I Stole A Dog Today

[Gary A]

I went to see a friend (EX) today. He HAD a really nice smart nice dog. My Thai friend manages to stay drunk and he has money for beer but no money to take care of his dog. This poor creature had two holes in his back. One was an inch in diameter and the other about a half inch. Both holes were full of maggots. NEVER in my life have I seen such a pathetic thing. If I would have had a gun, I would have shot that poor dog. As it was, my drunk friend stumbled into his house. I then took the dog to a vet. The vet spent about an hour and a half cleaning the maggots out. The vet gave the dog a shot to tranquilize him and another later because it took so long to clean the sores. The wounds are now stuffed with something and not sewed shut. The vet gave the dog three more injections, antibiotics, something to kill the fleas and another that I didn't understand what it was for. He spoke very little English and he will call my wife tomorrow to tell her how to take care of the wounds. My heart hurts to see an animal suffer the way that dog has suffered. I'm really afraid that if my former Thai friend says anything about me taking the dog, I may be in trouble. If I can't find a GOOD home for the dog, my Golden Retriever, Cookie will just have to get used to having another dog in the family. I have already named him Scooby. He looks and acts like Scooby. He is a fairly big dog, maybe part Doberman and who knows what else. He trusted me when I know he was hurting big time.

[lannarebirth]

Good for you Gary. Thais pretty much understand about taking dogs. I've been with many Thai friends, and I might mention "I really like that dog over there". They always say "you should take it'. Cookie probably could use a companion anyhow.

[londonthai]

looks like it wasn't in a such bad state if veterinarian saved him with a few stitches and a jab.

if it's a really smart dog anybody will take care of him - but don't return in to the bastard who made dog to suffer that much.

[sbk]

Maggots will eventually kill a dog, so he did save the dogs life.

Would your Thai friend know you took the dog if he was that drunk? Or could you get away with "oh he's such a beautiful dog and my dog is so lonely, I didn't think you'd mind" ?? Agreed, if he didn't take care of the dog then he probably wasn't that attached in the first place. Try not to make an issue out of it and he will probably just ignore it.

[Gary A]

Here's Scooby;

Last week I gave the guys neighbor lady a couple hundred baht to feed the dog. He's still pretty skinny. I'm NOT giving the dog back.

[Phil Conners]

[Nienke]

Good on you and your wife, Gary A, that you took care of this poor creature. From the pic, my first guess is a rottweiler mix. Beautiful dog!

I assume by taking the dog away compeltely, the 'friend' can take it as loosing face. Therefore, it might be an idea to consult your wife how to approach this 'friend' in the Thai way and maybe involve his neighbors. It might very be that you get their blessings in taking the dog away and care for it.

Wish you good luck,

Nienke

[garro]

Well done Gary. I can't stand people mistreating animals. Inspirationl stuff.

[elfe]

thanks for taking action on the poor dog!!

most people would not dare or just don't give a @#$%

hope with some diplomacy you can convince the man that you can keep the dog, maybe with help from wife and friends or with some lao kao or bahts

still possible that the next puppy will move in there with him soon...

for maggots, no need to put a dog down. i've seen severe infestations with huge and deep holes also on the head etc, once the maggots are dead which happens very quickly after some powder or solution applied, the wounds heal quite fast. important to remove all dead maggots as left ones could cause infections later on.

saw some severe cases recently here in the streets but could not catch the dogs as too scared or too panicked from their pain and state already, very sad. if not treated they will die as the flies lie more and more eggs in the big smelly wounds and so the maggots will eat their way deep into the body and destroy organs. also infections occur and kill the dog.

please help if you see a dog with maggot-holes!!

dogs being up to date on ivermec injections hardly get maggots, so be prepared.

[baabaabobo]

You did the right thing - well done!

[Gary A]

thanks for taking action on the poor dog!!

most people would not dare or just don't give a @#$%

hope with some diplomacy you can convince the man that you can keep the dog, maybe with help from wife and friends or with some lao kao or bahts

still possible that the next puppy will move in there with him soon...

for maggots, no need to put a dog down. i've seen severe infestations with huge and deep holes also on the head etc, once the maggots are dead which happens very quickly after some powder or solution applied, the wounds heal quite fast. important to remove all dead maggots as left ones could cause infections later on.

saw some severe cases recently here in the streets but could not catch the dogs as too scared or too panicked from their pain and state already, very sad. if not treated they will die as the flies lie more and more eggs in the big smelly wounds and so the maggots will eat their way deep into the body and destroy organs. also infections occur and kill the dog.

please help if you see a dog with maggot-holes!!

dogs being up to date on ivermec injections hardly get maggots, so be prepared.

