Sasquatch, Nessie and other Oddities

OK, so when I was young I was sure that I was going to be the first to discover The Sasquatch (of course I also thought I would marry my Cousin Aubrey too and that never happened either, but I was only 4 years old then so my judgment could be brought into question over that decision), as time went by I had to admit to myself that there was likely no such thing as the big hairy, up right walking, digit possessing Ape-Man critter hanging out in the forest just waiting for me to discover him.

Later in life being of Scottish decent I became more and more interested in my heritage and what would Scotland be without our beloved Nessie. Aye the mythical (or not so mythical as I prefer to believe) Water Horse. With her giant serpentine form she rises up from the depths of the Loch through the fog of the crisp early Scottish Highlands morning; leaving tourists and locals alike tantalizing fodder to ponder, argue and dream about. I know one day I will be seeing eye to eye with the great gal.

Well here in Penetanguishene, Ontario it would seem we have our own creatures of mystery and low and behold I live each day with one of them. Yes, here in good old Penetanguishene, Ontario, we have discovered the once mythical Hair Ball Yacking Dog!

Oh yes, in all my years in the animal industry , with all the dogs I have trained, owned, cared for never have I seen or even heard of a dog which has hairballs. Cats yes, all the time cats are famous for lumbering up to their owners (preferably while company is present) giving them that sour look which says something is brewing and promptly (after emitting grotesque audio track for effect) YACK up a nasty foul smelling hairball hot dog. If you have experienced this you know exactly of what I speak....if not count yourself one of the lucky ones. Cats by nature of their grooming technique are affected greatly by this, room clearing condition, however never until Kona came into my life had I ever heard of this in dogs.

Oh dear Kona she does love to "shock and awe" me into a stupor, however, usually this is done by how fast she picks up a task or a new remarkable action that makes me flash back to her Grandmother. Apparently my dear girl has decided that I am just not easily shocked to her liking so she felt the need to "up her game".

About a month ago we were awakened at about 4:30 am to the tell tale sounds of retching, the kind that tells you get the dog off the carpet NOW or you will not like the results. We immediately think this is Radar, he tends to like to visit the cottagers next door after they have had a campfire and scavenge through the ashes for any over looked tid-bits. He has not yet put together, that this, then causes him great discomfort and an upset tummy followed closely by the retching up of his treasured bounty. I truly hope none of you are having a snack while reading this and my sincere apologies to those folks with less than an iron clad constitution.

Now, back to my tale of rare and unusual beasties.To say the least both human parties leaped out of bed from a lovely slumber and into action, Poor Radar was shocked to find himself hustled into a more vomit safe zone, while Bern went for the cleaning supplies(should have been a nose plug in the clean up kit).

I get back to the bedroom again in time for the unveiling! Yep! Right on time and I swear on cue out hurls this horrendous, massive, sopping wet projectile which lands on the floor at my feet! No bounce just a dull wet thud...then the smell hit me; I really must pat myself on the back at this point for not passing out from the odour alone, but I'm made of sterner stuff and managed to stay on my feet.


My first thought was she got a mouse, a large mouse, and ate it whole, my second was this was a stuffie of some kind she swallowed whole then I suddenly realized that this was a wad of hair! Not mine, Not Bern's but a massive rolled up hair ball not even one clump of hair it was a perfectly formed hairball of various types (in itself not surprising since we run a grooming shop).

It appeared that our dear Kona had been taking her SD job seriously and perhaps helping to clean up fallen hair from the shop floor. Though, I am making light of this now the serious side of this could have been Kona having a blockage if this hairball did not come up, so in this case up is better than not up. In light of this fact Bern and I resolved to commit to preventing her from snacking on any hair or fur that falls to the floor. So we took measures to prevent this and worked hard on the Kona Leave it the moment she even looked at the hair, in this we were a complete success....HOWEVER.


Two days ago in the early evening Kona was enjoying a nice relaxing snooze on the deck when we heard some sounds. Not sure what these sounds were exactly Bern took a look and I heard "Kona Leave IT"! Of course to this I asked what was happening and Bern told me she has either a bird or a chipmunk! OH NO is my thought of course worrying that my efforts to socialize her to other small critters had failed. We both go into action and at close inspection we discover the truth. WE STILL HAVE AN ELUSIVE PENETANGUISHENE, HAIR BALL YACKING DOG! This hair ball was HUGE when he said chipmunk he should have said squirrel, it was massive and I have no idea how she got it up but very glad she did!


This time the hair ball seemed to be mainly her hair and she does clean her self all the time she is always licking her coat. I am beginning to wonder if she didn't imprint on the kittens at the breeders home because she does clean her self like a cat. Either way we now know that dogs get hairballs however unusual and we now know we need to figure out a solution to this issue before we have a situation where it is not coming up.

I now have renewed hope that I will someday find The Sasquatch after all, I did find this elusive mythic Hair Ball Yacking Dog...As to Cousin Aubrey well I have come to learn that little girl crushes should stay in little girl musings and I already found my true love and I am sure Aubrey did also

Lisa & Hairball Kona