Pets! WORKING DOGS!

CHLOE FEELING VERY PLAYFUL AFTER A TRIP TO THE VET THAT INCLUDED A MASSAGE!

My probationary year through Fidos For Freedom, Inc., was over on May 11th. Chloe was “officially” turned over to me! As we have been working together 24/7 since April 11, 2007, I have thought of her as “fully mine” for quite awhile. So really the only thing that changed on May 11th, was that I began paying for all her bills. Food, supplies, vet visits, etc., were all paid for by her sponsor prior to this date.

As the vet I had been taking her to was almost an hour away, I decided to have all of her records transfered to our family vet and begin taking her there. Bert S. (with service dog Judge) works with Client Services at Fidos. She gave me some great advice that I wanted to pass on to others. Ask your vet if there is a discount for a service, assistance or working dog. Turns out that my vet has a greater discount for a working dog than the one Chloe was going too! (20% off of everything except food, and certain other things “free”… they were thrilled to have Chloe join their “family”!)

We went for the 1st time yesterday as Chloe was due for her Bordetella (intranasal) vaccine, a fecal check w/ Giardia testing (oooo… gross but necessary), and she needed a health certificate as she is flying with me on July 5th and July 12th “intra-state”. I was so thankful she didn’t need a urinalysis this time! (She gets it once a year and needs it done in January). Have you ever tried to “catch” a dog’s urine first thing in the morning? A “girl” dog? I’ll have to blog about the joys of that in January!

My vet told me that they recommend that Bordetella be given with a shot. Yes, the vaccine does wonders to have that concentrated anti-bodies sprayed right in the mucus membrane. Problem is that most dogs sneeze immediately and “blow” it everywhere… including on the vet and owner! It doesn’t do much good when most is “blown” out. He explained that many vaccinated dogs who had the intranasal vaccine, were catching kennel cough when boarded, etc., anyway. Made sense enough to me that Chloe received hers through injection.

The vet tech was a man. And Chloe? Well Chloe was in love! (The vet was a man too, but hey! He gave her a shot! Did he expect kisses?) The vet tech also was a massage specialist. So guess what Chloe received FREE while we waited for Ebony to come back from getting her blood drawn? Chloe stood perfectly still and if she’d been a cat… she’d have PURRED. Of course, this then cemented her undying love for this perfect stranger. When he finished she went “belly up” and showed off her tattoo while asking for a belly rub through the excellent usage of “body language”. He was all for it… and I allowed it because I had removed her vest.

I have a feeling if Chloe will get a free massage every time she is there, she won’t mind the vet so much now! (Recommendations are that working dogs go to the vet every 6 months for “well checks”, shots, boosters, titers, etc).

Denise Portis
©2008 Hearing Loss Diary