Friday, May 22, 2009

The Vet


So today Haru went to meet the Vet. Time for her last round of shots, a stool sample, and to pick up her first batch of heartworm meds.

She did great, and I mean amazing at the Vet. Very calm and relaxed, got some treats from the nurses, wasn't bothered by the physical or the shots. After we were done she sat beside me in the waiting room. It was an excellent first visit.

Everything went well till we got home. Haru's experiencing an allergic reaction to the vaccination. I've never had a dog (or cat) that reacted to shots before. Her left eye swelled up, and she seems to be itchy all over. Poor thing. I called the vet, and as long as it doesn't get any worse it's just a wait and see.

I've always been against over medicating, pampering, vaccinating, all that sort of thing. I've been on the fence about vaccinating. I've seen some of the reports showing that it's unnecessary and possibly even harmful to over vaccinate pets. As far as Haru goes, I decided I'd at least do this first round of vaccinations. I probably won't be vaccinating her again, after seeing her reaction to it. Time to do some more research.

Seeing as I'm in the mountains a lot, I'll have to figure out what exactly I HAVE to keep her up to date on, and work with the vet to give her just the minimum.

Well well, on an entirely different front, Haru seems to be confused about where to pee now. She won't crap inside, but now she won't pee outside. She tried to pee on the bed last night, and this morning, on the flooring in the bedroom. She tried to do it again tonight but I stopped her and took her outside. She wouldn't pee, so I crated her, and within 5 minutes she had peed in her crate. So another walk outside, and she's now in her crate again.

Ahhh the joys of toilet training. It's frustrating seeing as she was almost perfect in her toilet routine for the first 20 days she's been here. I guess the bit of upheaval with the wife being gone may have thrown her off a bit.

Sometimes I wonder why people get so caught up in the puppy cuteness. Yes puppies are cute, but to me the best part of living with a dog is once they've grown up. Meh, time to curl up on the couch with puppy for a beer and a movie methinks.

6 comments:

  1. Hey Man, you & me both have "toilet training" issues, seems like your pup is doing better than my 1 1/2 yr old though. He seems to save it till he's butt-nekid then runs to a corner to wiz on the floor & then never ceases to be shocked that it happened. Grrr

    Like your new template BTW

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  2. Loa had a reaction like that to a vaccine too - it was kinda scary! Why does this type of thing happen to the owners that are on the fence about vaccinating?

    It's interesting you are having issues potty training, Kona was AMAZING at it. He never had an accident as a pup. He is a boy tho, Jen and I are convinced that it takes longer to potty train girls.

    Blog looks great! (pup too. lol)

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  3. Yeah vaccinations are a bit scary, especially when you learn what's in them. Poor Haru, hope she feels better soon :(

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  4. Hope Haru has a quick recovery. My dog use to get a DHPP vaccination every year, now my vet states one vaccination every three years will suffice. As for housebreaking, once I got a regular routine worked out, no more problems. But, no one is perfect. Even my 12 year old dog will have an accident once in a while. Take care.

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  5. Babylove: I think that's adorable. Obviously if it were my kid doing that I would be mortified. The whole toilet training issue has been kind of rough since the wife took off to Oz.

    Brad: I'm happy you're with me there on the vaccination issue. It's a tricky one eh. What did you guys decide to do with your pups? I'm leaning toward once every 3-4 years... maybe less for Haru. I don't know about the male/female potty training thing. That's an interesting observation though. I'm a bit disappointed because when Haru first got here it looked like she'd do well. I think there were a couple little mistakes that have thrown her off. Oh well.

    Okiron: Thanks for the comment. And yes, if I wasn't so terrified that she'd pick up something in the mountains I'd probably stay away from the vaccines all together.

    Tiger: I'm leaning toward the once every 3-4 years myself. Guess we'll see how that goes.

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  6. holy moly! Haru's reaction is unsettling for sure.

    We've decided to vaccinate up to one year of age, only what we truly need (for us in US is DHPP and rabies) than get a test for level of immunity every three years (titer test).

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