You'll never believe this one...

Well bloggers, brace yourself for a strange story. For this story, we must back up a week:

Monday, December 22: I dropped Lexie off at the groomers for her Christmas haircut. Later that afternoon, I went to pick her up. She was strange. She would not come to me, she acted afraid, and it was just really out of character for Lexie. We went home, she didn't get better, and began doing strange things that she had never done before. We started to think something happened at the groomers...something unpleasant.

Tuesday, December 23: I called the groomer. They said nothing happened.

Wednesday, December 24-Monday, December 29: Here are the strange observations we made about Lexie:
1. She was jumping on and off of our furniture. Lexie had NEVER done that before.
2. We have a mat on our porch for people to scrape shoes. Lexie never walks on it because it hurts her paws. She was walking right over it.
3. Lexie wouldn't play with toys.
4. When we left, Lexie had full on, 100% nervous breakdown panic attacks.
I really started to get concerned. It was difficult to see such a change in my little dog. We took her to the vet. They agreed she acted strange, but nothing was physically wrong. We took her to Christmas to celebrate. Again, everyone was concerned.

Tuesday, December 30: I wake up to a voicemail from the groomer asking me to call her right away. I did. Then the conversation went a little like this:
Me: "Hi."
Groomer: "Hi. How is Lexie doing?"
Me: "Pretty much the same. She is still acting like a different dog."
Groomer: "Oh my gosh...I don't even believe I have to tell you this...we are pretty sure we switched your dog and gave you back the wrong one."
Me: "............................................what?"

Ok, so at this point my head started to spin. It all came together and everything made sense. This dog that I had been treating like my own for 8 DAYS...was not. Here is how this all shook down:

The other owners noticed strange behavior as well. They took my Lexie (who they thought was Lyla) to the vet today. The vet scanned the dog (just to be sure) because Lyla has a micro chip. Lexie does not. Well...big surprise...no microchip. Lexie was coming home. The groomer brought me Lexie back, and I gave Lyla to her to take back. My head was still spinning, but I was thankful to have her back.

No sooner had I sat down to hold my little baby...RING RING. Animal Control calls. Why did they call you ask???? Because Lexie bit the man she was living with for 8 days and they now have to "watch her" and all of this ridiculous nonsense. Lexie was in an unfamiliar situation, and frankly, I probably would have bitten someone too. I was SO MAD.

Then, I find out that the other owner didn't even call animal control until AFTER the dogs were switched today so he did it just to be a jerk. I was really upset. I still am.

So you're probably asking, "What are you going to do to the groomer????" The answer is nothing. She feels horrible and was really shaken up. The mean old couple (Lyla's parents) were mean enough (apparently) for the both of us. EVERYONE makes mistakes...I have made mistakes in my job and they involve people's real children. I am always so thankful for the parents who DO NOT yell, scream, and threaten, and I refuse to be that person. The groomer is giving us money back and paying vet bills. That's all we need.

Now you're probably asking, "Who's this groomer?" I am not going to post it. I am not here to ruin businesses, or run a name through the mud. It's not important.

Last you're probably asking, "How's Lexie?" Well,,,she's ok. She is very groggy because the mean old couple took her to the vet today and told the vet she needed to be tranquilized...she is just super tired and worn out. She is probably stressed out as well.

So...we are ending 2008 on a positive note...we have OUR Lexie back. I am taking this final "episode" of 2008 as a lesson. I am going to really try to make people's lives better, and not do anything to make lives more difficult for any reason in 2009. These people have just been mean, rude, and crabby over an unfortunate situation that didn't need any added fuel.

So, I wish you all a great New Year's Eve. Ring in 2009 with happiness and joy! I definitely will!