Maybe you should mind your own business, or

the not so glamorous life of being a volunteer at PACC.

So, I walk sick dogs on Wednesdays. I like it because the dogs live in Hell in the sick bay room and I get to take them into an outdoor dust bowl and play with them for a little while.

They usually appreciate it. The puppies above hate everyone. I kind of don't blame them, though. Their mother was very, very aggressive and was put to sleep. They were slotted for euthanasia as well but someone came to their rescue and now all the sick bay volunteers are trying to help socialize them.

In just the last week, they have come a long way! The black one will take treats out of my hand and the little tan one doesn't show her sharp, white teeth as much.

But, this isn't about the puppies. This isn't really about Harley, pictured below.

Yeah, her skin is peeling off and no one really knows why. The dog doesn't even know. She doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Per the vet, she's being tested for MRSA, but it could just be a thermal burn.

I know this because when I screamed in horror, slipped on the wet concrete and found myself face down in dog piss, dirty towels and bleach water the vet was standing over me to make sure I was OK. I quickly explained that the dog looked like this before I came to see her and that's when she told me they are testing her for MRSA and there should have been a note on the kennel to not walk her.

I was really only worried about the dog and my camera. Both of which were fine.

Unfortunately, when I fell I put my right hand out to catch my fall and in turn hurt my wrist.

After dealing with puppies that hate people, slipping, falling and then finding out that this dog may have MRSA, I decided to call it a day.

I took today off from volunteering and did laundry. My wrist was still a little sore but I didn't pay too much attention to it until 6:00 hit and it was time for wine.

I pulled the wine bottle out from the fridge and was absolutely mortified to discover that I had to use two hands to pour. My wrist hurt enough that I couldn't pour a glass of wine!!!

I guess wearing dog piss, blood, poop, bleach or that maybe I'm a card carrying member of MRSA is really not that big of a deal anymore. But when it comes to pouring my wine, I'm a little pissy about it.

When I started to complain about it, Kat says, "Well, maybe you shouldn't have anymore wine!"

and that's when I said, "Maybe you should mind your own business."

I can't wait to get back to PACC tomorrow!

Hi Heather - an email from my grandmother and my response (pic heavy)

Just checking in a bit later than usual. Nothing exciting to report from here. It's time to go play laser tag with Kiki. Bet you don't have anything that interesting to do. Hi.

Have a good one.

Love, GB

My response which I added to because I totally forgot about the "pretty snapper" and the fire alarm:
 

Hi Grandma,

Here's my day...

We were asked if we wanted to walk dogs from the vet's clinic. We were honored for the opportunity and happy to help!

The first dog came with strict instructions. She had just had surgery to remove some cancerous masses. I was told, "If she starts bleeding a lot, bring her back." We had to bring her back.

I think her name was Darla. Very, very sweet dog!

Kat carried a dog that had just been spayed. She was loose in the clinic but as soon as we put a leash on her, she was all, "I'm not going anywhere" and had to be carried.

ChiChi

Then we were told another dog could only be carried. We could put him down to do his business, but that was all. Why? Because his pelvis was broken. When I put him down to pee, all he did was wiggle around and try to jump on me. I picked him back up right away because I was terrified he was going to hurt himself more.

When I held him, all he could do was give me kisses. He was one of the sweetest and happiest dogs I've met at PACC.

Beans

We walked a dog that had a broken snout and were warned not to let it pick up anything from the ground. We were told to go slow because she like to run. Oh, boy! She was all over the place and the walk was cut a little short because I was worried she would hurt herself more.

Then we played with a puppy that had been hit by a car. His name was, "401" because that was the exit or something where they had found him. He pooped and then drug the leash through the poop. I renamed him to Mr. Poopers but the techs didn't like that much.

Mr. Poopers, errr..I mean 401.

We patted on a puppy's ribcage because it had pneumonia and we wanted to help it clean out it's lungs.

Then we hung out with a dog that had just been neutered and had an open wound on it's leg but it had been stitched up. Somehow while we were with the dog, it opened up its stitches and we had to bring him back, too.

