Staffordshire Terriers, a week later

It has now been a week since the incident involving the two Staffordshire Terriers I was watching and the small white Shih Tzu (I think). I have had many phone calls from different health departments and have also had to deal with animal control officers. I have learned a lot.
The first thing I should have done before accepting the job was research the kind of dogs I was watching over. If I had done that I would have realized that it is a law in Ontario that this breed be muzzled when outside of the home. I do feel that the owners also had a responsibility to inform me of this but certainly it would have taken mere minutes to find out that information for myself. The owners were in possession of muzzles but neglected to tell me that.
The owners also ended up having to pay the vet bill for the Shih Tzu which had an operation and now has three inches of stitches on its belly. I feel that was harsh punishment and paying half the bill would have been more fair because after all, their dogs were not running around off leash. I am very  happy that the little dog is doing well and it seems will live a long dog life. All three dogs are still in quarantine for another three days.
There have been many calls from various health departments (some bureaucratic ping pong) but rabies from dogs is now extremely rare. According to the doctor in emerg there has not been a case of dog related rabies in Ontario for thirty years. My thumb is healing well and the stitches were removed yesterday. I have almost full movement and holding a ski pole in Vail next week will be no problem.
I hope to dog sit again and the lessons I have learned from this episode will only serve to help me.