The poor dog was always starving and the neighbors small dog would try to fight with with him when he was stealing its food. I gave the neighbor money to feed him but it was still causing her problems. She was VERY happy when I took the dog. I doubt that the guy even cares and even if he does, that's just too bad. Obviously he wasn't worried about the dog.

The wounds are now stuffed with something, it looks like gauze with some kind of medication soaked in it. I was expecting the vet to sew the wounds closed but he said they must stay open. Surely the gauze must be removed at some point?? I did notice that whatever he stuffed in there came out of a sealed jar. I hope they dissolve by themselves. Is that possible?? The vet promised to call my wife with instructions today. I have two different kinds of pills for him and powder to sprinkle on the outside of the wounds. From what I could understand, insects caused some kind of reaction and caused the original problem. I have NEVER seen a dog have so many fleas. Be assured that he WILL have proper care and whatever injections he needs to keep him healthy.

[Tywais]

I was expecting the vet to sew the wounds closed but he said they must stay open. Surely the gauze must be removed at some point??

I suspect it has to remain oxygenated to help with the healing process and for drainage.

[elfe]

hi gary, little wounds caused by fleas or scratching or scratches from fights, the tiniest wound will do to attract flies to lay their eggs on the wounds. the eggs hatch within hours and the tiny maggots eat their way into the flesh, mostly not to be seen from outside as the hole is so small. only after they grow big inside you can see the hole as it becomes bigger.

the powder you sprinkle around might be negasunt to keep off more flies from the wound.

the gaze will absorb wound water and will have disinfectant on it. has to be removed after about two days and wounds again cleaned or rinsed with betadin and normal saline.

don't forget to deworm, if not already done by the vet, as flea contract worm.

am very happy the bad life is over for scooby

good luck and have fun with her/him

[sbk]

Here's Scooby;

Last week I gave the guys neighbor lady a couple hundred baht to feed the dog. He's still pretty skinny. I'm NOT giving the dog back.

You know, Gary, I knew there was a reason I've always liked you

Let the wound start healing and then you can take the gauze out, it helps to keep the flies out, but it won't dissolve on its own.

[Jet Gorgon]

Stars for you, Gary. I've seen Thais pack maggot holes with tobacco, betel nut juice and lao khao. The dogs all got better. You're lucky! Beaut dog, and I hope you do well together.

[Thaicoon]

Good on you gary, nothing worse than animals been mistreated. you have a friend for life.

One morning about 4am i heard scratching downstairs, opened the door and there was a pup curled up on the doorstep, this was a village dog, thai dog, he was in a heck of a mess, covered in ticks, bleeding etc, so i took him in, cleaned him up, down to vets etc, he is now 5 years old, when in Thailand he follows me everywhere, they know who is good to them, the sharpai and the thai dog are good mates

last year i noticed a big lump on the back of my Chinese Sharpai, it was moving, took it to the vets, he sliced it open, a blow fly had laid its eggs under the skin, it also was full of maggots, dog is ok now.

[Gary A]

My wife talked to the vet today. He wants me to pull the gauze out of the wounds tomorrow. I'm certainly NOT looking forward to doing that. I wanted to take him back but the vet said There was no problem doing it myself. The first yelp and we are going to be headed back over there to have him tranquilized and to let the vet do it.

[sbk]

Gary, you'll be surprised how tough most Thai dogs are. One of our females got into a fight with another dog and got her abdomen sliced open pretty deeply. the clinic here was closed, no one there, so we went to the doctor's office and got suture and thread. I held the dog down while my husband sewed her back up and she did not yelp once. Our other dog, on the other hand, is a total wimp.

[mikethevigoman]

Here's Scooby;

Last week I gave the guys neighbor lady a couple hundred baht to feed the dog. He's still pretty skinny. I'm NOT giving the dog back.

Keep the dog gary, he sure as hel dosent give a ######,poor thing, you will be amazed how loyal he will be to you now, i did a similar thing with a boxer, the guy hit it with a shovel ! after we had a little chat he insisted i take the dog !,. some people have no heart or conscience,,he wont worry that you have taken him for sure, seems he will have more money for booze, loser,. i glad you said he is an ex friend,.

