It has been too long since our last post! And naturally, Dolly has been busy. Since Dolly was a mere 12 weeks of age, she has attended doggy daycare on the days I work (three per week). When I got a new job at around the same time that Dolly came to live with me, I didn't want to leave her home alone to be sad (or chewy), so I made some calls to doggy daycare facilities nearby. The one I'd heard really positive things about, Diggiddy Doggy Daycare in South Melbourne, wouldn't take her because she hadn't had her second lot of shots, so Dolly ended up going to Dog Central in Yarraville. They had much less strict rules, which should have been a sign. It probably was, but I ignored it, because it was convenient.
Dolly seemed to really love it from the start, playing with other dogs all day long, then falling asleep as soon as her head hit the back seat of the car on the way home. Some of the carers there seemed to really care for Dolly too. It wasn't too long before I had to go to WA for a week to be with mum while she had radiation treatment for breast cancer. I was wondering who I could get to come and stay with Dolly, when Chelie, the boss at Dog Central, suggested I leave Dolly with them as they had a "sleepover" program. As advertised on their website, dogs were matched with carefully chosen carers, and went home with them in the evenings after daycare for loving and pampering, then back to daycare for the next day's play. Dolly was young, but Chelie assured me she would take care of Dolly herself.
On my return, Dolly was ecstatic to see me, and had a little cold, but I didn't think anything was amiss. When I asked Chelie about Dolly's sleeping and toiletting, she said Dolly had been an angel and that there were no problems. I thought that was a bit strange seeing as Dolly was not even remotely toilet trained at that stage, but again I didn't suspect anything.
Over the next several months I left Dolly for two weekend sleepovers when I made more trips to Perth, and again I dismissed my growing discomfort with the somewhat evasive answers I received to my questions. Dolly always seemed super-keen to go in to daycare, but at the same time she was starting to exhibit signs of fear when we encountered strangers, especially if anyone (strangers or friends) came to the house. I was worried enough to engage a trainer, the fabulous Tamara from Underdog Training who had run Dolly's puppy school, to help me with Dolly's increasingly severe fear issues.
Then one day a friend forwarded me an article that she'd seen in the local paper, which made me feel sick. Acccording to the woman featured in the article, and four previous staff of Dog Central, the dogs who had these alleged sleepovers actually had no such thing. No going home with a caring staff member, no love and pampering, no comfort. It turns out the dogs who were supposedly on sleepovers were just left in the warehouse overnight. No dog ever went home with any staff member.
To cut a long story shorter, I tried to get a refund, was offered a partial refund, considered taking the issue to VCAT (trust had been broken!) but finally decided I wanted nothing more to do with the evil Chelie so would not pursue it. She fashioned herself a dog lover, but turned out to be Cruella De Vil.
So, back to Diggiddy Doggy, who would have been delighted to take Miss Dog, but insisted (and rightly so) that she be de-sexed first. Obviously a cut above Dog Central who had never required that. Dolly by this time was seven months old, nearing her first heat, so off to Greencross Veterinary Clinic in Williamstown she went, and had the op'. Her convalescence was a trial for both of us as she recovered almost immediately, and could not understand why she wasn't allowed to go rampaging around the neighbourhood as usual.
 |
| Dolly post-op'. |
She's allowed as far up as the landing. NB Quacky Duck, who you can see there, is no longer quacky.
Dolly specialises in de-quacking fluffy ducks.
Dolly is such a competitive soccer player she won't put the ball down even to wee.
No comments:
Post a Comment