Update on Bella

I'm starting to worry that Bella is permanently mentally scarred after her horrible grooming experience. It's been over five days and her actions have not improved and her behavior has actually gotten worse.

She pretty much prefers to stay on soft surfaces and will run like a flash to get from my bed, to her bed, to the couch, to the chaise, to her pillow, and makes a flying leap to get onto them. It's like she's trying to get to her destination before her tail gets there. As soon as her tail flicks her backside she turns around as if someone is touching her, and then tries to grab it. I keep telling her, "That's your tail silly!" but she's not "getting it."

She cries to be picked up and wants to be carried from place to place. She won't eat her food unless the bowl is placed on her chaise. Only then will she eat it as she's sitting on the chaise. Same with her water bowl. She won't play fetch. And that was her favorite thing in the world to do. She won't wake up the kids as she's done every single morning. That was her second favorite thing in the world to do.

I've spoken with the vet who said she's never heard of a dog being freaked out by her tail hitting bare flesh and thinks it's more likely she's probably irritated from razor burn. Or, the groomer nicked her somewhere. The vet said the only thing to do for her is give her a half Benadryl, but there was nothing I could put on her to soothe her skin.

When I called the groomer, Biscuits & Bubbles, to ask what the hell happened there, I was told she was "fine when she left." I asked what the hell they were thinking by shaving her to the bare skin halfway down her back and on her underside and on portions of her legs. They said it was a "sanitary cut" and that all "those dogs" get it. Huh? No, she did not get that the last time, and I asked for a puppy cut, not a "sanitary" one. I asked if she fell off the table onto her head or something. No. Since their policy is that the dogs "play" rather than be caged while they await their groom, I even asked if my baby was defiled. Her privates looked raw to me as if she could have been raped or if the razor nicked them. They thought that was funny. I didn't. They had no answers for me, nor an apology, and the girl that groomed her said I could put Cortaid on her to speed up the healing. Are they that clueless? Cortaid cannot be ingested and Bella would lick it right off!

I've heard dogs can't be "spiteful" but two things happened yesterday that makes me wonder. Bella's been very aggressive with my husband, and when he was teasing her with one of her toys, she jumped on his lap and peed on him! She's never done that before. And then when he went to go into bed later on he found a dump on his side of the bed. She has never done that either! He's the one that brought her to the groomer and I wonder if that's her way of getting back at him.

Meanwhile I'm at wit's end trying to figure out what to do to help her. I tried wrapping gauze around her tail and taping it so that it wouldn't hit her. She ripped it right off. I fear she's developing behavior that I will not be able to undo. She was "quirky" to begin with, but now she's downright disturbed. The only time she's "normal" is when she's lying in bed next to me. I think I'm going to go to the pet store later and see if there's something natural I can use on her, or maybe there's some sort of clothing or something I can wrap her backside in. Any suggestions would be most welcome.