For The Love Of Chloe

Hello!

This is one of those WTF? kind of rants. Do people think anymore? Do they have common sense? Have we degenerated to such a point that we will inadvertently end our species with both a bang and a whimper? If so...can we at least try not to take the canine species with us? What did they ever do... except love us? Apparently a really bad career choice for canines, but it's still not to late~ to my canine buddies I say, run, run for your lives! For better or worse, our canine heroes have attached themselves to a losing proposition...humanity!

Why so tense?

Weeelll...here goes:

We got back from our trip to Cleveland Clinic this week to seek help in healing my irritated tum. Full of good vibes, we cruised into Knoxville late Saturday evening, slept in a pup pile, and woke up this Sunday just in time to return the rental car from hell...otherwise known as 'the rolling log wagon'.

Bill and I decided late lunch at the local pancake place sounded like the ticket, and we could get my Mom her favorite muffins on top of that. Outstanding! Frax was well pleased, since he enjoys sneaking pancake crumbs off the floor when we don't notice.

We limped into the restaurant, and one of the regular waitresses seated us. I should have known that things were on a weird plane when she asked innocently: “Are you with a different service dog today?” That in and of itself was an odd question. Why would I be with a different dog? Why would Frax be with a different human? Odd.

Limping to our seats, I replied that Frax is tired, just as we were~ we had driven over 1000 miles in the last four days~ in a car that 'rode like a log wagon' in Bills words! Poor Bill drove every one of those miles fighting with a very stiff rental car. We all felt every mile. “I think Frax is a tad tired~ probably why you thought he was a different dog!” I explained to her.

We ordered our meals and Frax slept peacefully under the table. I was thankful he didn't snore. The server brought my soup and placed it with a flourish. Wrong soup. A huge amount too! Definitely not the cup I'd ordered. I asked our server if perhaps I had asked for the wrong soup in my fatigued haze. I've been known to think one thing and say another when I'm really tired. Amazingly, this time I hadn't made a mental slip up~ the waiter had. He was amazed that I wasn't upset. On the contrary, I was relieved.

Once things sorted out, Bill and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch, chatting with the familiar folks that normally serve on Sundays there. All in all a pleasant meal.

Nearly at the end, a woman stopped by to say “hi” and ask about Frax. She had left her little 'chiweenie' in her car, all four windows rolled down on this pleasantly moderate day. She had noted we had said 'hi' to her pup on the way in. We admitted we had said 'hi' to her pup, and that her pup was very well-behaved. ( I was just relieved the woman had common sense to roll down all her windows, since she couldn't bring her pup in the restaurant.) People leaving their pups in hot cars are a big way to get my dander up. Lately there have been several canine partners of police around the country left in hot cars to die an unimaginably horrible death...it's a big problem nationwide. This summer alone over five of our canine heroes have died this way~ because their human partner left them to die in a hot car!

So, yes, if Bill and I see a dog in a car alone, we check to make sure things are OK.

It's nosy, but we can't help it. (Check online about these deaths...it will make you a nosy person too...not just about canines, but kids too. People just don't take responsibility for anything~ their canine partner, their family dog or God forbid their own flesh and blood!) “I forgot.” seems a bit lame when discussing a hot car death, don't you think?

So, we sauntered out, ready to go home, and give Frax his warm supper, since it was that time of the day...special...nearly as special as the other time of the day, in the morning-time. We exited the building, chatting about nothing in particular~ when a stocky female yellow lab came pelting towards us...growling?!

Something just was not right...the lab wasn't on a leash! Had she gotten loose from someone? Escaped a car perhaps?

You know when your mind isn't processing as fast as it should? That was me. One moment we were happy and leaving the restaurant, the next, under attack by a yellow lab!

It didn't compute in my fatigued brain. Yellow lab? Growling? And running straight at us? Why? The lab's demeanor didn't match up with her breed...they are loves and canine emotional marshmallows!

Frax reacted with lightening speed. He crossed to the left~ breaking heel, which he never ever does~ and pulling me into and in front of Bill, who caught me in his arms! Frax zipped around behind Bill. Bill reacted quickly, catching me, and Frax too, who stood behind him. I managed to shout out Bill's name before I collapsed into his arms. My weak legs gave out, so I asked Bill to lower me to the curb where I sat, while Bill held Frax steady.

While all this was going on, the poor lab's owner came running up behind her dog...saying “oh, I just let her loose, she loves to run loose and make new friends!” All three of our faces must have looked astonished since her dog didn't look like she wanted to make friends~ she looked like she needed help!

