Dog expert

[CRNDLSM]

Good dog
Bad dog
Good Ole bad Ole big Ole
Little dog

Thank you so much

Everything known
Has an exception
Plan D is always 
Improvise

Dont be surprised

All dogs are good dogs
All dogs are bad dogs
All dogs are puppies forever

No one knows your dog
Better than you
You dont know your dog
When youre not there
(You think you do)


These are the facts

[dukealien]

Very nice, and so true. Sometimes.

The dog's name is Rashomon. Or not - depends on who you ask.

[brynmawr1]

Good dog
Bad dog
Good Ole bad Ole big Ole
Little dog    I like the ambiguity of this opening stanza

Thank you so much   and this line elegantly captures the constant need to make the client happy

Everything you know
Has an exception
Plan d is always is there a typo in here?  Ah, plan D!
Improvise   I read this as a warning to those that work with animals.  Tho' the you gets confused with the previous line.  If I am reading it right, maybe..."Everything known"

Don't be surprised  again, a warning.  No room for trust.

All dogs are good dogs
All dogs are bad dogs
All dogs are puppies forever  I went around on this stanza, but really that's it.

No one knows your dog
Better than you
You dont know your dog
When youre not there
You think you do   I would cut this last line, implied


These are the facts  cut maybe this too.

Hey,
After 25yrs of working with animals I've only written one poem about it.  For people that don't know, it's hard to explain how emotionally draining it can be.  Everyone expects that it must be like playing with puppies every day.  When it's more like playing with fuzzy sharks whom we love and adore and whom we know might bite us.  Or those we know will bite us, but still have to love and adore, thank you so much.  Maybe someday I will figure out how to write about my experiences.
Soldier on
Bryn

[busker]

xxx

[busker]

xxx

[CRNDLSM]

Good dog
Bad dog
Good Ole bad Ole big Ole
Little dog    I like the ambiguity of this opening stanza 

Thank you so much   and this line elegantly captures the constant need to make the client happy
                                       I I say this to the dogs more often than to humans, I believe they understand the communication behind it if not the exact words, they hold still? Thank you so much, they do anything I ask? Thank you so much

Everything you know
Has an exception
Plan d is always is there a typo in here?  Ah, plan D!
Improvise   I read this as a warning to those that work with animals.  Tho' the you gets confused with the previous line.  If I am reading it right, maybe..."Everything known"
                                    Thanks for the suggestion, YOU know
Don't be surprised  again, a warning.  No room for trust.
                                    This thread is about to turn into a trauma dump of information, most of the problems did come from people who didnt understand these concepts though 
All dogs are good dogs
All dogs are bad dogs
All dogs are puppies forever  I went around on this stanza, but really that's it.
                                                    These are the facts, im an expert after all 
No one knows your dog
Better than you
You dont know your dog
When youre not there
You think you do   I would cut this last line, implied 
                                 I thought so... Will do

These are the facts  cut maybe this too.
                                       I think I need this one, emphasize the ambiguity

 
Hey,
After 25yrs of working with animals I've only written one poem about it.  For people that don't know, it's hard to explain how emotionally draining it can be.  Everyone expects that it must be like playing with puppies every day.  When it's more like playing with fuzzy sharks whom we love and adore and whom we know might bite us.  Or those we know will bite us, but still have to love and adore, thank you so much.  Maybe someday I will figure out how to write about my experiences.
Soldier on
Bryn

The main reason I didnt trauma dump initially is because I dont want other people to avoid the work because of how messed up it can be.  I gaslight myself almost everyday that the dogs need it and cant do it themselves.  I am not in competition with other groomers, breathing exercises,  anxiety, 

Feel free to write your experiences in this thread if it may unburden you, thanks for your comments

---

I live in the cities on the south side of Houston, theyre all pretty close to each other.
A few months ago, a groomer was arrested for animal abuse having let a dog strangle itself to death on a table. Word spread very fast on social media. I groom live on facebook and usually no ones watching, maybe the owner, but after a couple days of learning about the arrest, I started talking about it on the live feed, I said 'having been a manager of several dog houses i should probably weigh in on the recent news' and when I looked at the camera there were over 700 people watching me.

