First of all, I'd like to apologize for the tardiness of this month's newsletter. The New Year has been off to an interesting and rather dramatic start. The beginning of 2009 has brought with it a new awareness of some needed changes and improvements in the way our services are provided. It also derailed my efforts to get the January newsletter out in a timely manner.

The story goes like this, in an abbreviated version:

Just one day before Christmas, my dog Fern was attacked by a neighborhood dog. Fern was out on a leash walk with a good friend, who is also one of my company dog walkers. The attacking dog was off leash and unprovoked. Luckily, my dog walker was not injured. Unfortunately, despite my dog walker's valiant efforts to prevent the attack, Fern suffered from several deep puncture wounds around her neck. Fern ended up in surgery, on painkillers and antibiotics. I'm happy to report that today Fern is doing great and the incident is in the past.

For me, this was a first. I suppose I have been very fortunate over the past many years. None of our dog walkers nor I have ever had an incident such as this with any of our clients or even our personal pets. Although I have heard quite a few horror stories and seen some scary things in the past.

In light of this event, it has been decided that all It's A Dog's Life dog walkers will begin carrying a can of Spray Shield to reduce the chance of an encounter such as the one Fern experienced. Although this product is highly effective against charging dogs, it is not a guarantee against dogs with a very high level of aggression. In order to further educate our walkers for this type of emergency, I will be conducting a training seminar in defensive handling and in recognizing aggressive behavior in dogs. This seminar will be a compliment to the skills and training our dog walkers have already received.

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,
Lauralea Oliver
Co-Owner, It's A Dog's Life, llc

Everyone at It's A Dog's Life would like to wish all of our clients and friends a happy and healthy New Year! We look forward to providing you with all of your pet care needs in 2009.

 

Sincerely,