I had to take my huskies to the vet today. They needed more Heartguard and they were due for their every 3-year heartworm test. So before the vet would sell me more, I had to bring them in for their test. But they said go ahead and save the office visit fee and bring them during them the Tuesday evening shot clinic. Nice…save $45ish times 2 dogs. Sold!
So I left work at 6:45ish for the 7:00pm – 8:00pm shot clinic. Pulled into parking lot and saw a line of 10 dogs/customers in line. Funny thing I first noticed…all the guys had the little dogs and the women had the bigger dogs. I smiled.
My error – when I got dressed this morning I was not thinking of the vet visit. I dressed for work in jeans, cashmere sweater and 4.5″ heels. At 5:00pm when I took the buds out for their potty break before dinner, I realized the error of my ways…as I almost slid down the hillside by my office.
So I got in line to check the buds in at the vet. Once checked in, you wait in line to be called in, pay for your services and then be seen. I was waiting in line when the pit bull family pulled up. Stereotypical. Whatever. Yet annoying at the same time. But I never blame the dogs. Also..to the girl in this family…you don’t know what ‘hydrid’ or ‘altered’ means? You look to be about 25-28 yrs old – buy a dictionary.
But Angelus was attacked by a pitbull as a puppy and he simply does not forget. Anyone that says dogs have little to no memory is an idiot. Angelus knows when a pitbull is anywhere around and remembers that he doesn’t trust them. When he was a puppy he was attacked at the dogpark by a male pitbull – the only reason he was ok is tht he is SO dang fluffy, the dog couldn’t lock onto his neck before he got pulled off by me and the pitbull owner. That was one of the scariest few minutes of my life as I felt SO helpless as I was just physically unable to drag the dog off. Now I (theoretically) know what to do.
Angelus also had to defend his little brother Storm when he was a puppy. We were at a SuperBowl party and people could bring their dogs. One of the dogs there was a pitbull/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. Storm was a tiny puppy. He walked past the food tables and the other dog freaked and attacked Storm. Angelus responded by jumping on the dog. Ended up putting a hole in his (puppy attacking dog) head and he was bleeding. I didn’t like to see that but he (other dog) attacked my puppy. And his big brother defended him. End of story.
Another more recent incident was where a a guy had his pitbull off-leash on the street by our house and he came running at me/us. Angelus jumped in front of me, and bit the butt/tail of the dog as he came running at us. Made the dog turn tail and run away. Angelus defended us. Nothing more to say about that.
So anyway, this couple walked up with their obviously very strong dog pulling them. She was in a harness and the woman was walking her. It was quite obvious in the first minute that she was not in control. At all. Once I realized it was a girl, I knew Angelus would be fine. He is ok with female pit bulls. My biggest issue was the glaring fact that the woman had no physical control over her dog. At all. I don’t get why people can’t learn this. It’s actually not that hard. And when you have a dog that is stronger than you, you need to pay even more attention to this. Annoys me to no end as people will end up blaming the dog when it’s a doggie parent issue. Same thing with unruly children.
But then I really noticed that all the people there with big dogs (by now, 1 guy with a giant lab came) had no physical control over their dogs. And their dogs were pulling, barking, growling, etc. Basically = being doggies. But the thing is, this isn’t the dog park. And there were people with tiny dogs there that were obviously a little stressed. Plus I didn’t want my dogs to topple me over in my ill-thought-out shoes…
BUT, my dogs were just sitting there. Or laying down. They were being very well-mannered which I appreciated a lot at this point since between my shoes and the craziness of the other dogs, was totally expecting something to happen that involved me getting knocked down :) I have nothing to say but awesome compliments about my dogs’ behavior. But the pitbull (sweet but crazeee), pitbull puppy (x3), Golden Retriever and Lab, (oh yeah that tiny poodle was a spaz!) well…they were all very sweet but…:)
But the staff were, as always, extremely friendly, efficient and quick once with them. I found them when I lived in San Bruno years and years ago, and my cat was sick on a Sunday and needed a vet when mine was closed. Found them, brought Jack in and I have been a client ever since. They offer a shot clinic every Tuesday between 7pm-8pm. This is very helpful and cost efficient for puppies!! And for all dogs really. Plus the doctors there are not the “give them meds and send them on thier way” type of doctors. I appreciate this.The buds’ main doctor is Dr. Cucaro and they love her. Angelus doesn’t like just anyone…and he really likes her :)
If you live anywhere nearby, I highly reccomend the Linda Mar Veterinary Hospital:
Tonight I found out that huskies (and german shepherds) have flat/small veins so it is harder to draw blood. But they were both very brave :)
Oh, and since we didn’t get out of there until 8:30pm, and the buddies were so good about their blood drawings and the other doggy craziness, I took them to McDonald’s to get them their favorite after-vet treat…a 6 piece Chicken McNuggets that they (grugdingly) share. :)