[CRNDLSM]

The halls this morning are loud and smelly
A handful of volunteers taking turns
Outside, inside, mops, food, 
Urine and feces everywhere
Phones ringing 

Tracy talks the way to his kennel
He still has his leash on

Don't look so guilty
I grab his leash and food bowl
Walking him to my car
So many apologies

His mom heard I moved to a new store
Made the trip to lodge him with me
Knowing I can handle him.
2 acre facility, 3 buildings
In/out runs with little doors
Little doors with latches.

The last place he stayed was a veterinarians
Banned after cornering the entire staff

Shes crying now
i can't be the only one who can handle him!
The girl who closed last night 
Said she left his door open so he could sit outside 
Not checking the latch.
They picked him up 3 miles away
With his food bowl
He climbed two 8-foot chain link fences
Busted through a wooden fence

Took 3 officers to catch him
At 3 in the morning
And couldn't get his leash off 
After wrestling him into the kennel

The chip gave them a phone number
She told them he was at my shop
They already had my number
So many apologies

[CRNDLSM]

I dropped the mop and screamed,
a sound I'd never made before
shock, confusion 

The second boom snapped me out of it
Inside the suite, the electric room
Circuit breakers on fire

Will it blow again? One hand calling 911
the other hand opening every cage
Letting all the dogs out

Big and little dogs together, hustling
outside, blocking the door
with furniture

Rooney's mom is in the lobby checking in
'the powers gone out, it's gonna be
a good day right Rooney?'

Fire truck flies into the parking lot parallel
20 dogs outside, all the doors open
Fans blowing, fires out.

I'm supposed to be at another location
To meet a building inspector
Jade is late to work

[CRNDLSM]

You gave her too much!
The hurt in her voice haunts me
Veterinarian confirmed

5 days, .5 ml insulin
twice a day with food
hand written instructions
We've been through this before.

Twice a day, 
either administered by me
or directly witnessed.

By the fifth day she was so weak,
We called the owners, they said 
it's normal. No, this was worse.

Ma'am, I have your instructions,
.5 ml insulin twice a day
We ran out of food and she had to eat
Yes, half a container of Cesar

              !!NOT THE CESAR!!

There was no other food
             Yes! The containers!! 
Ma'am there's nothing
              Her special diet!
You only gave us Cesars, nothing else

Can you apologize to that young lady
From yesterday, I may have been
A little harsh, Heidi is doing better
                               She's alive

[CRNDLSM]

My stress kicks in one hour before my first dog
I check all my tools and previous instructions
I want to take my time and be calm and relax
I cant

Sure the scissors can cut the skin, slice it off
Clippers can straight up shred it, dont force it
Brushes burn, combs tear, leashes constrict
I cant

Puppies who dont sit still or brittle seniors
Are they vicious in general or in particular
Strong enough to break any, all equipment
I cant

I do my best with what I have with every dog
And understand thats sometimes not enough 
im too tired to defend myself, keep the money 
I cant

The stress doesnt let up at the end of the day
Its miles of liability stretching across months
Hours days and minutes blending into years
I cant yet
I do

[CRNDLSM]

Clothespin on the nose
Air traffic control headphones
Giggling, throwing puppies in my backseat.

Last week I came over and gave nine 
Dobermans their first round of vaccines.
So cute climbing over each other in their pin.
Six weeks old.

The plan was to ween them off their mother
At eight weeks, then sell them. No problem
I will do whatever you want to do.

We think its an Irish setter,  the employees
said they saw them lock, it only takes a second.
Everything is he said she said, they said you said
She could have playtime

Theres something hanging out of my dog
She looks pregnant

7 weeks old hes throwing them in my car
Giggling saying hes done, get them out
I split them up to our 4 locations, free
With proof of residence and income

One was picked up by a laboratory studying
DNA, 50% Irish setter, 50% Doberman 
Extremely well socialized

Another left angry messages about their health
Three went home with separate employees
One was hit by car, I cant even remember
What happened to the rest

A whole year later we get a notice he is suing
for destruction of property and mental anguish
I dont blame him

The girl who checked him in quit and left
So I tracked her down and had her sign a letter 
Emphasizing his agreement to playtime
She had no incentive to help us

He dropped the suit
Fixed his dog

[CRNDLSM]

