Time to go to the vet. Marty thought we were just going outside for a walk, but he quickly realized that this was not the case when we walked over to James' car. Marty isn't a huge fan of cars to begin with, but he enjoyed riding in Ryan F.'s car so I thought he might enjoy James' too.
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| Marty does not like James' car. |
James' car was a little louder than Ryan's so it scared Marty quite a bit. Not to the point of peeing, which is a good thing. Marty decided the safest place was between my feet, curled in a ball, trying to find the source of the loud noise...the engine.
After an otherwise uneventful car ride (about 4 minutes) we got to Ballston Animal Hospital. Man, I can't even begin to sing the praises of this place. Everyone, from the receptionists to the interns, the assistants/nurses, and the vets themselves, were all extremely friendly and lavished Marty with belly rubs, treats, and praise. They did their absolute best to make sure that Marty felt at home, but Marty was still pretty scared of this new place, with tons of people and the smells of hundreds of other animals.
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| So...what are we waiting for? |
We sat in the waiting room for a few minutes before being brought into the exam room. See, I had no idea I'd be in there too. It's like having a baby. The vet's nurses went over some basic stuff with me, i.e. any behavioral issues to be worried about, is he a growler, does he mind being picked up?
After going over the basics and seeing how he was cowering in fear behind me, the nurses realized that he was absolutely harmless and crouched down and started giving him treats and telling him how cute he was. If there's one thing Marty likes, it's being told how handsome he is. His tail started wagging and he took a couple of treats and plopped himself down right between them. Then we had to get him on the scale.
Let's just say, he didn't want to go on. Cue the first bout of frightened pee.
With a little lifting and prodding we finally got Marty on the scale. Marty weighs over 36 lbs!!!! He's going to be a big boy!
I pointed out a little scab on his paw that won't go away and the fact that he scratches one ear a lot. They said they'd mention it to the vet and she would take a look at him.
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| I'm not scared...I promise...Maybe... |
Dr. Hall came in and was extremely sweet right from the start. She asked if this was my first dog, and when I responded yes, she went through a ton of the basics and then asked everything we'd been working on. She was pretty happy with his progress from utterly not potty trained, to pretty house trained, as well as his tricks. Marty was pretty nervous around her, but eventually he relented and let her check him out without flinching all the time.
Cue the second bout of fear pee.
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| See how much he loved it? |
Dr. Hall said Marty seemed very healthy for his age. She said he was a good weight and seemed to be getting plenty of exercise. She did say he could probably stand to gain a pound or 2, but also that he's growing so fast that he might just seem skinny today.
She checked his paw and his ear and saw that he had been licking his paw, which had brought about a slight infection, and after looking in his ear, saw that he had a minor ear infection. I was surprised that when she squeezed the scrape on his paw, that a little pus actually came out. She said it was fairly common for dogs to scrape themselves and continuously lick the wound. I thought this would clean it out, but, as I was informed, it actually brings about lick granuloma. Basically, he scraped himself, them overly licked the scrape until it hurt even more and became slightly infected.
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| Ouch! |
She commented on his ears saying that dogs with floppy ears generally tend to get a few infections a year, but that it's usually not a problem. Dr. Hall also said that if I cleaned them out every couple of weeks that it should reduce the chances of infection.
After being shown how to clean his ear and administer ear drops, Dr. Hall left to check out one or two more things and said her nurses would be coming in to fit Marty for a cone.
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| "Hey, where are you going? I was just starting to not be scared of you..." |
I think the cone of shame is a rite of passage for all puppies. At some point, every pup needs to wear the cone, and once this happens, their welcome into the puppy fraternity. Marty, however, is that perfect combination of gangly limbs, large body, and small head, which makes it impossible to find a cone that fits.
After some searching, they found on. It's size is hilarious and boy does he not get it.
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| I promise I won't make anymore fear pee. |
Cue fear pee number 3.
After a few minutes Dr. Hall came back and gave me all of Marty's meds. She said that the cone should be put on for the next 5-7 days to ensure that the scrape has healed and the ear infection should subside within a week too.
Everyone in the room also got a good laugh when I praised Marty for only peeing in the office three times. They apparently realized how big of an accomplishment this was.
The rest of the visit was pretty uneventful. Marty didn't look too happy when I was paying the bill. I guess he thought he had to pay for it. He cheered up when he realized that I had this one.
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| It cost HOW much?! |
And with that Marty's first vet visit was over! He was a really good boy and I was glad to get him checked out.
And of course, obligatory pics of Marty with his Elizabethan collar:
Marty does not like the collar. He tries to forget he has it on, but just ends up stumbling around, almost as if he drunk. The funniest moment is when he runs up to say hi. He charges full speed and wants to jump on you, but right before he would normally stop, the cone bumps into me. He then just puts all of his weight forward and leans in on the cone, not really sure why he's not moving. It's pretty adorable.
He also has no idea how to get in or out of his crate anymore. He just bumps into the top and bottom with his cone. Again, pretty hilarious.
K bye!!!!!!
He is just adorable, sorry about his paw. Glad my boys are good!
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