Neutered!

Our dogs turned 9 months this week.  Ever since they were about 6 months I've been meaning to make an appointment with the vet to get them both de-sexed.  I'm not anti-puppies per se, but brother and sister puppies...

Well, I hadn't gotten around to it.  The Big Fella was understandably a little annoyed about it but every time I remembered it was after hours or on the weekend and the reminders I put in my phone always came when I couldn't do anything about it too (and my snooze function is as useful as a cheese sandwich to a drowning ferret http://www.bored.com/findcliches/stupidpeople.htm).

So a couple of months have passed.

Yesterday, it became obvious that we need to get them de-sexed ASAP!  So I made the appointment for Frankie and they were able to fit him in today.

This morning I wasn't allowed to feed Frankie so Choccie had to wait too.  They were obviously rather hungry (we'd moved a big rock over the hole in the back fence and I suspect they've been eating the dogs' food from over there for a little while).  I felt bad for them but we had to follow the doctor's orders.

Around 11 this morning we bundled Frankie into the car.  This was stressful for him on two levels; 1) he hates being picked up and the car is too tall for him to just jump in, and 2) he hates going in the car!  Poor little fella!

On the way we collected the mail then ran into the Big Fella!  He'd just finished work so we picked him up ;-)

At the vet Frankie was definitely stressed out!  Our dogs don't yet walk with a leash - Frankie is the worst because he just sits and refuses to budge!  So I had to carry him inside and he obviously knew that it wasn't going to be a fun place to visit.

As an aside, there was a lovely dog behind the counter with the lady.  He was probably a Great Dane or similar and he only had one eye.  He was really calm and gentle, but also curious about us.

We did the paperwork and so on then left, with Frankie's plaintive barking in the background.

The Little Big Fella lost the plot.  On reflection I didn't really prepare him very well.  As soon as we were outside he started crying, saying that he missed his dog Frankie.  I tried to explain that the vet would look after Frankie and that we'd be able to pick him up in the afternoon but the Little Big Fella was not mollified.

15 minutes later!!!

By this time I was getting a bit sick of the drama.  Yep, sometimes I can be a cold, heartless, callous mother.  But I'd spent the last 15 minutes trying to explain and soothe and calm him down.  And he'd stop for a minute or two, then start all over again.

So now it was time for the serious Mummy voice.

I told him that it was okay to be sad, and to miss his dog, but now it was time to stop crying.  And every time he started to look like he was going to start crying again, I'd remind him, "you can be sad, but no more crying".

Writing it out like this makes me feel like a horrible parent!  But if we'd had to put the dog down or something serious like that, I would have dealt with it a bit differently I guess.  The reality is, the dog was only going to the vet for a few hours, and even though the Little Big Fella doesn't fully understand, I feel like it's important for him to learn a little bit of self-control because he does tend to over-dramatise his sadness, possibly tending toward self-pity.  And that's not something I can allow to continue as a parent who's attempting to prepare her son for life.

Anyway, we went home and had lunch and watched movies and talked to the chickens and whatever else then called the vet and found out that Frankie was awake and should be okay to go home by the time we got there.

Back into the car and off to collect our little boy.

The vet was SO lovely!  We hadn't actually met him this morning, but when I met him this afternoon I was really happy to have this man looking after my dog.  He is an older man, probably in his 60s, and seems to have the sweetest disposition.  The way he held Frankie and the way he spoke to me was really encouraging and respectful.  There was no recrimination (turns out Frankie (and therefore Choccie, I guess) hadn't been vaccinated completely), just an obvious care for my dog.

So we brought Frankie home.  Notably, Frankie was quite happy to be picked up and just about jumped into the car!!!  At home Choccie was quite happy to see her brother, and very interested in his new smells.

For his part, Frankie was happy to see her, then just plain tired.  He obviously wanted to play, but just didn't have the energy for it today.  So we put the sheet from his travel basket (read washing basket) in the downstairs area and he happily went and lay down on it.

Even when I went out to bring in the washing, Frankie came out to see me but started shaking after a minute or two.  He just couldn't hold himself up any longer.  So I sat down and he jumped on my lap and we had a cuddle and a pat for a while.  Then I took him back to his "blanket" and he went back to sleep.

Apparently he'll be back to his normal self in the morning and then we'll take him back to the vet next week to get the stitches out.

I guess we'll have to get Choccie done soon too!!!