Note: This is an article from my column printed in Groomer to Groomer. It assumes the reader is a groomer.
So, you have a client with a dog that paces and licks the floor 30-40 minutes every hour. What do you say? “Get thee to a vet.” My question is simple – why would you say that? In modern parlance, this dog, let’s call her Chloe, is displaying a condition known as obsessive compulsive disorder – OCD. You can see her here: http://youtu.be/BevB7CadN7M
A few years after I got married, my mother showed my mother-in-law, Opal, my baby book. Soon, Opal came running up to me and asked, “I bet you don’t know what your biggest fear was when you were three?” I instantly replied, “dogs.” She stood shocked for a second. “You remember that?” she asked. I think my answer surprised her. “Do you think I’d be likely to forget it?”
For 15 years I had a rescue dog. Most likely, you do not. You probably have a surplus dog. Surplus dogs are in shelters and most often incorrectly-identified “rescue” organizations. They exist because there are not enough homes to go around. Rescue dogs are at risk of tangible and immediate injury and death unless someone…here’s the appropriate word…rescues them. That’s how I met Splasher.
He had fallen in one of the large irrigation canals that lace the greater Phoenix area and was in the process of drowning. The walls of these canals are steep and made of rough concrete. Crawling out of one is impossible for a dog and I could see blooding marks on the far bank to show where this dog had ripped his nails in a futile effort to get out. I decided to help him. I had my dog Tuggy with me who was recovering from surgery and not in the best of shape. So I un-slipped his leash and made a wild-west lasso out of it. I got on my belly and called the dog. He didn’t 
want to have anything to do with me. He was a street dog. Look at those piercing eyes. He kept circling in the current. Continue reading