Love, beautiful and bleak

Brooke and Gavin lived together
Ate together, even had a litter together

When Sonia divorced, her apartment
Wouldn't accept two standard poodles
But she managed a dog house 
And spent more time there anyway

Gavin was 9 when he got bloat
The stomach flips upside down
They look like they have to potty
But theyre actually dying rapidly

Brooke was 14 and you know they know 
Dragging a little, eating less
On the fifth day I called Sonia
First thing with the bad news

"You have to get rid of it, I cant see her,
You have to do something, get rid of it"

 Black bags, empty dumpster,  sorry girl

[CRNDLSM]

Oh my god theres blood
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit
Oh good its just mine

[busker]

These are great
I would actually like to read more
You had started on a series of short stories at one point. You could spin this series into a book.

[CRNDLSM]

Alright busker ill see how far I can take this, let me know when the noveltys worn off, you're my agent now after all


I found two autographed portraits of astronauts
In a random cabinet at south shore
So I put them at the front desk
On the back wall, 
Just a cool thing to see
They must have boarded their dogs there before 

That night Tiffany was closing by herself
She was using the restroom when 
The big door bell went off
She put herself together
Slipping on a puddle
In the hallway in her rush up front

The next morning I asked where the pictures were
She told me about the doorbell
And the puddle, the pictures
Were on the floor broken
But there was no customer up front
Or even a puddle when she double checked

A lady walked in to board her poodle mix
Saw me replacing his photo
He lived next door to her
Dog drowned a few years ago
Wife died tragically the next year
Moved away, he was always a really nice guy

[CRNDLSM]

Look i get it 
Even if they shouldnt exist
Designer dogs deserve a good home

If you want to board that mini French bulldog
But dont want it to get too excited
That includes the 10 seconds after its bath
The day it's going home
In case it swallows too much AIR
And requires a $4000 surgery
Dont board that dog

Better yet, dont breed that investment

[wasellajam]

I keep hoping there's some time in between these traumas, if it's a daily occurrence I can't imagine surviving the stress. Each poem is strong and tells its own distinct story, thanks for posting them here.

[CRNDLSM]

I keep hoping there's some time in between these traumas, if it's a daily occurrence I can't imagine surviving the stress. Each poem is strong and tells its own distinct story, thanks for posting them here.

Ill say anyone who works with dogs has experienced traumas during,  I spent 4 years at a veterinarians when I was 17 in 2003, then I quit working with dogs until my child was a year old in 2014, then 2017 I was promoted to general manager of 4 dog houses in separate touching cities, that lasted until 2023 when I started working out of my house only grooming.  

My general manager time from Hurricane Harvey through covid, between the 4 locations, had some kinda disaster every month that I had to deal with, whether its with dogs or employees, the south shore location was its own saga. 

Im trying to space out the stories here while compiling them because Reliving them isnt fun, and im trying to keep it lighthearted, saving some of the worse ones until I figure out how to write about them,  im really interested in Brynmawrs stories because hes been in it longer than me.  And I wonder about dukealiens military background, not that its the same but...

Thanks for reading ellajam,

[wasellajam]

I keep hoping there's some time in between these traumas, if it's a daily occurrence I can't imagine surviving the stress. Each poem is strong and tells its own distinct story, thanks for posting them here.

Ill say anyone who works with dogs has experienced traumas during,  I spent 4 years at a veterinarians when I was 17 in 2003, then I quit working with dogs until my child was a year old in 2014, then 2017 I was promoted to general manager of 4 dog houses in separate touching cities, that lasted until 2023 when I started working out of my house only grooming.  

My general manager time from Hurricane Harvey through covid, between the 4 locations, had some kinda disaster every month that I had to deal with, whether its with dogs or employees, the south shore location was its own saga. 

Im trying to space out the stories here while compiling them because Reliving them isnt fun, and im trying to keep it lighthearted, saving some of the worse ones until I figure out how to write about them,  im really interested in Brynmawrs stories because hes been in it longer than me.  And I wonder about dukealiens military background, not that its the same but...

Thanks for reading ellajam,

Thanks for letting me know these are more past than present and that you're working from a safer place now. It doesn't effect the reading of the poems but it makes me worry less about you. The poems also make me worry more about my local rescues, which is probably a good thing.