I didn't bother explaining to the woman her dog had no business being off leash in a busy business district near a very busy four lane!

And NO business INTERFERING WITH A SERVICE TEAM...damnit!

Now the rest of the story:

As this crazy woman came hurrying up behind her stressed out lab she was saying “Oh, she just loves making friends, we just picked her up from the vet~ seeee?”

And surely enough folks, there was this poor yellow lab...shaved right leg where an IV had been!...the woman continued...”oh yes, she's been really sick, dehydrated they say, she had to have IV's and everything!”

Meanwhile her dog had come up to me, and was licking my chin, leaning into me...she didn't feel right under my hands...and her owner prattled on...”oh yes, she's shaved~ it's just so much easier in the summer...she sheds so much!”...

I replied that a shedder blade and brushing every day works wonders for shedding...”oh yes, I know what a shedder blade is!” she said, still smiling beatifically.

Apparently taking the time once a day to brush her dog was too much work! so she shaved her poor dog!...I could feel my brows drawing together in...confusion, anger? Not sure...I was stunned, still fatigued and with a very slow MS brain!

The woman introduced herself, shook hands, still talking a mile a minute. “Yup, know exactly what a shedder blade is...yep, Chloe's been very sick...”

Sick. Dog. Licking my face.

It was starting to filter through.

I glanced at Bill. He had surreptitiously stuffed Frax into our vehicle, and started the car and air-conditioning.

“Your dog is soooooo beautiful! I just wanted Chloe to make friends, she loooooves making friends!”

OK. Your dog is deathly ill. You've just picked her up from the vet. You think your dog wants to make friends with my beautiful service dog? The woman is crazy.

The woman had a human friend with her, who had the same horror-stricken face that Bill and I were attempting with great difficulty to hide. Her human friend was trying with some difficulty to regain her powers of speech and steer the crazy woman towards their vehicle, that had an out-of-town plate. It was starting to make sense to my tired MS brain.

Sick. Dog. Sunday...what vet hospital would even be open to discharge a sick dog on a Sunday to a crazy owner? An out-of-town sick dog with a bat-shit crazy owner. Yes, folks, this was a sick dog. Very. Sick.

And this sick dog cuddled into me, licking my chin, grateful for a 'normal' human to interact with as I sat on the curb!

My stream of consciousness to Chloe was along these lines: “oh God you poor sick girl, oh my God, she shaved you! I'm so sorry, oh my God! ... sooooo sorry Chloe!...”

Poor sick, bald Chloe hunkered next to me...”save me! Save me from my crazy owner, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!” came the clear message back. God. What can you do? You can't fix stupid. Chloe is suffering from an owner who loves her but is too crazy and stupid to take care of her properly!

I found my voice. Finally. “What did they say was the medical issue? I croaked

“Oh, well, she had a really, really bad stomach infection~ seeee? Her rear end is really sore!” smiled the crazy woman.

I gazed in horror down the stocky length of Chloe...to her poor shaved rear end...that looked like ground meat. Suddenly that soup and salad weren't sitting too well....I must have gagged, because the horrified human friend of crazy woman now looked mortified.

Chloe was had solidly planted her poor shaved bulk against me and was looking pained as I gazed at her butt that looked every bit like a package of ground round. “Oh, Chloe, how could she let you get

to that point?” I messaged to her...directing her lapping tongue firmly away from my face. I patted her shorn, hurting bulk and thanked God I had not become a vet, and that I didn't have a stick in my hand to beat some sense into her moron of an owner!

I had launched automatically into the “what kind of service dog Frax is” story, and handed her an information card about Canine Assistants, simultaneously looking at Bill, frantic to get away from the poor plucked Chloe, into the car and home to take a nice, cleansing and hot as I could make it: shower!

Nothing that Bill and I could have said to this woman would have made a bit of difference. Chloe's hellish existence with a crazy person couldn't be changed by Bill or I. The people who could have made a difference were the ones who had discharged her on a Sunday evening to someone who was not competent to take care of her.

The important thing was that Frax wasn't exposed to Chloe, and I was going to take a roaring hot shower in the soonest amount of time that we could floor the van and get home safely! You see...we had just returned from a trip of over a 1000 miles to get my malfunctioning tum fixed~ and Chloe had been energetically kissing my chin the past few minutes! Oh fabulous! Then of course, there's the MS and my low immune system...great balls of fire!

Bill and I wrapped things up, I got in the van and we peeled out of the parking lot. Zipping home, I jumped in the shower to decontaminate myself!

