Dog Shaming

Apparently I am hopping on the dog shaming train. Koira doesn't have much to shame, really. Her only real issue is her fear, which is not her fault. Well, and that she requires me to help her up on the bed and into the car despite being healthy and athletic.



Pallo, on the other hand, has plenty about him to shame.



I have to check Pallo's mouth before leaving the Cat's Meow (a local thrift store whose proceeds go to Heartland Humane Society). They have a tennis ball bucket on a low shelf, and Pallo has stolen balls and walked out of the store with them before. Now I check before we leave.




I think all regular blog readers have heard this story. I brought Pallo home from Linn County Dog Control and put him in isolation. He had really bad worms, and had just come from a high volume shelter with an unknown vaccine history. He basically was kenneled or leash walked on pavement (so the worms wouldn't pass to other dogs via the lawn). A few days after bringing him home, he puked up a piece of plastic that turned out to be part of a shot gun shell. Finding that solved the mystery of where the BBs kept coming from. I have to assume he passed the metal part of the casing while at the shelter, since I didn't find it and x-rays (much later, and for a different reason) showed no metal objects in his gut.



And everyone knows this problem of Pallo's. Despite walking him a ton, and doing everything possible to make sure he is empty before heading into the ring, he still poops in the flyball ring. He even did it when I sent him to Canada with another handler (I even warned her beforehand about it). It hasn't happened recently at class or at a recent tournament, but I can't quite convince myself it is a problem of the past.