Saturday, October 13, 2018

Aslan At The Vets' Part II

We started Thursday here with taking Aslan to the vets' for some blood tests.  With Aslan's wonky elbows our vet visit rate has increased.  Aslan needed blood and urine tests to make sure the medication he's taking isn't adversely effecting his liver or kidneys.  I booked him on for Thursday and I'm sure the excitement level at the vets' increased drastically.  

It took Aslan and me a fair bit of time to actually get to the surgery's door from our car.  As we walked up to the entrance a mother and two young girls stopped in their tracks and started telling each other how gorgeous Aslan was.  The girls were waving their hands and looked eager to get to know Aslan so we walked over and the girls and the mum just fell on Aslan with hugs and pats and lots and lots of telling him how cute he was.  Aslan knows how to work a crowd and lapped it all up while shedding a bit of fur and drool in their general direction.  I warned them about the drool but they didn't seem to care.  At this time of year Aslan shares copious amounts of drool and fur with whoever gets close enough to be on the receiving end.  That little family said goodbye and headed for their car.  That's when I realised there had been a queue.  Another woman and her husband filled the gap left by the family and the love-fest started all over again.  Aslan continued to lap up all the attention, going out of his way to charm all these strangers.

We finally got
 through the door and the vet nurse looked up and yelled Aslan!  Two other vet nurses came out and greeted Aslan in the same way.  Aslan smiled and offered himself up for pats and about half the room full of people, along with their little dogs, came over to have a pat and ask how much he weighed, how much did he eat and all those sorts of personal questions Aslan would rather avoid.  He accepted all pats and compliments as I managed to sit down and get him to sit down.  Some of those who hadn't come over to meet him still had questions so I was fielding all these and patting Aslan while we waited.  A nurse came out and said she'd take Aslan through for the blood tests and so all the vets and other staff out the back could have their turn with lavishing the big fluffy fellow with love and praise.  Aslan was reluctant to go with the nurse at first, I'm sure he wasn't ready to leave his adoring fan club, but just as I was about to ask if she wanted me to come along too, the nurse told Aslan he a beautiful boy.  Aslan recognised another fan and went with her without a backward glance.  

As soon as the door was closed I nearly burst out laughing because all I could hear through the door was, "Aslan's here!  Aslan you get more gorgeous every time you visit!  I want to pat Aslan!"  This from a group of adults who deal with pets all the time.  Aslan was gone for a while and I have a feeling it was more so he could socialise with everyone than that it took that long to get some blood from him.  While I was waiting a woman and her Bouvier dog came out of one of the examination rooms.  The dog came straight over to me to sniff at my fur covered jeans.  The woman apologised and told her dog some people didn't like that sort of thing.  I told her I was fine and her dog was just finding out about my dog.  She then told me  she used to breed Great Danes and all about the dog with her named Colby, and her previous Bouvier.  I told her my dog was in for blood tests because he's on medication for wonky elbows.  She said, yes that frequently happened to old dogs.  I told her my dog was three.  We chatted some more and then Aslan came back into the waiting room towing the vet nurse behind.  My new acquaintance stepped back and said, "He's gorgeous.  What breed is he?"  I told her Saint Bernard and she gave him a pat, telling him how gorgeous he was.  Aslan thanked her politely while I notices how expertly she avoided his drool, as one should expect from a Great Dane breeder.

We had to say good-bye to her because the nurse needed to get a urine sample from Aslan.  We took Aslan out to all the smelly areas that usually encourage dogs to leave their own calling card but Aslan wouldn't co-operate.  He was interested in the smells but had no urge to leave his own.  The vet nurse was telling me about Aslan's time out in the treatment area and all the old friends who came over to say hello.  She then told me Aslan had walked between her legs at one stage and she'd gone for a little ride while trying not to put her weight on him. Aslan was just too big for her to just step over him, so she was worried about the outcome of her ride for a second or two, but it all worked out OK.  Aslan wagged his tail, obviously remembering happy times with this vet nurse.  In the end I was given a specimen jar and asked to follow Aslan around with a bucket first thing in the morning and bring hs urine sample in next time we were in Wagga.  We headed back to the surgery so I could pay the bill and Aslan was thrilled to see our neighbour Aileen walk up.  He made a beeline for her to say hello and tell her about his morning.  Aileen ended up fur covered, but managed to avoid most of the drool.

We came inside together with Aslan obviously knowing Aileen and making sure he got his full quota of pats from her.  A woman came up and said to Aileen, "That dog must be at least twice as big as you!"  Aileen told her that was about right.  Aslan ignored the slur on his physique and continued to show Aileen how much he loved her.
He then set about making more new friends who'd come in while he was checking out the smells in the garden.  

We had one tense moment when a little terrier type wanted to investigate this huge dog.  As I've said before, Aslan is very uncertain about little dogs.  The owner of this small example was keen for him to meet Aslan so she put her hand down near Aslan's face (he was resting on the floor at this time, and called her dog over.  The terrier came over and pressed his nose to Aslan's before Aslan could plan an escape.  The little dog then stood back to see what Aslan did next.  Aslan stood up and moved closer to my leg.  The little dog's owner tried again to encourage a meeting between the two but Aslan had had enough and tried to hide behind my leg.   I explained to the owner that Aslan just can't cope with dogs smaller than Kelpie size.  It was now my turn to pay my bill.  Aslan said a cheery goodbye to his new fan club, including a small dog he was brave enough to touch noses with.  We said goodbye and after catching up with Aileen's husband, Gordon, who had been chatting with Graeme all this time we finally headed home.

Aslan was happy to get in the car, most likely because he wanted to go home and tell Cleo what a wonderful place the vets' is.

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