult to contact to confirm the reservation.
The breeder is located somewhere in Iowa. My parents are in northern Wisconsin (and just for reference, I am visiting them at the moment.) The breeder ships dogs all over the U.S. (and outside the U.S. too I think) but she will also agree to drive a certain distance to meet people who are close enough. Her and my parents came to an agreement that she would drive across Iowa and my parents would meet her there so the dogs wouldn't have to be shipped.
My parents picked the dogs up on Sunday. There were SEVERAL things wrong with the pickup. First of all, the dogs stank. I mean, STANK. I noticed it IMMEDIATELY when the dogs got home almost 6 hours later. They reeked like barn and animals. It was not a pleasant smell, it was very foul. My parents said they were worse when they first picked the dogs up. Also, the breeder supposedly has a 2 or 3 year health guarantee contract on all of her dogs, that if they get sick or die, she will comp the owners something. Conveniently, she "forgot" to bring that contract and "promised" to mail it to my parents as soon as she got home.
I told my parents, for those two reasons alone, they should not have taken the dogs. My parents argued that they drove a long ways (no arguing there, they did drive several hundred miles but to me, that is no excuse, especially for the money they paid...several thousand dollars for both of these dogs.)
Within 24 hours, I could tell that there was something wrong with both dogs. I worked in a pet supply company that was owned by veterinarians for over three and a half years. I worked in the call center, so I knew the products very well and have talked to many pet owners, the pharmacists who work on staff, the veterinarians themselves, and other people who are experienced with animals. I know what I am talking about. The dogs were both scratching their ears and shaking their heads a lot, so I suspected ear mites. My mom blew it off and said "Oh no, they're just a little bothered by their collars, they're just scratching at their necks." I didn't bother to look in the ears, because we had a vet appointment lined up and knew the vet would catch ear mites pretty easily.
Also, I noticed several symptoms that made me think of worms. Loose stool and diarrhea, bloody stool, dragging their behinds. I told my parents to get stool samples for both of the dogs for the vet appointment. Once again, my mom blew it off. "The breeder said she de-wormed them." Yes, because we've learned to trust this breeder so much...
Then, there was the crating issue. They've never crated any of their dogs in the past; to them it is a "new wave way to potty train dogs." Whatever. I told them how to properly crate dogs. I emphasized getting separate crates for them, especially at first. After they're potty trained, they can sleep together, but it's really best to keep them separated when they're puppies. Did they listen to me? No, of course not, they didn't want to be bothered with two crates, one big one will be good enough, especially because the breeder said that that was the best way to do it!
So, the vet appointment for both pups was today. My dad was telling the vet tech during the preliminary exam what a mess the pups made last night in the crate; one of them had diarrhea all over the crate and both of the pups needed baths this morning (I don't even want to get in to that story.) The vet tech gathered that the dogs were both in one crate and told my parents to separate them. "Oh...really? Well, I guess we can try that." DAMMIT I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT.
Then the vet tech was going over potty training techniques. She mentioned something about "getting up in the middle of the night" because these pups are too young and their bladders are too small to hold it for several hours overnight. My parents commented that they sleep on the upper floor of the house, and the pups sleep on the main floor, so my parents can't really hear them if they cry at night. The vet tech said it is really best to keep them in or near the bedroom at first, until they're potty trained, so that you can take them out at night when they start to cry. Then she left the room. My parents turned to each other and said, (this is not verbatim, but it is close,) "We aren't going to put those dogs in our room at night, and we're not going to get up in the middle of the night to take them out either! Can you imagine how tired we would be, we're so tired already as it is, let alone going up and down the stairs several times every night?" "Um, then the dogs are going to go in the crates..." "Then we'll just have to wash the crates out every day until they're old enough to hold it all night!"
Okay. They basically just admitted to not wanting to potty train these dogs. They're not even trying during the day, because they keep the dogs outside all day during the day and then bring them in during the evening, and stick them out once or twice before crating them, but not necessarily when the dogs are displaying signs of needing to go (there've already been two accidents tonight because my parents took them out at the wrong time.) And now they're just going to let them go all over the crates at night?
So, in comes the actual vet for the exam. Guess what! Looks like the pups have worms! Dammit, I already told you THAT, too!
Oh, and guess what #2! They have earmites, too! Okay, we're three for three now. Maybe they'll start listening to me.
