a non-medical vet visit...

[tollermom]

When Thunder and Drummy boarded at the vet while Chase and I went to Chicago, Drummer apparently spent the weekend being pretty freaked out. He's only boarded once before (we usually have a petsitter) and that wasn't at the vet, and for some reason he's just decided that Caring Hands is a Really Scary Place.

So... today started my campaign to desensitize Drummy to the vet's office, and to convince him that it could be fun to go there. I pre-loaded my pocket with treats, popped him in the Trooper, and off we went.

We got there in the middle of the Saturday afternoon rush, so the place was full of people and dogs coming and going. That was actually good, 'cause he was busy being fascinated by all the other animals, so he wasn't too freaked out. Walked him through the front... talked to a couple of the techs in passing, and got Drummer onto the scale. Of course, it moves ever so slightly, so he had to get on and off several times before he decided that it would be okay to sit there long enough for the scale to stabilize (37.7 lbs.).

One of the techs came over to say hi and Drummy hid behind me. When did he become so spooky? She offered one of their nice liver treats (which Chase always adored), but Drummer was suspicious. I handed her one of our homemade treats from Purrs and Grrrs and that was apparently the right solution, because he came out from behind me, sat nicely, and took the treat from her. We stayed for another 10 minutes or so, with me palming treats to every tech who walked past so that they could give them to Drummer. By the time we left, he was bouncing to check out the hands of any tech who came near us, so I'll count that one as a win. We'll keep doing it on a regular basis and see if that makes his next actual vet visit easier (he was WaySquirmyBoy last time, 'til one of the techs held him in her arms like a baby).

Tomorrow morning, he and Thunder have an appointment w/ the groomer. Bwaaaahahahahah! Snow-Shoe Boy is going to lose his foot fluff!

I'll try to get before and after pictures of both boys. Should be fun! :-)

Comments

[spiritdancer]

Non-medical visits to the vets office are a Good Thing :-)

[tollermom]

Yeah. My timing was bad, though... next time I'll try to plan a little better and go when the techs (and maybe even Dr. R) actually have some time to visit. They were *swamped* this afternoon!

[nycgadgetgirl.livejournal.com]

When did Drummer get to be so much bigger than Snick? I keep remembering them as being roughly the same size when they've played together.

[tollermom]

Drummy was always taller, but he was a weedy adolescent when he and Snick played together ... now he's filled out and actually gotten some muscle. :-)