Magpie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2007
Let me tell you about my dog:
The vet calls her "neurotic" (having ruled out allergies, lack of exercise, boredom, all the usual culprits). If she isn't supervised constantly, she will chew on her own tail until it bleeds. Yep, she self-harms.
But she's also sweet-tempered and quiet and a terrific companion. She greets my students and sits in on all of our lessons. She's endlessly patient with them, and really helps create a calm, welcoming atmosphere when I'm teaching.
On the rare occasions that we need to go out and leave her alone, we stuff her into her pyjamas and confine her in the front room with a frozen bone to keep her occupied (bonus, it also cleans her teeth)
Oh, did I mention she wears pyjamas to sleep at night? Yep, I crocheted three pairs, all designed to make it hard for her to access her tail. We actually did try the cone of shame for awhile, but she's a contortionist and kept figuring out ways to get around it. The pjs work better, and are more comfortable for her.
Here she is, in her pjs:
http://imgur.com/a/T1xSq
We had a hard time finding a groomer who could keep her off her tail. A lot of them wanted to put her in a kennel by herself to dry, and she found that too stressful. We finally found one woman who was great with her, and who would keep her nearby while she worked on other dogs. The only groomer who would return an uninjured dog to us! When she retired, she offered to start coming to our home to groom our dog, independently. She called my dog one of her "special needs puppies", and said she'd kept a few of us as clients because it'd be too hard for us to find a good groomer.
Which is, of course, where the title of this thread comes from.
So... do you have a "special needs" pet? What is yours like?
The vet calls her "neurotic" (having ruled out allergies, lack of exercise, boredom, all the usual culprits). If she isn't supervised constantly, she will chew on her own tail until it bleeds. Yep, she self-harms.
But she's also sweet-tempered and quiet and a terrific companion. She greets my students and sits in on all of our lessons. She's endlessly patient with them, and really helps create a calm, welcoming atmosphere when I'm teaching.
On the rare occasions that we need to go out and leave her alone, we stuff her into her pyjamas and confine her in the front room with a frozen bone to keep her occupied (bonus, it also cleans her teeth)
Oh, did I mention she wears pyjamas to sleep at night? Yep, I crocheted three pairs, all designed to make it hard for her to access her tail. We actually did try the cone of shame for awhile, but she's a contortionist and kept figuring out ways to get around it. The pjs work better, and are more comfortable for her.
Here she is, in her pjs:
http://imgur.com/a/T1xSq
We had a hard time finding a groomer who could keep her off her tail. A lot of them wanted to put her in a kennel by herself to dry, and she found that too stressful. We finally found one woman who was great with her, and who would keep her nearby while she worked on other dogs. The only groomer who would return an uninjured dog to us! When she retired, she offered to start coming to our home to groom our dog, independently. She called my dog one of her "special needs puppies", and said she'd kept a few of us as clients because it'd be too hard for us to find a good groomer.
Which is, of course, where the title of this thread comes from.
So... do you have a "special needs" pet? What is yours like?