Poor Murphy...he was so excited and happy when I put him in the car this morning. He loves to go places. He was just the picture of joy and anticipation...until we got to the vet's office.
Going inside wasn't too bad, but then came the drama as I'd decided to leave him there for a couple of hours while I ran other errands. So I turned his leash over to the tech, and then it started.
Murphy immediately turned and began pulling away from the tech, only partly frustrated by the slick linoleum floor. I gave him a bit of a shove back towards her, telling him that it was ok, and the tech was able to coax him into running after her into the back exam area. Thinking that it was a fait accompli at last, I walked out the front door just as Murphy jumped up at the tech, grabbed her end of his leash in his mouth, pulled it away from her, and ran back down the hall to the door. I heard the frantic scratching of paws on glass and looked back to see Murphy, up on his hind legs, clawing at the closed door that stood between he and his person with his front paws. Poor guy. Poor, sad guy. So I had to go back inside and help get Murphy back into the exam area again. It was worth it to hear the leash-grab story, though. Smart dog. Danger smart.
An hour and a half later, and a hundred and some dollars poorer, I recovered Murphy from the vet. He's got a bacterial infection that's causing him to scratch/bite his hindquarter area something fierce, and if the meds we got don't start curing it by Friday, e's going to get shaved and fitted for another cone. And what a sad day that will be, both for him and for me, since when something makes him as miserable as a cone, he shares the misery by making me miserable.
Ah, dogs...such treats.
Smart dog indeed. You've got your hands full with that one.
ReplyDeleteHe does like that carrying the leash trick.
Keep the cone. It can save you hundreds of dollars by preventing little issues from being chewed and scratched into big issues. I once had a dog who was allergic to my entire yard, but I used his e-collar, Benadryl and relatively cheap topicals to prevent hot spots from becoming expensive secondary infections.
ReplyDeleteAll it took to motivate me was one course of Prednisone and a ruined carpet!
Awww...Poor baby. Him, not you. But dag he is smart.
ReplyDeleteYou're a good guy sir . . . . a good guy . . .
ReplyDeleteMurph cetainly landed in a good home.
Aaron, Murphy has always had a strong sense of leash-awareness, and it took a bit of work when I first got him to get him to stop doing that same thing to me on walks. And as you've seen, when he wants to go walking, he just goes and gets that leash and brings it to me.
ReplyDelete@ Suz, he wrecked the last cone so I'd need a new one from the vet. And then it's more like a directional whine-projector.
Try an inflatable neck collar. It worked wonders for my Lab/Shepard when he had leg surgery.
ReplyDeleteYep, a hand full and MORE!!! Hang in there Murph!
ReplyDeletePoor Murphy but it's gotta make you feel good that he's so devoted to you. Inseparable comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteAngus and I hope the meds work and he doesn't have to wear the cone of shame.
My mutt goes berserk when taken to the vet. Seriously risks injuring herself and behaves so badly that the mark her as a bite danger. The examination rooms have windows high up on the wall - she'll try to jump up to them if you give her any slack on the leash.
ReplyDeleteShe's the sweetest, gentlest thing until you drag her through the vet's door. And I need to take her to get checked. Not gonna be fun.
Murphy's ok if I'm there, but he's got a massive "separation anxiety" issue even on a good day. That's why whenever I have to leave him for a few days, the dog sitters have to come here to be with him in his house. On the plus side, the place is never empty or unguarded.
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