Russy's First Trip to the Vet

Last night, Rusty made his maiden voyage to Falls Road Animal Hospital for his initial puppy check-up and second round of shots. He charmed everyone in his path, and we left the vet with a much lighter wallet.

I've been taking the cat to Falls Road for about four years, and have always been impressed with their service and ability to deal with the Fluffster. He does not have a good time at the vet. Too many smells, strange animals around, and people touching him on their terms, rather than his. So while I expected a very professional experience, I also expected a pretty unhappy puppy.

I forget, however, that Rusty is not the cat. As he is getting older and we're exposing him to more people and animals, he's becoming so much more social and friendly. He LOVED getting cooed over by the vet techs and all the other people in the waiting room. He sat calmly with me and Ryan while we waited. Even when other more crazy dogs came in -- he looked at them strangely, head cocked to one side, ears alert, 'why are you so energetic and crazy? Just chill out dude. '

Our doctor, Dr. Englar, is fairly new to Falls Road, and I couldn't be more happy with our experience. She spent time talking with us, getting to know the dog, making him comfortable, and cleaning out a nasty ear infection, actually calling it, "fun". Rusty didn't love the ear wash, but even when the doc was doing things Rusty didn't like, he was still cuddling up to her. I swear he's becoming the biggest love dog. And chewhound.

She told us we could get him fixed in a month (YAY), saying she preferred to do it sooner than later so they don't even have a chance to build up significant testerone. I told her I didn't want a humping dog. She agreed and asked to make sure we scheduled the next appointment with her so she could become his regular doctor and get to watch him grow up. That is exactly the kind of doctor I want. Heck I want that for myself.

I admire vets. They go through years of training, and work in a hard job with many sad moments. People always complain about how much it costs, but when you have such a good experience, you feel like it's worth it. Rusty came home with clean ears, flea and tick medicine, some ear wash and antibiotics, shots, a clean bill of health, and happy as a clam. When you think of it that way, the cost really wasn't so bad.