Turns out, the male, at least, doesn't have any of the worms that show up in the standard fecal test (my parents didn't get a stool sample of the female, so we're not entirely sure on her yet.) However, he probably does have either an intestinal bacterial infection, whipworms, or some other kind of worm that starts with a "g" (ghiardia, maybe?). Meanwhile, the female has ear mites and a yeast infection in her ears. So, they're treating the male with a tablet antibiotic to treat whatever is causing the diarrhea. Since the female has most of the same symptoms, she gets the same medication, but because she's so small, she gets an oral suspension. She also needs to be treated with a special ear drop for the yeast infection (which will also clear up the ear mites.) The male needs a separate kind of ear drop since he just has ear mites. And my cat, who has the great misfortune of having to live with my parents until my husband and I get a bigger place and can move him in with us, also needs to be treated for ear mites since there's a good chance he'll get them from the dogs if he doesn't.
So, we have two meds for the male, two for the female, and one for my cat. All five meds need to be given in different doses to different animals on different days. I admit, it was a lot to try and remember and could get confusing really fast. The vet went over everything with all three of us in the exam room: What he was prescribing, what it was supposed to do, which animal we were to give it to, how much, when, how, how often, etc. etc. I didn't take paper notes, since I knew all the instructions would be given to us anyway, but I did pay close attention and asked questions as needed. My mom was listening, although I don't know how much she understood and she didn't ask any questions; my dad wasn't paying attention at all. By the end of the explanation, the vet was talking directly to me.
After the exam, we went up to the front counter, and the vet tech was putting labels on all the bottles of the medicine. As she did so, she showed the bottles to us, gave us all the instructions again, went over everything with us with the bottle in hand. Except...my mom was completely absent from the scene (she went outside to smoke) and my dad, once again, wasn't paying attention. He actually turned to me and said, "I hope you understand all this because I don't get it." Everyone at the vet knows me and knows I used to work at the pet supply store, so they weren't very concerned about my parents' lack of enthusiasm, they knew I'd take care of the animals in the end.
I had plans tonight to go to dinner with a friend of mine. The vet appointment ran way long so by the time we got home, I was running late. All three animals needed meds tonight, and I didn't have time to give them all (plus, at least one of them wasn't supposed to be given right away) so I wrote everything down very clearly, which animal got which med and how much, and asked my mom to go over it with me before I left so she'd understand. She said, "No, that's okay, I'm too tired to look at it now, I'll look at it later." I told her I'd explain stuff when I got home if she needed me to.
I got home around 9:30 and asked if the meds had been given. Nope, none of them. I asked if they wanted to give the meds now. "No, it's too late, we don't know what any of this stuff is going to do to their bowels, they might get sick in the middle of the night. Besides, you said you were going to come home and go over everything with us earlier and you didn't!"
...Okay. Let me get this straight. The dogs are sick and crapping all over their crate, so you don't want to give them their meds, because...they might get sick? I guess ear drops and a topical gel (for my cat) are also liable to give animals upset stomachs, too. Oh, and let's not forget that it's all my fault because I got home late and I was the only one who bothered to pay attention in the vet's office.
They are taking absolutely NO responsibility for these dogs whatsoever. None. It makes me absolutely sick. Part of me wants to give everyone their meds after my parents go to bed so that they start to get better, but part of my doesn't want to because they're MY PARENTS dogs and they need to learn how to do this shit. Also, if I give them their meds at 1am, it would really throw off the rest of their schedule. And there is no reasoning with my parents. They don't want to listen to anyone or take any advice. I am done trying to help them and tell them what to do, they don't listen to me anyway. I get to go home in less than 36 hours and then they're really going to be boned. They've relied on me for a LOT of crap since they got these dogs and I am not going to be around anymore so they're going to have to figure it out themselves, since they apparently know best anyway.
I just really feel bad for the dogs. And my cat. None of them asked for any of this.
As some of you may remember, my parents just got two new puppies. They are 11 weeks old. One is a very small female, she weighs a little under 4lbs now and will get up to maybe 15lbs when fullgrown. The other is a larger male, he is 14.5lbs now and will get to be around 50lbs. They are not litter mates but came from the same
My parents first started getting suspicious of the breeder after they put the initial deposit down a couple months ago. They found this breeder's website and did very little research on her before they fell in love with the tiny female and put a deposit down on her. After that, the breeder became very "flighty" and "flakey", to use words my parents used, and was difficult to contact. My parents would leave messages for her, she would not call them back for five days. And never offered an apology or explanation as to why it took several messages and days for her to call back.