We also played with a dog that had just had his leg amputated and was stapled all back together. The wound looked really, really fresh, but he didn't seem to mind. He was already sitting and trying to get into my lap to cuddle and kiss my face.

Cheerios says, "4 legs are overrated!"

We fed a can of food to one of my favorite dogs on death row and I got a little piece of his fur to make a scrapbook page later.

Customers broke up a dog fight and I pulled out a bleeding dog from the kennel. I delivered him to the vet directly to get checked out. It was just a small amount of blood but I felt he still needed to be checked out. Sorry, no picture.

Kat and I asked permission to move Franki to another kennel up front with another chihuahua, Marco. She was having socialization issues and I thought Marco would help her relax and give her tips on kissing and lap sitting. We had her in the kennel for 3 minutes and then the fire alarm went off. Kat grabbed Marco and I grabbed Franki and we headed to the nearest exit (as we were instructed to).

Franki

On our way out, we were told that it was OK to stay where we were. False alarm. We put the chis back in the kennel and watched them for a few minutes. Checking again on them later, Franki actually came to the front of the kennel for treats. She used to stay as far back in the kennel as possible. Score for us!

We took a picture of a beautiful chihuahua we had seen on PACC's intake photos. She was beautiful in her intake photo and I wanted to try and capture her photo before she was adopted/rescued because then the picture falls off Petharbor never to be seen again. Her name is Sammi:

 Here's the description of her that I gave someone else: 

I tried to take another picture of her today before the chi rescue got there. I didn't pull her out of her kennel because she did not appreciate my artistic vision and showed me her teeth. This was all I got and it's blurry. 

By the way, her teeth were pretty, too! Shiny and white!

I took a picture of a pit bull whose head was covered in scabs from what looked like bites. Look at the poor guy's ears. Chopped off with scissors probably.

I yelled at two kids because they were trying to climb on top of the kennels. Sorry, no pictures.

We played ball with a dog that's last day might be today. I think we wore him out because he flopped into his bed when we took him back to his kennel. I'd like to think he had a happy day. 

Bandit is a happy boy. He got a walk from a volunteer today, he got to hang out with Matt West in the office for a bit, he got to play ball in the meet and greet with me and Kat, he drank a bunch of water and then knocked over what was left in the bowl and bounced around in the puddle he made. He ate 40,000 treats and sat for each one. He stood by the gate and wanted to go back to his kennel to relax. When we got back to his kennel, he drank more water and then threw himself on his bed for a nap. If this is his last day, it was a good one! :)

I helped a tech give Bailey, one of my other favorite dogs, ear drops for her bad ears. It was the first time I ever saw her pissy and bare her teeth! I scolded her for that!

I took pictures of a dog that had a horrible wound on his leg. The tech said it was either a break (waiting on x-rays) or a rattlesnake bite but either way, he may not survive. I didn't think he should die without a name, so Kat named him "Sunshine". We didn't even know he was a he until he stood up.

And he is being treated for his pain. No panic, please. We have a GREAT NEW VET that has taken wonderful care of ALL these animals!

I pulled Taco out from underneath his bed, where he has been hiding since his kennel mate, Jack, was adopted yesterday. We thought he needed a break so we took him outside. I've walked him before. He's on my Flickr page and he's the only chihuahua that I've ever walked from the shelter that knows how to sit for a treat.

Anyway, he was so nervous in the kennels. When we took him outside, his body language began to change. As a breeze would come up, he would close his eyes, put his nose up and just take it all in. He seemed so happy and content and I loved to watch him be at peace for just a few moments.

A new dog came in and Michelle took him into the office where Kat found him. She had tied him to her chair. Michelle weighs like 50 pounds so anytime the dog moved, he would drag her around with him. He is beautiful!! He has one blue eye and one brown eye.

And then, Matt helped me and Kat take pictures of puppies with ringworm because someone in internet land wanted to know if the dogs were part whippet. Kat and I went into a room we've never been in before.

Kat and I found paperwork on top of a freezer with a picture of a dead skunk on it. I guess there was a skunk in the freezer.

By the time we left, I had washed off dog blood, dog poop, dog food and dog slobber from somewhere off my body.

It was a GREAT day!

Hope yours was just as exciting.

Love,

Heather