Dog Rant

Dog Gripe | Dog Rant

Terrible Advice About Affording Veterinary Care

Petsmart Charities released results of a new survey recently that shows a majority of people (52%) struggle with affording veterinary care. Everyone is talking about it, as you’ve likely seen. I will probably write about it in more detail soon, but I wanted to share my thoughts (rant) about some terrible advice I saw from an e-newsletter and website for veterinary professionals. I won’t name it here, but I will say that I, myself, would not respond well or feel good about their ideas of how veterinary teams should pre-ask about paying for veterinary care or handle times when people feel worried about paying for recommended veterinary care. It’s cringe-worthy, IMHO.

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Dog Rant | Newsworthy

$100 Dollar Bag of Dog Food

It’s 48 days until Spring. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of M&Ms. It’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses. Bonus points, if you get that movie reference (edited a little to match our situation). I’m in a mood after spending nearly $100 for one bag of dog food last weekend.

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Dog Attack | Dog Life | Dog Rant

Behavioral Euthanasia and Dogs

Those who follow us on social media and subscribe to our site via email already know that our long-term foster dog Forest got adopted, returned a month later, and required immediate behavioral euthanasia on July 7, 2023. As a dog attack survivor in late 2021 and a lifelong dog lover, you can imagine the avalanche of emotions about his death. Let’s look at such decisions because they’re more common than you might imagine.

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Dog Rant

Dog Attack: 6 More Things NOT to Say

The dog attack trauma and drama continue here. Most people really don’t get what a BFD getting attacked by dogs truly is. For many people, it’s lifechanging. After I posted Dog Attack: 5 Things NOT to Say, fellow survivors of dog attacks shared their pet peeves. Here’s a round up of more comments or suggestions that don’t help. Plus, the story of an aggressive dog in my past.

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Dog Rant

Dog Attack: 5 Things NOT to Say

At some point, I’ll be able to write about how 2 loose / aggressive dogs attacked me and Mr. Stix from behind on our daily, neighborhood walk, without warning or provocation, in November 2021. Suffice it to say that it was terrible and traumatic. Yes, we were both injured. Yes, charges (or whatever you call them) have been filed.

In something my personal development coach calls “empathy Tourettes,” many people say things that don’t help and actually make things much, much worse — especially when the trauma is still so fresh. The list will likely get longer over time, but here’s what I’ve got so far for things NOT to say after a dog attack.

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Dog Life | Dog Rant | Newsworthy

The Story is Not My Story

If you follow Champion of My Heart on Facebook, you know that we spent the better part of July helping a family spot and rescue their border collie. She went missing in the huge wildland park near us on July 4. The headline? The family rescued sweet Nellie July 24, and she is recovering from her ordeal really well. I want to talk, though, about storytelling — especially in public / social media / online settings. Whose place is it to tell stories like this? In this case, not mine. The story is not my story. Here’s why.

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Dog Life | Dog Musings | Dog Rant

Dog Etiquette – What to Say (and NOT Say) When You’ve Hit a Dog With Your Car

Yes, I feel a bit of a RANT coming on. Let’s call this Dead Dog Etiquette 101. Our rural mountain community features a not-very-efficient email distribution system when neighbors have news to share or questions to ask. Imagine me almost vomiting when the following email arrived.

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Dog Gripe | Dog Life | Dog Rant

Pet Insurance and Real Life

I remain a staunch supporter of having pet insurance. Yet, the news that our monthly pet insurance premiums were going up — WAY up — bummed me out.

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Dog Gripe | Dog Life | Dog Rant | Hot News | Newsworthy | The Story of Clover

Canine Genetic Tests Thumbs Up (and Down)

The same day we had Clover spayed, I asked our veterinary hospital to run genetic tests too. My primary goal was to learn Clover’s MDR1 status (multi-drug sensitivity gene). Depending upon the genetic test you choose, you can also find out your dog’s breed heritage and whether or not your dog tests positive for other kinds of disease-causing genetic markers. The good news is that Clover is indeed 100% border collie (cute family tree graphic ahead), and she tested NEGATIVE for all 90 genetic markers. The bad news is that the testing company won’t tell me what all 90 of those markers are, which makes me really crabby.

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Dog Rant | Newsworthy

Rant: 3 Reasons This Joke About Adverse Dog Vaccine Reactions Makes Me Livid

Imagine your Canine Soul Mate died from an adverse rabies vaccine reaction a bit more than 18 months ago. You fake it really, really well when you have to, but you’re still a grieving pile of goo on the inside. Now, imagine you’re scrolling through your social media newsfeed and come across a meme (photo with text overlay) that essentially makes fun of adverse dog vaccine reactions. It has been posted in a large community of veterinary emergency hospital professionals, and clearly, many of them find the joke hilarious. Stick with me, kids, I feel a rant coming on …

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