About 2 weeks ago, my parents decided they wanted two dogs. They had been talking about getting another, bigger dog, in a few months or a year, after the little girl was a bit older. Then they decided, "why wait?" and reserved a second dog from the same breeder. Again, the breeder was difficult to contact to confirm the reservation.
The breeder is located somewhere in Iowa. My parents are in northern Wisconsin (and just for reference, I am visiting them at the moment.) The breeder ships dogs all over the U.S. (and outside the U.S. too I think) but she will also agree to drive a certain distance to meet people who are close enough. Her and my parents came to an agreement that she would drive across Iowa and my parents would meet her there so the dogs wouldn't have to be shipped.
My parents picked the dogs up on Sunday. There were SEVERAL things wrong with the pickup. First of all, the dogs stank. I mean, STANK. I noticed it IMMEDIATELY when the dogs got home almost 6 hours later. They reeked like barn and animals. It was not a pleasant smell, it was very foul. My parents said they were worse when they first picked the dogs up. Also, the breeder supposedly has a 2 or 3 year health guarantee contract on all of her dogs, that if they get sick or die, she will comp the owners something. Conveniently, she "forgot" to bring that contract and "promised" to mail it to my parents as soon as she got home.
I told my parents, for those two reasons alone, they should not have taken the dogs. My parents argued that they drove a long ways (no arguing there, they did drive several hundred miles but to me, that is no excuse, especially for the money they paid...several thousand dollars for both of these dogs.)
Within 24 hours, I could tell that there was something wrong with both dogs. I worked in a pet supply company that was owned by veterinarians for over three and a half years. I worked in the call center, so I knew the products very well and have talked to many pet owners, the pharmacists who work on staff, the veterinarians themselves, and other people who are experienced with animals. I know what I am talking about. The dogs were both scratching their ears and shaking their heads a lot, so I suspected ear mites. My mom blew it off and said "Oh no, they're just a little bothered by their collars, they're just scratching at their necks." I didn't bother to look in the ears, because we had a vet appointment lined up and knew the vet would catch ear mites pretty easily.
Also, I noticed several symptoms that made me think of worms. Loose stool and diarrhea, bloody stool, dragging their behinds. I told my parents to get stool samples for both of the dogs for the vet appointment. Once again, my mom blew it off. "The breeder said she de-wormed them." Yes, because we've learned to trust this breeder so much...
Then, there was the crating issue. They've never crated any of their dogs in the past; to them it is a "new wave way to potty train dogs." Whatever. I told them how to properly crate dogs. I emphasized getting separate crates for them, especially at first. After they're potty trained, they can sleep together, but it's really best to keep them separated when they're puppies. Did they listen to me? No, of course not, they didn't want to be bothered with two crates, one big one will be good enough, especially because the breeder said that that was the best way to do it!
So, the vet appointment for both pups was today. My dad was telling the vet tech during the preliminary exam what a mess the pups made last night in the crate; one of them had diarrhea all over the crate and both of the pups needed baths this morning (I don't even want to get in to that story.) The vet tech gathered that the dogs were both in one crate and told my parents to separate them. "Oh...really? Well, I guess we can try that." DAMMIT I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT.
Then the vet tech was going over potty training techniques. She mentioned something about "getting up in the middle of the night" because these pups are too young and their bladders are too small to hold it for several hours overnight. My parents commented that they sleep on the upper floor of the house, and the pups sleep on the main floor, so my parents can't really hear them if they cry at night. The vet tech said it is really best to keep them in or near the bedroom at first, until they're potty trained, so that you can take them out at night when they start to cry. Then she left the room. My parents turned to each other and said, (this is not verbatim, but it is close,) "We aren't going to put those dogs in our room at night, and we're not going to get up in the middle of the night to take them out either! Can you imagine how tired we would be, we're so tired already as it is, let alone going up and down the stairs several times every night?" "Um, then the dogs are going to go in the crates..." "Then we'll just have to wash the crates out every day until they're old enough to hold it all night!"
