[yorkietalkjilly]

Poor Toby - he's had a bad, scary week as far as he's concerned! He's not a bad son - he's a scared, tense dog who felt he had good reason to fight and act out. He likely sensed your disapproving, rather than understanding, attitude during his stress also. I myself am a little concerned about your lack of concern for him during that episode. Try to see it if you were a tiny thing as he is, very young for a dog and your mommy began to dig and pull at your sore feet with another person, hold you down, get mad at you for reacting out of fear and you would try to get away, bite or hurt that person until you could get free and run off - it's called fight or flight.

Sounds like he was scared to death, his pawpads were probably burning from the alcohol, maybe from splits in them or the skin in between his pads. There could have been irritation and maybe raw spots from the sap or drying out of his pads. Plus, pulling the sap out pulled on his delicate toe skin and tiny foot hairs and that hurts, probably scared him to the max, as he's already been pretty tense at home, no doubt.

I'll bet he was stressed to the max from the situation he suddenly found himself in, wondering why you all were doing those awful things to his feet, as well as possibly suffering from no small amount of pain and as far as he was concerned, was fighting for his life. Most dogs would react just like Toby did under the same circumstances unless they are totally trusting of the people working on them and then it still would have been unpleasant, requiring special handling and methods to help the dog through the stressful, likely painful, session. Probably a vet should have seen him first.

No doubt it would have been better if you could have gotten a vet to medicate him to help him deal with the stress and pain to save all that he suffered - it sounds brutal from the way you describe your injuries. He really fought for his life. You can just imagine what he was thinking in his little mind. That poor baby could really dread the next time he goes to that shop if you don't desensitize him to it with a few highly-treated(by the groomer) short and sweet, pleasant visits - quick ins and outs with nothing scary or painful happening and then lots of praise and treats from you after the visit is over.

Taking time-outs was good as a dog can get so stressed their heart beats ultra fast and they can go into shock from stress. I like to wrap a dog having a hissy fit(after I check his gums to be sure they aren't pale or tacky) in a tight, microwave-warmed towel or blanket, being sure his head and eyes are covered, remove him from the immediate area of stress, hold him quietly without any talking to him as a I chat with anyone else around or walk slowly about, just using body warmth, pressure and touching until he calms down and then put him down, begin to distract him by taking him outside for a pee/play session, get him some water and a very few treats(his tummy could be too tense to take in much food)/toys, tossing his ball or take a short 20 foot walk and back - just to get his mind on anything else.

Maybe put some salve, Neosporin, etc. or something on his pawpads in case the sap, hair-pulling or alcohol irritated his little pawpads or skin between the toes and check them frequently over the next few days just to be sure they are okay. Sometimes the cooler weather or lots of pavement walking dries paws out so they form tiny cracks you can't see and alcohol really burns if it gets down under the surface.

Just try to put yourself in Toby's paws and rethink what happened and be a little more understanding of how he viewed the whole scene and you. You've got some trust to earn back, girl.