Dog Days of Summer

Yesterday I had to take Sam to the vet. As I mentioned, he originally ended up in the shelter after being hit by a car. That incident fractured his pelvis in multiple places, and since he was scheduled to be euthanized (because he was injured, and therefore "unadoptable"), he wasn't treated until after the rescue group took him. By then, it was too late for surgery. He's healing pretty well, but he'll always limp. He's also had serious problems with his teeth. Several of them were broken, either from the accident or from trying to chew his way out of a cage, and some were rotting. For various reasons, they'd gone several weeks without treatment. Not pretty, and not very comfortable for him, either. So yesterday I took him to the vet to have his teeth taken care of.

Sophie was--to put it mildly--not. at. all. happy. According to my husband, she was very distressed when we left, roaming the house, looking for Sam, and lying by the door, whining. When I got home (without him), she kept nosing me and looking at the door, clearly telling me to "go get him." Once she realized he wasn't coming in, she flopped on the floor and moped pathetically.

Sam wasn't any happier. The moment I walked him through the door of the vet's office, he just shut down. Ears down, tail tucked under, not afraid, just...if I had to name it, I'd say he was hopeless. He turned away from me, and it was as clear as could be that he thought he was being left again.

It wasn't a happy day, for any of us. Sam had seven teeth removed (in addition to the one that fell out a few days ago). Fortunately, they were mostly small front teeth, which dogs use for ripping. I'm sure he would need them if he had to bring down wildebeasts, but kibble is a lot easier to catch and doesn't require much ripping, so he won't starve. He also got the rest of his teeth cleaned, and got some antibiotics to treat any infection. He's much better off now. But I was very relieved when I was able to pick him up. He seemed pretty relieved, too. He was still loopy from the anesthesia, but when the assistant brought him out from the back, he started wagging his tail happily and walked straight into my arms to put his head on my knee.

Everyone is extremely happy to have him home. And Sophie has made it very clear...

...she's not letting him out of her sight again.