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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

WWYD - Incident at Dog Daycare

8 replies

LetThereBeCupcakes · 09/03/2011 17:08

Evening all! I'm after some opinions.
My 2 year old lab goes to daycare once a week. He loves it - trots off with them happy as anything and comes home muddy and shattered.

Yesterday when he was dropped off the girl told me that there'd been "a bit of an incident over a stick" and he'd been bitten on the ear. They cleaned it off, and sent me a text. The text didn't arrive until later that evening and says pretty much the same thing. I can see it was sent at 2.45pm. He was dropped off just after four, so an hour and a half after the incident. I took him straight to the vet - they tried to glue his ear back together but as it had been left so long the glue wouldn't take. He has a course of anti-biotics and if the bite doesn't heal they may have to cut away some of skin.

I was pretty annoyed at the lack of information, so I sent an email (they had all gone home by the time I got in from the vet) and asked what had happened. She replied today - apparently somebody threw one ball for my dog and another dog to chase. My dog caught it but the other bit him in order to get the ball.

I feel like this shouldn't have happened, and that I should be asking them to take better care of him, but realistically what can I expect them to do? They have about 3 dogs to each person so if they're going to play fetch this is likely to happen again. What would people request in this situation?

Half of me thinks that accidents happen and I should let it go, but the other half of me is screaming that this isn't right. Advice please!

OP posts:
DooinMeCleanin · 09/03/2011 17:13

Why didn't they take him to a vet? Although as the owner of two dogs and cat who likes to get in with the mix, these things do happen. Whippy dog was injured in a scuffle to meet me first at the front door and we didn't even notice until we sat down to eat about 15 minutes later Shock

I'd be annoyed at the lack of treatment though.

LetThereBeCupcakes · 09/03/2011 17:16

That's what's annoyed me. It wasn't their fault the text didn't arrive, but they had my landline, work number, and OH's mobile. They could have contacted somebody to come and get him if need be.

OP posts:
sb6699 · 09/03/2011 17:18

Agree with Dooin - these things are always going to happen but I would be concerned at the fact he wasnt taken to the vet or that you werent given a call to ask whether you wanted to come and see the injury and decide yourself whether it warranted expert treatment.

Carrotsandcelery · 09/03/2011 17:22

I agree that things do happen whenever you get a group of animals (or children for that matter) together in a crowd.
My distress would be that he hadn't been taken to the vet immediately and that they hadn't phoned me rather than texted me.

We all know that texts can sometimes take hours to go through whereas we know if we have reached someone or not when we phone.
If they had phoned you then you would have had the opportunity to insist he was taken to the vet or to leave where you were and take him to the vet yourself.
You could also request careful groupings of dogs when games of fetch are going to be played. It seems obvious to me that if you throw one ball for two or three dogs who like to play fetch then there is an increased risk of a scuffle. Maybe they should not play fetch in groups or they should group an older/less interested dog with one who is going to play fetch.
I hope your poor dog is ok. If it helps at all I doubt he will be bothered at all if he loses part of his ear and these features often add character.

LetThereBeCupcakes · 09/03/2011 17:29

Thank you carrots - I will politely mention your idea to them!

He is absolutely fine - bouncing around the house as usual. He is my first puppy-dog so I'm a bit PFB with him at times. Shocking...

OP posts:
Carrotsandcelery · 09/03/2011 18:35

Ours is a rescue and we are seriously PFB with him. They rely on us to stick up for them.

It doesn't mean you need to be cross with them. Just a polite suggestion. I am sure they want to do a good job too.
I'm glad he is bouncy and happy - can't be sore if he is cheerful. Grin

diddl · 11/03/2011 08:46

Only just seen this.

My rescue dog has a ripped ear.

Don´t know how it happened, though.

I didn´t think that you were supposed to throw sticks for dogs?

Carrotsandcelery · 11/03/2011 09:49

Yes diddl I had been told always to throw a ball as they can chew sticks and get bits of them stuck in their mouths.

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