Oak, I think it's great that you had concern for the dog, but like the others, I don't think it was wise to have opened the door for a variety of reasons. You didn't know the owner or how he/she would have reacted to it;bad people drive nice cars too. You didn't know the dog or how it would react either. What if he had jumped past you or thought you were breaking in and bit you? There's just so many things that could have gone wrong. I think it would have made much better sense to either have the store use their loud speaker to call for the owner or to call the police so they could handle it. Either way the dog would have been taken care of before something tragic happened. At the very least the owner probably would have responded much nicer to a page from the store manager than to walk up to his/her vehicle to find you breaking into it. Like BusyBee said, if the owner was just running in for a few minutes he/she may have really been peeved that you made an unwarranted assumption and then broke into their car without permission. As far as taking offense when someone doesn't agree with you, what's the purpose of posting your question if you don't want someone's honest thoughts? At least the nay sayers are being honest with you. When you post in a forum setting, you leave yourself open for all to respond. If you don't want to hear everyone's opinions don't ask for them.

Lisa, I am sorry to read about the loss of your dog. I just wanted to share my own experience with a similar situation...maybe it will help you feel better about your choice. I took my 13-year old cat to the vet because of sudden weight loss and markedly poor coat. X-rays revealed an intestinal mass and I was given three options. I could put him down right away, put him through more testing that would stress him physically and emotionally, or send him for exploratory surgery. In the end, I chose the surgery. I thought "I know cats that have lived to 18 or 20" and to be honest, I was young, he was my first pet, and I was not ready to let go and have him euthanized. The vet did warn me that it could be difficult for him to recover, but she said she would make the smallest incision possible. I was at work on his surgery day when she called to tell me it was a huge mass involving his stomach and intestine and that due just to the size of the tumor, he would never have good quality of life again. She recommended euthanasia, which I of course realized was the best thing for him. I was unable to leave work so she euthanized him while he was still under for surgery. To this day I am devastated when I think I could have let him go without the trauma of that last overnight at the vet, the surgery, and especially not being able to say goodbye. As others have said, it is so very difficult when we have to make these kinds of decisions, and it's worse when you feel like you don't have time to think and weigh your options. But I believe that you chose well and did the most loving and caring thing left to do for your dear dog. I hope that time brings you peace with your decision.

Curdle, I hope you discarded all the soil in the PJPII pot in a secure waste bag, then removed off your property. Then, a thorough disinfection of the pot in which it grew, as well as all the tools that came in contact with the bush or its pot's soil should be done. The only case of root gall that I am aware I have had so far was 4 years ago on an own root Belinda's Dream, purchased online as a gallon pot from a well known mail order nursery, stateside. It had been growing in the ground in my rose bed for about 3 years when I discovered its root gall as I was moving it to a different spot. There was only one root gall on the bush. It was about 8" out from the crown attached to a very thin root. It was the size of a golf ball, very round and rough, heavy for its size, and as hard as a rock. What surprised me the most was that the Belinda's Dream it grew on was a vigorous bush and showed no above ground signs of the gall on its root. I immediately discarded the bush in the trash can, but I did not disinfect the tools used or remove the soil in the area where it grew. To this date no rose growing in or near the spot in the bed where the infected Belinda's Dream grew has shown anything but good vigor. Does this mean the root gall bacteria has not infected any other roses? I cannot say for sure, who could? There are no above ground signs of anything but strong growth. Does this mean the root gall bacterial has died out? How can I tell. Do all/some of my roses have root gall and show no symptoms? Maybe. These are all questions that linger in my mind. I think my mind would be more at ease if I had removed the soil in the area in which the infected rose grew, and also disinfected the tools used. That is why I have advised you to take all the precautions I did not take. I have no excuse for being careless in my case, and am fortunate my roses are all growing well in spite of me. A word about Pope John Paul II... There have been so many mixed reports on the vigor of PJPII that I would not necesarily lay the blame for its poor performance for you on the root gall it had. Just a thought, in light of the vigor my Belinda's Dream showed in spite of its root gall. Maybe its decline was yet to manifest itself. I may have just moved it before the visual effects of the infestation took place. No way of knowing for sure. Maybe root gall is a benign infestation, unlike crown gall.

'way smaller' than the mother bulbs isn't the best sign. It means something wasn't to their liking and rather than producing another big, blooming size bulb they've split up into many smaller bulbs which likely won't flower. They can be planted as deep as before but I'd suggest adding a few new ones as well so you're guaranteed to see a few flowers at least. You can feed now but better would be to wait until they start rooting so that they are able to 'soak up' the feeding. Without roots they can't do that. Actually in your zone I'm surprised they haven't started rooting already, but as soil temps drop they should start. When growing in a pot make sure they stay well watered, fertilize more often, and plenty of sun until the leaves die off. Once they dry out or the soil in the pot gets too hot they will go dormant and your bulbs won't grow any larger for the next year's bloom. Tulips are especially tough because the whole bulb regrows each year, things like hyacinths and daffodils just add or lose layers (like an onion).