How can you spend $818 in 70 minutes without being at a store on or the internet?
I’ve got an easy answer – take eight dogs to the vet for their annual visit. I know, taking eight dogs at the same time is not really what most people do. But, my vet is 20 miles away and I’m fairly good at managing mobs, so off we go.
First of all, eight don’t fit in the Caravan. OK, time to break out the Big Van. The big van is the extended body, one ton beast parked from October to April. It’s not needed in the winter since the main function is to tow the camper or be used on show trips. It’s funny how much stuff is needed with multiple dogs and women when going to a show. Amazing how much stuff is can be shoved in a XXX cubic foot interior. But, I digress.
Got it. Now load eight dogs. Cresta, Dazzle, Stewart, Phoenix and Keebler range in age from 2 1/2 to 11 years old. They know the drill. Then the puppies; Evan at 9 months and Madison and Phantom, just six months. Success.
I decide to take the older five in as a group.
Of course, there is a photographer at the vet’s office. That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?Why is it the day I come in with a mob they decide they want to photograph clients and the busy office for a project? I don’t know – luck of the draw, I guess. So, every moment of me in action as a border collie, herding whippets through the vet clinic is documented.
The older five are wonderful. The vet wants weights on the annual visit so these dogs politely stand around me by the scale and as I say each dog’s name, calmly step up to be weighed. I am looking under control and very impressive in my management of this crowd. The portion of the visit is uneventful. I rock!
Next, the puppies. Madison and Phantom have never been to the vet and they are moving like excited hummingbirds vibrating at the ends of the leads. Evan has done many trips to the vet, but still finds new people exciting. Weigh them? What’s a scale? Oh, that’s a scale – that’s a really cool thing. I will jump on and off and on and off and so on…. This portion of the visit is far more active – three dogs instead of five and it felt like ten. After my staid entrance with the older dogs, the photographer is really enjoying the circus that puppies create. The actual visit goes well and we do the mundane things like rabies shots, etc. Time to go.
With all the places to sit in the empty lobby, why is it the only person waiting with a Very Large Dog sitting six inches from the exit door? I don’t know. The puppies, who have never seen a Very Large Dog are wildly inquisitive. Thankfully, one of the vet techs skillfully steps in between me, the exuberantly milling puppies, and the Very Large Dog. I escape out the door and proceed to wrestle them into the van. None have yet learned to jump in and go into their crates, so it’s a matter of grabbing one while the other two literally dance at the end of their leads in the middle of the street.
I head for home.
I am sweating.
I thought that went well.
