I know this aint probably relevant but i just wanted to vent my anger somewhere..i live in london and was happily shopping the other day at a market when i saw something that ruin my whole day. I saw a Shih Tzu with it's owner shopping at the market. The Shih Tzu was Dirty..filty, but given that it was a rainy day, it's not unusual to find your dog dirty. but on closer inspection, the Shih tzu was all matted. That made me very angry. This wasn't just some little matts. The Dog was matted all over... ALL over..I'm a owner of a Shih Tzu myself and i take my time everyday to brush my dog everyday..IT was clear that the Dog hasn't been groomed or brushed for a Long time and all i felt like doing was scream at the owner. If you Don't want to brush and groom your dog, DON'T buy a dog. What i should have done was grap a comb and matt the owners hair. That ought to teach them a lesson. That stinking piece of sh*t. Alright feel much beter now....

I have shih tzus too - if i cant cope with coats then off to the beauty parlour they go!!!

Its not just irresponsible but cruel as well.!

Its very cruel....I seen a dog been groomed the poor lil guy was so badly matted when they were cutting away the fur which was pretty close to his skin it just came off like a layer, it almost looked like he was wearing a coat. Very difficult for the groomer to remove as well as painful for the dog. Why don't people realize this...makes me mad as well, to think that it could of all been prevented :(

ttfn :(

I don't blame you for being mad.....I wish some one who knew this person or knew "of" him would report him to the RSPCA.

when I see people with dogs who are cleary mistreated it just winds me up, but if you say some thing - even politly - your likely to get abuse or worse.....sigh :(

How do you know the dog is with the author of its misfortune? Could it be a recent rescue? In the first 3 weeks I had my dog, every time I took him out someone would rush up and threaten to report me for starving him, until I got so sick of it the response was usually 4 letter or a waved mobile phone with " Go on then, I dare you!". We did have a lot of nice people ask if he was ill and offered suggestions after actually listening to us.

i guess you do have a point there.....i guess we all jump to conclusions at times. :(

Yeh, my partners mother has four dog's, one of which is a rescue saluki - to the untrained eye this is a 'skinny' dog anyway but when its a rescue and its been neglected and starved it truly is skin and bones - it's easy for people to think we were the ones that didn't feed it. Of course she looks a picture of health now but she took a while to get there. We always got dodgy looks and mumbles from people on walks, I used to think "if only they knew?"
Sarah.

That Shih tzu is defintely not a rescue dog, if it was a rescue dog wouldn't he have been clipped before he was re-home? Or wouldn't a full clip be the first thing to do if the dog you've just adopted is in such a condition? instead of shopping in a fashion market... Ahhhh...you see? the powers of deduction. I can understand that people might think you've abuse a skinny dog that you've only just adopted and trying to nurse it to good health..but I'm very certain this Shih Tzu is not a rescue dog. Some of my friends say these people frequent the market so next time i see them maybe i'll tell them off...or shoot them the dirtiest look i can give!!

And you know what, your attitude will do nothing to help the dog at all, which is what you claim to be concerned about or do you just enjoy putting people in their place? Think about how you might make a positive approach to the owner and be prepared to be ignored/abused as hazeybabe says.

jtk yong, I do commend you on your concern for this dog but I am merely trying to offer a possible explanation for its condition - although it may not be the right one! But we must consider that the owners do actually care about this dog...perhaps going to a groomer stresses the dog too much? The owners could have left it at home alone all day while they shopped! Would you give a homeless person with a dog a dirty look???
Or maybe they are just lazy gets who didn't look into the grooming requirements of their chosen breed properly - who knows? The only advice being given on this post is one of 'think before jumping to a possible conclusion'!?
Sarah :)