Dog Stories: Trek to the vet

Sometimes I just feel that the time is right to get something done and do it even though it isn't the wisest course of action. That's what happened yesterday shortly after 4pm. I could take Rufus for a walk or I could see if I could get him in the car again and how far the road we could get. You know from the title of this blog post that I chose the latter.

This time it was Vienna Sausages broken into bits instead of bologna that served as the spoon full of sugar to get him through an anxiety-producing situation.The past couple of times I walked him, I always opened the hatch to get him used to it. When I did it the first time after our initial entrance into it, he shied away. He was no longer quite so skittish.

Since I wanted him to get into the hatchback without me going in first (as I did the first time), I put an aromatic bit of sausage toward the front of the back area, requiring him to enter to get it. It wasn't enough incentive. I tried a couple of times to "reset" him be re-approaching the open hatch, but no. He may not have understood that I wanted him to jump in. I put his front feet on the car and then when I lifted the back, he hopped in. Boy, was I relieved. Then I shut the hatch and once again was relieved that he didn't go into panic mode. Once I was seated in the front, I gave him some bits of sausage.

He also didn't panic when we started moving but he was very restless and I drove very slowly. I chose the closest vet for my mission of getting his shots. I am able to take mostly quiet neighborhood streets there with only a short distance on a highway. Since the day was nice, I rolled the window down. It first Rufus seemed to enjoy that but then he started pressing at the window like he was wanting to escape, so I had to roll it up. At every stop sign I gave him a bit of sausage. This was partly to gauge his level of stress because when he's stressed enough, he won't take treats. There were a couple of times that he tried to come forward but blocking him with my arm was enough to keep him in check and redirect him.

We made it to the vet. I opened their door and told the receptionist that I had a big scaredy dog. She asked that wait outside while she took care of some customers trying to check out. They have a very tight waiting area. I walked Rufus around their front property for a bit until a young man finally came out the side to inquire. Rufus was remarkably good with all of the people in this situation, which makes me wonder why he's so avoidant when he sees someone on our walks. During the vet visit he was reserved but not panicky. He would not take a sausage bit from the vet but he would still take them from me. Maybe the fact that everyone at a vet clinic smells like dogs is a source of comfort for him. In any case, we made it out without incident even going out the front door.

To go home, he was willing to jump into the hatchback with a bit of a run at it. To my surprise, on the way home, he refused to take anymore sausage. I suspect the stress was beginning to result in nausea. For the first time, he laid down in the back. He would still pop back up at the slightest change but at least he was getting comfortable.

I'll be doing shorter, less stressful rides for the next couple of weeks because I want to be able to take him to the park for walks. Not only will it give him more exposure to people, but we have a dog problem on our best walking route through the neighborhood. I've called animal control but the officer is out sick, so we have to wait for a solution to that issue. I want to walk where people understand that they're supposed to have their dogs under control. That means the park.