Driving into the parking lot of the Broadway Pet Hospital here in Oakland on damn warm September afternoon was a bit disconcerting. It was full. A full lot means lots of animals inside. This was Oz's first visit to the vet. I knew from having two Rottie's before that surviving the gauntlet of the waiting room without someones Lhasa Apso becoming a snack and a $1300.00 vet bill was my challenge. Oz does not have great history with new places. His last new place was Happy Hound. That resulted in an $1800.00 training bill. That worked out really well, but it would have been nice to avoid. Oz knows nothing about Visa balances obviously.
Teri went in first. She got the nurse to begin opening up an exam room so we could go directly in. I jumped the gun a bit of course. I could see an empty bench area that is like a little booth. These are nice. It helps give you a space to pull your dog back into. Good design there guys. With his leash wrapped all the way up I went in the door and got him to sit at the bench. All good until some kind of hound came in and of course Oz starts barking. Loud. Oz barking in a closed room violates numerous OSHA rules I am sure. If you are not ready for it, it scares the crap out of you.
Well the nurse got the room open just about then and we got him in there. Phew! No fur, no blood, no news at 5:00. Then he was pretty good. About like Winston actually.
Dr. Lawernce came in, bearing treats, Oz didn't freak again, good. He sat for her, he layed down for her. I was amazed. He did that several times. Must be the white coat. After a long time and some talking we tried to get a blood sample. I had his head, but he still managed to swing around and almost snap Dr. Lawerence when she swabbed his leg with the alcohol. She saw it coming of course. No harm.
She did try taking him to the back. Sometimes they are being defensive of the owners. Nope, he was cool with tummy scratches. Not cool with anyone poking and prodding. So that was the end of that for the day.
So, on the short leash again, out the door, and up into the Xterra. Teri paid the bill. Oz barked at a few pedestrians, and we were off. I was able to give him some corrections with the collar on the last barking fits and that shut him down. I did not do that in the vet's office. In situations with that much going on we've seen the collar just make things worse. It's a training aide, not a remote control. You have to remember that.
On the upside we were invited back.
Interestingly Oz's reputation had preceded him. Susanne from Happy Hound was making a sales call earlier that day. Oz is now one of their success stories. So that was good. I'm afraid Oz was not the perfect salesman today. However, Dr. Lawerence seemed to be pretty impressed with his progress. She even said he was trainable!
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