Education on Dog Safety & Sharing Tink’s Story

Hey Hey!

I regret to inform you that this blog post is not about a chic outfit or fun event I attended, but because I am now a serious advocate for dog safety. As I type up this post and look at the little ball of fur next to me, I am reminded that Tink is one of the lucky ones.

On September 4th, Tink, my 6 pound Yorkie, was attacked by another dog.

Now before I go into it–she is doing SO well!!

Aside from sharing some details on social media, I wanted to really dive into this situation, because I feel like you don’t get extremely passionate about something until it hits home. I am not saying that this is true with everyone, but for me personally, Tink’s attack has made me want to get with dog owners and talk about safety.

 Alright–here we go

So on Labor Day, Jeisson and I went over to my aunt’s house to paint for her. Tink has been there a million times. PS–we did not keep her near the paint fumes, I just know she would rather be near me than left at home. Once we were done, my mom got there, we were chatting, and I heard the front screen door close. That door does not close all the way so naturally Tink being a little stinker, she snuck out.

As I simultaneously say something to my mom while opening the door to get her, I realize she has already spotted the woman walking her dog. It is extremely unlike her to just take off, but she did. The last thing I truly remember is running after her and hearing the woman shout, “No no no!” I literally prefer to forget everything else after that.

I honestly hope that no one has to hear and see the things that I did. Which is why I beg every dog owner to take every type of precaution on a daily basis. 

Look at my little trooper!

So that dog has attacked before. Which makes this even worse, since things could have been avoided. Nor was any help given to us by them in regards to vet bills. Which brings me to my first piece of advice:

PET INSURANCE

The $4,000 vet bill could have easily been avoided if I just had pet insurance. Just like yourself, you never know when something will happen.

However, today I got the best news ever–the dog owner’s insurance company is going to pay the entire vet bill! This is of course after we had to put in the claim ourselves since the dog owners did not want to nor told us who they even had insurance through. And we didn’t even want the full amount from them since it is half my fault that Tink got out of the house. It’s sad.

Back to the important part though–Tink is 100% back to her personality, stitches are out, and there is just this little area that still needs to heal on its own. It is just a miracle what she went through and how everything is good now. If you would have told me this a few weeks ago…I wouldn’t have believed it.

People ask me how my trip to NYFW was, but they didn’t realize I had to leave Tink only 3 days after this happened. I want to thank my boyfriend Jeisson and my mom for being there for EVERYTHING while I was gone. You all know my side kick Pam….well I had to apologize to her like 5 million times, because I cried so much on this trip haha…in cabs, the airport, after the shows…everywhere ha. Oops.

So onto a bunch of safety tips and advise 

• Pet Insurance
• Make sure your doors actually close all the way (my own personal lesson)
• A well fitted collar–make sure you can fit a finger in between the collar and the neck but make sure the collar can’t slip off the dog’s head
• Buy a comfortable muzzle for your dog if you know it can be aggressive
  • Here is a link to a great option: Dog Muzzle
• If you think your dog is aggressive or is aggressive, take your dog to a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB), a veterinary behaviorist (Dip ACVB), or a qualified Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT)
• Keep your dog up to date on vaccinations
• Socialize your dog! I remember enrolling Tink into puppy kindergarten right away when I got her. She is only 6 pounds but she loves being around bigger dogs since she grew up that way and got used to it
• Make sure you can “handle” your dog. For example, you can either pick it up or hold it down if needed

 I was thinking about going back to where Tink was trained to learn more about how to spread the word on these things. When I am walking Tink lately, people will ask what happened and this situation has surprisingly happened to a lot of people unfortunately. But why! I want to make it stop–its awful.

To cheer Tink up after all of this–the day finally came where she got a little VIP action! A while back, Tink and I were invited to get a preview of PetFest! Obvi the title says it all–it’s a big festival with our little puppies as the main guests! That day it was WAY too hot for her to wear a shirt to cover the wound so naturally she got a lot of attention given the obvious random haircut and wound. She loved the attention I’m sure. She couldn’t do a lot of the activities but she rocked the agility course!

Well, I know that was a lot and not the happiest topic–but I am on a mission. Even if you don’t have a dog, you know the love that we have for our pets. It’s overwhelming to my heart.

XO Katherine & Tink (woof)