Thanks for reading my story :::

A lot of people did not realize it was a story instead of a rambling rant. If you titled it as a story people might of not made the same comments.

If you are a author you have to be use to people's criticism, good/bad.

TexasShadow wrote:
Tether line idea is a good one.
re vets' gouging... some are gougers and some are not. you need to shop around when it isn't an emergency. down here in Texas we have opportunities to get rabies shots cheap at places like Tractor Supply, once a year in the late spring.
we ran into one vet where there was an anesthesia charge as well as the procedure charge, made the cost almost double. he didn't get the job.
we found a vet who is reasonable after looking around.

Anesthesia and surgery are two different processes, and require a surgeon and an anesthetist. To have a fee for the anesthesia and surgery is common practice. Students attending veterinary school these days come out with a tremendous debt. This is one factor that has caused veterinary bills to climb. Add in the cost of running a business, supply costs, and you can see how common procedure costs have increased. I would not call this gouging, but balancing the books. Now, as a general rule I think you will find that client costs in metropolitan areas will be more then in a more rural setting, where livestock costs, etc, affect the cost of the service.

toedtoes wrote:
If you don't mind some critique, I'll offer this for some feedback.

As an article on the curiosities of dogs, it meandered a bit too much to be effective. First you talked about your issues with walking the dog - that was focused too much about your struggles, not the dog's curiosity. The last part really sounded like an internet rant rather than a conclusion to a story. The second part was more about the dog, but without a stronger lead in and ending, it feels like it was just stuck in the middle of a random pair of comments. There are also way to many exclamation points - try and limit them a bit to the parts where you really want an emphasis.

You might try skipping the parts about your trouble walking the dog and focus on the dog's desire to smell and see everything. For the ending, skip the education of the vets (and yours) and focus on how a dog would actually treat another dog - sniff the butt, smell their pee, etc.

X2

If you don't mind some critique, I'll offer this for some feedback.

As an article on the curiosities of dogs, it meandered a bit too much to be effective. First you talked about your issues with walking the dog - that was focused too much about your struggles, not the dog's curiosity. The last part really sounded like an internet rant rather than a conclusion to a story. The second part was more about the dog, but without a stronger lead in and ending, it feels like it was just stuck in the middle of a random pair of comments. There are also way to many exclamation points - try and limit them a bit to the parts where you really want an emphasis.

You might try skipping the parts about your trouble walking the dog and focus on the dog's desire to smell and see everything. For the ending, skip the education of the vets (and yours) and focus on how a dog would actually treat another dog - sniff the butt, smell their pee, etc.

A forum is interactive where people try to help one another solve problems and offer opinions.

I'm a writer and my post was merely an article I wrote on the curiosities of dogs. I thought you all might enjoy reading it but everyone answered with comments about its content... Forum is not the place to share articles no doubt..

If you don't like the fees at a vet, go find another one. I find that solo vet practices tend to have lower rates than multi-vet practices. Try looking for a general practitioner vet, rather than ones with specialties.

As for the yard, the tether is the best solution. You can get them long enough for her to explore a bit and do her business. Otherwise, consider fencing a portion of the yard off the back door so she has a confined space to run free in.

Tether line idea is a good one.
re vets' gouging... some are gougers and some are not. you need to shop around when it isn't an emergency. down here in Texas we have opportunities to get rabies shots cheap at places like Tractor Supply, once a year in the late spring.
we ran into one vet where there was an anesthesia charge as well as the procedure charge, made the cost almost double. he didn't get the job.
we found a vet who is reasonable after looking around.

Used dog doors for years with lots of different Collies. I have a chain link fence around the yard so they can go in and out without my assistance. I would hate to be dependent on someone else every time I needed to use the rest room. If they need to urinate at 2am they do so and don't wake me.

In the RV it's a different story I have to get up through on some clothes and shoes and take them out.

I don't agree with vet's gouging, in fact with all their overhead and training I think they are reasonable.

Don't know about all your other issues/needs.....but a tether line worked very well for our dog.

Open door...attach line......go potty/play
Then when she was ready to come back in.....open door let her in.

Worked for both of us when we were Full Time. I didn't even have to get dressed