Doggy Woes

Thadeus and his ex wife Duchess

So life on the road is hard. I can’t imagine having a child or a boyfriend or husband. Hey, that’s what you got to do to make that money, then that’s what you have to do. Unfortunately, life on the road in hotels is not pet friendly. So when I'm gone finding a dog sitter is seriously super difficult. The kennels these days are not user friendly. The cost of boarding my dog is outrageous; $30 a day, even if you provide food which works out to like $210 a week plus taxes. Then some places have an extra fee for a bath they provide before you pick your pet up. So boarding your dog long term costs the amount of a house note. It would probably be cheaper to rent a hotel room for a month and leave 30 bowls of food. So finally, I find a reasonably priced kennel and what a mess and a half! I leave for 10 days, come back and my dog has staph infection. Again I have to leave for work and I take him to a kennel and he comes back again with staph infection. So that’s twice he’s staph infection, my poor little doggie. So the last time I had to leave him there, and trust me if my mom was in the country she would totally puppy sit, he came back with a damaged penis. I was not prepared to handle that. I knew I had to thoroughly check out his body in case he had staph or some other illnesses. Well that time I noticed he had discoloration and blisters on his private areas. I take him immediately to the vet alarmed and they tell me to come back in the morning. Now I don’t know if dogs get STDs or anything but for him I was worried. I know if that was me in his little furry shoes I would be one unhappy camper. So the next morning we go to his appointment and I'm dreading the news that my dog met the wrong poodle or something. The veterinarian comes in and to our relief, my dog Thadeus and mine; the diagnosis is not some weird dog venereal disease. Apparently, while being groomed the clippers were hot and they must have burned his penis. Wow. Who does that? Then they didn’t even tell me . . . very unprofessional. So the vet gave me some antiseptic cream that I had to apply to his skin and let dry for 5 minutes. Why can’t I just come back and have my dog in the same condition I left him in? These kennels really need to get it together. The facilities need to be cleaner and they need to take better care of the animals. I understand that by choosing the affordable facilities I'm taking a risk but who these days can afford to pay that much money to board their pets. The nature of my job takes me away from home and if I could bring him along I would. So hopefully one day I can find a career to keep him with me more often but regardless, these kennels really need to improve their quality.

My son Thadeus