When Nature Controls the Population

I believe that companies should have a "no soliciting" law because employees can become trapped and reputations can become damaged. It can definitely become a "damned if I do; damned if I don't" situation. Read on.

Last night, I was working when a customer approached me asking me to sign a petition. After hearing her out, I certainly felt that her intentions were honorable; however, simply hearing her out automatically trapped me. She and a friend of hers have pet raccoons, and they would like to catch wild raccoons and vaccinate them for distemper, rabies, etc. Colorado, however, apparently prohibits giving these types of vaccinations to wild animals. After explaining their intentions, I was asked to sign the petition to make it lawful for them the administer vaccinations. I first checked with a manager to see if we had a policy regarding signing petitions... we do not... unfortunately. If I were to say "no," this puts me in the position of representing my employer as one who does not care about animals. Considering that I work in an animal place, that is not a good reputation to bestow upon my employer. If I say "yes," I am put into a position for those opposed to feel as though my employer supports a system of making decisions for wildlife. Damned if I do; damned if I don't. This was a no-win situation. If the company didn't allow solicitation, I could just say that we don't permit any type of solicitation in the store, thank you very much. Problem solved.

Ultimately, I signed the petition... peace was kept and they went on to spend some money in our store. Had I been approached on the street, would I have signed it? Most assuredly not. I understand what they are attempting to do; however, nature has a way of controlling its own population. I believe that diseases are a form of population control. It is not a human's right to decide these things. Understandably, this was small scale, but let's say that they vaccinated raccoons and they no longer died from rabies and distemper... we might be overrun by raccoons, which is not pleasant, or nature might be forced to develop an even stronger disease for population control. Perhaps on a bubonic plague level. Ultimately, I believe that God is in control here... if he wanted to wipe out rabies and distemper and whatever else amongst the raccoons, he is more than capable of doing it without our involvement.

Ultimately, I hated being pressured into signing for something I don't agree with, but "the customer is always right," hey?

See, this is the problem with blogging... I can think of many things to share.

Beauregarde has beyond bad knees - his vet couldn't locate his knee caps at all during his annual check-up, and because of this, has been atrophying in his rear-end a significant amount. He's also not a big fan of eating, which hasn't helped his situation. A few months back, I put him back on puppy food even though he's almost two years old, so that he could get additional nutrition and gain some weight. Then, a month ago, I switched to a more economical food (still nutritionally comparable to the top-of-the-line he was eating), which he surprisingly really went for. At one time, Beau weighed over 100 pounds, but fell to 86 pounds at his annual check-up. I am happy to report that, as of last Tuesday, Beau is back up to 102 pounds! That was exciting! He walks very stiffly on his back legs, but they don't seem to pain him, and he doesn't look so much like he's withering away to nothing, so that's a definite plus. He's still skinny, but not at all like he was. This is good news. Now, if Samson would quit using Beau as his personal chair for his 130-pound frame, things would be good.

First Blog

With two jobs and two humorous boys (dogs), my life is full of inspiration, so I thought I'd jot them down to be shared... this is my creative therapy outlet.

Last night, I worked in the salon, as usual. I've been asking to get completely out of the dog grooming salon for a few months now, and it may happen soon. There are many days that convince me that moving out of the salon is the right thing to do; however, every once in awhile, there are days that make me love the salon and make me know that I'll miss the opportunities to touch a dog's life.

Saturday night, I ended up chatting with a lady about her dog and its need for a toenail trim. This dog is special. She is a mastiff mix who has cancer and has had one leg amputated. Understandably, her mom was a little nervous about having someone else "work" on her dog, but her toenails were atrocious and she needed help. I suggested that she bring her in on a weeknight with less activity and let her know that I am comfortable with mastiffs and Tuesday would be my next work day. I was happy to see that she was there when I arrived, and Leyni was already working on grinding her toenails. Ginger - the mastiff, was a little nervous, so I knelt down with her and stroked her head while her toes were manicured. She did wonderful, and received the care that she really needed. Her mom was so happy with us that she wants to bring Ginger in for a shedding treatment after their yard is completed. That's when I feel good about what I do. We helped a special dog in need, and her mom was pleased with our work. I look forward to seeing her again.

Additionally, my one appointment for the evening was with a three-month old boxer puppy who was in for his first-ever bath and toenail trim. I like working with puppies because I really focus on making their first experience very positive so that future grooming goes well. At first, Chico was a little timid around the water, but by the time I was finished, he was sitting there like a pro! I spent some time working on getting his toenails trimmed letting him lead... puppy attention spans are quite short, so with a change from the table to the floor and a little playtime, his toes were trimmed and he was ready to go home! Sweet little boy!

Then, the rest of my evening was spent helping Leyni groom two Schnauzer brothers who were rescued last October from Mississippi and clearly have either not been groomed much previously or had bad experiences in their early years being groomed. They fought and nipped a lot, and she did the best that she could (they still looked cute when she was done) and we're noticing improvement on one's behaviour during grooming, so there's hope. I helped hold them, which was a chore... I think that I still have schnauzer hair in my eyeballs.

It's evenings like that when I really do feel like I made a difference.

My boys aren't too happy with me right now, though. They like to spend their spare time on the couch or on the bed. We were finally able to get some rugs (we have hardwood floors) for the house two weeks ago at an amazing close-out sale, and so I don't feel so guilty making them stay on the floor. We've been blocking the couch off, which has been effective, but they have been pretty smart about unblocking the bed and snoozing up there while we shower. With two mastiffs, they tend to slobber all over the bed and bring dirt up with them from playing outside. Last night, we decided to put an end to that once and for all, so we changed out the doorknob on the bedroom door so that we have a working one, and they can no longer enter the room at all when we are not there. I fully expect that Beau will have destroyed something of mine today while I'm at work.