Okay. They basically just admitted to not wanting to potty train these dogs. They're not even trying during the day, because they keep the dogs outside all day during the day and then bring them in during the evening, and stick them out once or twice before crating them, but not necessarily when the dogs are displaying signs of needing to go (there've already been two accidents tonight because my parents took them out at the wrong time.) And now they're just going to let them go all over the crates at night?
So, in comes the actual vet for the exam. Guess what! Looks like the pups have worms! Dammit, I already told you THAT, too!
Oh, and guess what #2! They have earmites, too! Okay, we're three for three now. Maybe they'll start listening to me.
Turns out, the male, at least, doesn't have any of the worms that show up in the standard fecal test (my parents didn't get a stool sample of the female, so we're not entirely sure on her yet.) However, he probably does have either an intestinal bacterial infection, whipworms, or some other kind of worm that starts with a "g" (ghiardia, maybe?). Meanwhile, the female has ear mites and a yeast infection in her ears. So, they're treating the male with a tablet antibiotic to treat whatever is causing the diarrhea. Since the female has most of the same symptoms, she gets the same medication, but because she's so small, she gets an oral suspension. She also needs to be treated with a special ear drop for the yeast infection (which will also clear up the ear mites.) The male needs a separate kind of ear drop since he just has ear mites. And my cat, who has the great misfortune of having to live with my parents until my husband and I get a bigger place and can move him in with us, also needs to be treated for ear mites since there's a good chance he'll get them from the dogs if he doesn't.
So, we have two meds for the male, two for the female, and one for my cat. All five meds need to be given in different doses to different animals on different days. I admit, it was a lot to try and remember and could get confusing really fast. The vet went over everything with all three of us in the exam room: What he was prescribing, what it was supposed to do, which animal we were to give it to, how much, when, how, how often, etc. etc. I didn't take paper notes, since I knew all the instructions would be given to us anyway, but I did pay close attention and asked questions as needed. My mom was listening, although I don't know how much she understood and she didn't ask any questions; my dad wasn't paying attention at all. By the end of the explanation, the vet was talking directly to me.
After the exam, we went up to the front counter, and the vet tech was putting labels on all the bottles of the medicine. As she did so, she showed the bottles to us, gave us all the instructions again, went over everything with us with the bottle in hand. Except...my mom was completely absent from the scene (she went outside to smoke) and my dad, once again, wasn't paying attention. He actually turned to me and said, "I hope you understand all this because I don't get it." Everyone at the vet knows me and knows I used to work at the pet supply store, so they weren't very concerned about my parents' lack of enthusiasm, they knew I'd take care of the animals in the end.
I had plans tonight to go to dinner with a friend of mine. The vet appointment ran way long so by the time we got home, I was running late. All three animals needed meds tonight, and I didn't have time to give them all (plus, at least one of them wasn't supposed to be given right away) so I wrote everything down very clearly, which animal got which med and how much, and asked my mom to go over it with me before I left so she'd understand. She said, "No, that's okay, I'm too tired to look at it now, I'll look at it later." I told her I'd explain stuff when I got home if she needed me to.
I got home around 9:30 and asked if the meds had been given. Nope, none of them. I asked if they wanted to give the meds now. "No, it's too late, we don't know what any of this stuff is going to do to their bowels, they might get sick in the middle of the night. Besides, you said you were going to come home and go over everything with us earlier and you didn't!"
...Okay. Let me get this straight. The dogs are sick and crapping all over their crate, so you don't want to give them their meds, because...they might get sick? I guess ear drops and a topical gel (for my cat) are also liable to give animals upset stomachs, too. Oh, and let's not forget that it's all my fault because I got home late and I was the only one who bothered to pay attention in the vet's office.
They are taking absolutely NO responsibility for these dogs whatsoever. None. It makes me absolutely sick. Part of me wants to give everyone their meds after my parents go to bed so that they start to get better, but part of my doesn't want to because they're MY PARENTS dogs and they need to learn how to do this shit. Also, if I give them their meds at 1am, it would really throw off the rest of their schedule. And there is no reasoning with my parents. They don't want to listen to anyone or take any advice. I am done trying to help them and tell them what to do, they don't listen to me anyway. I get to go home in less than 36 hours and then they're really going to be boned. They've relied on me for a LOT of crap since they got these dogs and I am not going to be around anymore so they're going to have to figure it out themselves, since they apparently know best anyway.
I just really feel bad for the dogs. And my cat. None of them asked for any of this.
Yeah, i was REALLY glad to get out of that apartment.
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