[Gary A]

Sometimes everything goes wrong and you just can't win. Today I got a tweezers and held the dog. My wife was going to pull out the gauze. She got the gauze out of one wound, jumped up got sick and threw up in the yard. She refused to help me again so that meant another 30 kilometer trip to the vet. Off I went. I got there and the dog jumped over the tailgate. The shop house next to the vet had an old glass case on wheels sitting on a fairly steep slope. The old man at that shop house has a small dog. Scooby went over to have a look and the small dog ran into the little glass case. Naturally it rolled down the slope and fell over. Glass all over the place. I didn't see anything in the case but the old man said there was a special Buddha inside. Anyways the vet goes and talks to the old man. The vet told me he would calm the old man down and then call my wife. Scooby is now scared and doesn't want to go in the vet's office. We had to carry him in. The vet went about business cleaning the wounds again. It was naturally hurting the dog and the dog kicked a bowl of some kind of brown medicine over. It splashed all over the doctor's shirt. I then got the dog back in the truck and came home. The vet called my wife and the old man wants 4,500 baht damages for his old case. That old case wasn't worth 500 baht. My wife talked to the old man and he told her 2,500 for the glass and 2,000 for the broken Buddha. She asked him why the glass was so expensive and he told her that the last time his dog knocked it over it cost him 2,500 to get it fixed. I told her to ask him why he hadn't learned not to park it on a slope. I know she didn't ask him because she was quite polite. She told him we would get the glass repaired and he told her we could not because a leg was broken too. I didn't see and Buddha so I can't comment on that. He saw the farang and no doubt sees an easy way to get some money. A$$hole!

[Nienke]

You sure have a very descriptive (do you call it like that?) way of writing Gary A

The yellow stuff the vet has put in the wound is some kind of antibiotic cream. It helps heal a wound quite quickly.

Yes, and there are days that you wish you just have stayed in bed. I'll help you hoping that tomorrow will go much smoother than today

Nienke

[cmsally]

You gave him the wrong name I think. I had a dog called Scooby, I could write a novel about his escapades; he is now in happy retirement in a nearby temple and the ecclesiastical life agrees with him very well. He was the extreme of an alpha male that we got as a puppy from a rural village and home life never agreed with him. One day he packed his bags and went to be top dog at the local temple although he would often come to visit (sometimes his timing wasn't too good , like howling at our front gate at 1am in the morning). Now he rarely visits and he spends most of the time at the temple. He gets fed well and we send the vet down there to organise shots so I guess everyone is happy. He also had a period of wearing one of those head collar things, so when I saw that photo it was deja vu!

[tuffy]

Atta boy Gary A you will have a loyal friend for life!

[baboon]

Nice one Gary. I owe you a pint!

[Who, me ?]

Hi Gary

Great guy you are.....Wish you a long way with Scooby........

[leisurely]

Well done that man. The reason for not suturing the wounds is to aid the healing. If it is deep, it needs to heal by secondary intention, ie, from the bottom up. imagine a volcano crater, it you just sew it up there is a pouchy type thing in the middle.

[Grover]

Nice face on the dog. Well done.

[jayjayjayjay]

GaryA, I would call this a White theft.. I like to tell my daughters that some lies are black and others are white. The white lies are the ones I have told them for there benefit (you get caught out as adults sometimes). Black lies are the evils ones (pls no comments about classifications of all shades of grey)...

Anyway good-on-ya for the white theft..... how is Scooby doing...

Edited November 2, 2007 by jayjayjayjay

[Gary A]

GaryA, I would call this a White theft.. I like to tell my daughters that some lies are black and others are white. The white lies are the ones I have told them for there benefit (you get caught out as adults sometimes). Black lies are the evils ones (pls no comments about classifications of all shades of grey)...

Anyway good-on-ya for the white theft..... how is Scooby doing...

Scooby healed up nicely and now has a new owner in a new home. Unfortunately it was a Thai who wanted him and the last time I saw Scooby was when he jumped into the back of his pickup truck with his tail wagging when they drove off. I would like to see him again but the Thais are not the sentimental type. I would have preferred to have given him to someone I knew but my wife handled the arrangements. Good luck Scooby!

[JackSterling]

GaryA, I would call this a White theft.. I like to tell my daughters that some lies are black and others are white. The white lies are the ones I have told them for there benefit (you get caught out as adults sometimes). Black lies are the evils ones (pls no comments about classifications of all shades of grey)...

Anyway good-on-ya for the white theft..... how is Scooby doing...

Scooby healed up nicely and now has a new owner in a new home. Unfortunately it was a Thai who wanted him and the last time I saw Scooby was when he jumped into the back of his pickup truck with his tail wagging when they drove off. I would like to see him again but the Thais are not the sentimental type. I would have preferred to have given him to someone I knew but my wife handled the arrangements. Good luck Scooby!

Why did you give him up? He looks real nice! Sorta Thaidog mixed Dobie, or Rottie colored..

Oh to have only one dog.. that was a long time ago.. I feed my 50+ Thai dogs 2 bags of dog food and cooked white rice each day.. that is a wee bit over 1000 baht per day. All mine are pedigree TRD and are the ones no one wanted..from several litters over 4 years ... so I am stuck feeding all. I have lots of great TRD I need to give away and I am willing to give away free to the right falongs or Thais who can prove they are worthy of a good TRD. Contact me after reading my website www.ThaiDog.com