HOW TO GET PAINT OFF YOUR DOG...

 

 How to get paint off my dog?

You're probably thinking, why would I ever need to know this piece of information?

Trust me, you may well need it someday..

I came home this evening, exhausted after a really long meeting with the Board of Director's at my client's office, to find my helper shrieking at Rascal in dismay... He had gotten really excited when he heard my car arriving and proceeded to prance up and down the fence like he normally does. The only problem was that there was a pan of paint there!!!

And so he splashed dark brown paint all over the underside of his body and got 2 paws completely soaked in paint as well. And of course, he then left paw prints all over the patio!

I think Charrisa thought I would get really mad at her for letting this happen. I actually found it quite hilarious when I saw Rascal looking as brown as he was.. But my amusement quickly turned to worry when I realised to severity of the situation.

Anyway, in the unlikely event that your dog decides to help you with painting, keep calm and try to get the paint off as quickly as possible. It will be harder to get it off once it has dried. Bear in mind that some dogs may have a bad reaction as well, especially if they start licking their fur, so it is quite important to get it off as quickly as possible.

Get a bowl of vegetable oil or cooking oil, and lots of paper napkins. Soak the paper napkins in the oil and start rubbing out the paint. Try to rub out as much paint as possible. Then give your dog a good warm bath with some mild soap or shampoo. If it's bad, you may have to repeat the process a few times... And if you have a dog with a long coat, you may have to consider shaving off his fur... And if necessary you may need to take your dog to the vet.

But whatever you do, don't use thinner or kerosene on your dog... You could hurt your dog that way. Just thought I'd share this handy tip with you guys... 

PS: I know Rascal doesn't look like he had that much paint on him, but I only thought to take the picture after I had gotten a fair bit off!

PPS: You can also get paint off your skin using vegetable oil if it hasn't fully dried. 

IT ALL STARTS AT SCHOOL...

As I was walking Cleo & Lucky this morning, we ran into a whole bunch of school kids who were doing some kind of cross country running thing.

So all three of us stopped and waited patiently at the junction for all the kids to go past... There were hundreds of them. Cleo and Lucky behaved exceptionally well and just stood there watching the kids. The school kids however, were not nearly as well behaved as my fur-kids.

Almost every single one of them started to - get this - BARK!!! - when they saw us. I was quite horrified at their behaviour and told many of them to stop doing the nonsense that they were doing

If they were faced with dogs that were not as well behaved or strays, they may have put themselves in danger of being bitten by the dogs. Thankfully, my kids didn't flinch in the slightest bit with all the ruckus.

But what irked me most this morning, was not the behaviour of the school kids, but the behaviour of some of the teachers that were chaperoning the kids. One of the teachers who rode past on a motorcycle actually turned around to the children and started shouting and waving like a lunatic!

He shouted: Anjing kat depan! Anjing kat depan! Tepi! Tepi! Tepi! Nanti kena gigit! Tepi! Tepi! Anjing kat depan! Nanti kena gigit! (Dogs up ahead! Dogs up ahead! Move! Move! Move! You'll get bitten!)

This ridiculous behaviour of the teacher got the kids into a right frenzy and they literally all started to run helter-skelter, and scream and shout hysterically as they passed us!

I nearly had a heart attack right there and glared at this stupid teacher! Seriously if my dogs were easily spooked or not as well trained, they would have most probably gotten very excited and may have actually bitten some of the kids.

I feel that as an adult the last thing that teacher should have done was to make the kids panic! He should have told them to walk by calmly and quietly instead of scaring them like he did. And the worst part of this fiasco, was that he rode away after shouting at the kids, instead of staying there to ensure that the kids were safe from my two "ferocious" dogs!

This is probably why so many kids react so badly when they see dogs or when a dog approaches them. Their reaction can cause them to be seriously hurt.

I hope that parents and teachers will actually teach their kids to react the correct way when faced with an unknown dog. Here are some tips on how to prevent being attacked or bitten by a dog!

Avoiding dog attacks

The following tips may help you avoid being attacked by a dog:

• Don't stare dogs in the eyes - dogs often feel as though you're challenging them when you make direct eye contact with them, so this should be avoided to reduce the risk of attack.
• STAND STILL - or maintain a constant slow pace while BACKING out of the dog's territory if you are withdrawing. Do not turn away from the dog.
• Never try to outrun a dog as this will provoke the dog to chase you and this can end in an attack.
• Start by slowly distancing yourself from the dog if it begins to approach you. Get something between yourself and it - for instance if you're on a bike, place the bike between you and the dog; if there is a tree post or bench, ensure they are between yourself and the dog. Once behind the object you can speak softly and gently to calm the dog.
• Do not use part of your body - e.g. an arm - to distance yourself from the dog as the dog may snap at you, causing injury.
• Keep a safe distance between yourself and dogs being walked on a lead, and always ask the owner's permission before approaching any dog.
• Be aware of areas that dogs frequent and change your route to avoid dogs which are not on leads. 

 

What to do if a dog attacks you

• Call 999 (or ask somebody else to) as soon as it is possible to do so. 
• Do not use part of your body - e.g. an arm - to distance yourself from the dog as the dog may snap at you, causing injury.
• If you are attacked or knocked to the ground, take measures to protect your face, neck and head by curling up in a ball and putting your hands on the back of your neck. Try to be still and do not wave your arms around.