Can you believe it? Where do these crazy people come from? And why, why do they feel compelled to throw themselves at my feet? Literally.

So, this is for all the Chloes that are out there suffering with a well-intentioned crazy person. God I am so sorry for you. I pray for you every night. I can't save you. The vet community has to do that. I'm sure they see much worse, and to them you at least have an owner that loves you, even though she hasn't a lick of common sense.

For those stupid yet well-intentioned owners:

I'm glad you think my service dog is beautiful. I do too! That's why we take time to brush him every day. Even though it's a bother, and it would be so much 'easier' to shave him in the summer!

That's why my hubby pelted to the car with him so Frax wouldn't be exposed to your sick dog! So Frax wouldn't get sick too!

I'm glad you wanted Chloe to 'make friends' with Frax. But Frax, thank God isn't a 'normal' dog. He's a service dog. HE IS NOT A PET. He doesn't deserve being bitten or made sick by Chloe, who isn't her jolly lab self, since her rear end is falling off from some sort of canine rump-rot!

Chloe wasn't running up to Frax to 'make friends'. She was running up to take a bite out of Frax! Perhaps a bite out of Bill and me for good measure! She was growling when she ran up! Oh, YES, she was!

Frax ran in front of me, so Chloe couldn't get to me. It confused her, and she stopped in mid-stride, stood and gazed at all three of us in confusion. Bill righted me, then Frax, so no harm done. Thank God!

What if Bill hadn't been there? I would have fallen. Frax did his job to protect me, despite nearly pulling me airborne!

Frax still is processing that I'm 100lb lighter and quick moves pull me right off my feet! He got between me and the confused Chloe, who growled because she is ill, and didn't understand why Frax didn't look like any dog she'd ever seen! It must have been very frightening to her...like a part-canine part-human contraption coming towards her!

The harness is very confusing to other dogs. The fact Frax and I work together in concert is also off-putting to the common canine. Most want no part of us which suits Frax and I fine. I've been taught to get between Frax and another canine to diffuse a tense situation. Frax has been taught to protect me. Both Frax and I were trying to protect one another~ and Bill luckily was there to protect both of us!

So the one thing to take away from this?

Do. Not. Interfere. With. A. Service. Dog. Team.

Ever.

Even if it's your poor bald, sick, confused dog that is interfering. Don't do it. Please.

Take care of your sick dog.

Take her home and love her.

Don't shave her because she is a bother to brush once a day.

Pay attention when she is sick and having diarrhea.

Don't let her butt become a dead ringer for ground round.

Keep her on a leash unless she's in her own safe fenced backyard!

Pay attention to your dog!

Your dog is literally dying for your attention. Nearly did apparently...

God bless the innocents. God bless Chloe, wherever she is tonight, shivering because her protective lab coat is shorn completely off. Because her rear end hurts like hell from the fulminate diarrhea that her 'caregiver' waited too long to get her help with...till she was so infected and hurt she stopped eating~ nigh an unprecedented event for a lab! How sick was Chloe? She's a Labrador Retriever: a canine eating machine. She stopped eating and drinking. She became dehydrated. Chloe was REALLY sick.

I write this in the hope that if you ever come into contact with a Chloe, you will intervene...like the couple that drove the insane owner here to Tennessee from Kentucky to get her poor sick lab some help. Because that was good part of this story. That couple love Chloe. I hope they convince the crazy woman to give up Chloe to them. They obviously are nice folks. They drove from Kentucky to bring Chloe back home. They are making sure this woman paid to get her poor dog top flight medical help. Now go the last mile...give Chloe a good home, give the crazy woman a plant~ perhaps an air plant! It needs nothing but air. Unless the crazy woman lives in a bubble, an air plant should survive and thrive with her!

In the U.S. you must have a permit to drive. Not to have a living, breathing, sentient being live with you! Babies and our dog and cat innocents have no choice in who is their care-taker. Thank goodness we do have DHS to check human innocents. Not so much our canine and feline innocents. That really does take a village folks. If you see something, say something. Hell, DO something!

This unfortunately is also part of being a service team. Seeing the worst in human interaction with other canines. Bill, Frax and I sure didn't seek it out this quiet Sunday in late summer. It found us. It often does, and I really don't know why. People and animals in trouble seem to gravitate to both Bill and I.

Thank you for listening, reading and caring. Perhaps next time you see one of these innocents in distress you will think of Chloe and step in. Please do. It's the only thing that will help me sleep tonight.