After that incident, my mom drives Sarah to school as my dad gets ready, and I am just too much of a bundle of nerves, concerned about the vet, to think of much more. And soon it was time as dad walks up, "Okay, we should get going, we need to stop at the pet store to get you a leash, collar, and muzzle, do you want to go in?"
I just shake my head, not sure how well I do with the stress and worry I was feeling at the moment. My hackles were partly raised, and I couldn't figure out how to lower them. I try to breathe steadily as I nuzzle my father. Glancing over, I see Shiners watching as he speaks, <Relax, Mike, nothing bad will happen, your dad won't let it.> I nod, knowing this, but knowing it and KNOWING it are two different things.
Taking a breath, I get into the car feeling like this is almost walking to my execution, sure it's a little over dramatic, but what you feel can't always be logical. I sit still in the back as I give a small whine as my father turns around and rubs my head, "Mike, I won't let anything bad happen. If you're too stressed, we can always go home and try again another time," he says.
I lean into my father and nod as I motion with my nose to drive. Let's get this over. Oddly, the collar and leash I kinda like, the muzzle is a little scarier. Less being unable to defend myself, but more what it represents. That I'm not a 15 year old boy, but a dangerous animal that people need to be careful around.
Soon we're driving off, and after a short trip we reach the pet store as he opens the door. "Back soon, Mike. Just rest here," he says as I sit up watching him leave, a little sad and nervous, my tail flicking slightly in agitation. Come on, Mike, just relax, this will be okay. Survive this adventure, and you're officially family again.
I stare out the window at the pet store and realize I'm acting like one of those dogs that stares, waiting for his owner to come back, which gives me a tiny bit of a dry chuckle. Then again, I often did that as a boy. Soon, I see him exiting the building with a bag. He soon walks over to the door I'm next to and opens up the bag, "Let's get the collar and leash on first," he says.
Nodding my head, I move over and lift my head up as he pulls out the collar, and after a small pinch, "Sorry, Mike." He manages to get it on me and then clips the leash. I fight the urge to scratch the collar as it feels a little tight and itchy, but soon realize it's fine. I move my head around a little to make sure it feels right before I nod.
He pets me, "Sorry, Mike, this goes off as soon as we get out of the vet," he says as he picks up the muzzle that only looks less dangerous than I thought, I was expecting a cage. But instead, it was a leather one with straps.
I hold still nervously as he looks at the thing and tries to figure which side is up. The entire time, my anxiety grows a little bit as he finally seems to figure it out as he places it over my head and muzzle. Oh, if the collar felt wrong, this felt awful as I want to shake my head and pull out of it, almost feeling claustrophobic. But for my family and myself, I hold still as I hear a final click, and it's fully on.
My nose wrinkles at the smell of leather and well...a pet store smell, all the food, and supplies, and animals as I give my head a small shake. I can't help it, I give the muzzle a little scratch before looking to my father with a nod. He leans in to hug me, "You're doing good, son," he says as he unclips the leash, closes the door, and climbs into the front seat.
I sit there this time looking out the window and notice a raven nearby that waggles its wings at me, making me realize that it's Shiners. I don't say anything to him as I want to be ready for the vet. It's not too long and we're already pulling up into the vet's office as I notice a few cars around and someone getting out of a car with a husky, which immediately gets my interest.
I watch through the window as the husky walks by and immediately think it's a female, not sure why, but something just feels that way as I sniff the air, catching her scent. I was so distracted that I missed my dad opening the door until I heard the leash click. Looking up at my dad, I feel curious, a little nervous about this, but the fact that I hadn't felt any aggression towards the husky and in fact was more curious helped me relax as some of the tension leaves me, and my tail starts to wag.
Feeling a tug on the leash, I glance up to my father, who motions and realizes that I have been so distracted by the husky that I looked frozen. I give a small tentative step out of the car onto the driveway, half expecting the husky to attack. I gulp as my muscles tense up a bit, ready to bolt if I have to. But thankfully, she just tilts her head at me and gives a little tail wag before her owner starts to pull her towards the front door. Okay, this is a good sign, maybe I just made a new friend.
I follow her, taking it one step at a time, my muscles still a little tense, but at least not from the other dogs that might be in there. My dad pets my head, "Let's do this, Fluffy," he says, using my nickname, or is it really my name since we were close enough we had to play the part of owner and pet.
I look up at him and just try my best to smile. The name still felt weird, but I know in this case, it's a cover and not my name. I nuzzle him as he finally opens the door, and it's like hitting a solid wall, all the smells of dogs, cats, and I think a bird. It was like going from the quiet outdoors to inside...which I guess it technically was, as I could hear every sound in the building too. The worst was the smells of disinfectants, that oddly sweet smell that made my nose wrinkle.
Once inside, it was like diving into water, the smells and sounds were still there, but I was getting used to it since there wasn't quite as strong a contrast. It takes me a moment to finally look around and see the female husky from before at the front desk, a couple of other dogs, one VERY yappy dog that made my ears pin against my head. And yes, there were two cats, both that seemed to be trying to hide in their carriers. And a young kid holding a budgie in its cage.
I sniff the air and try to relax, my instincts are on the surface, but I know this is important, I try to wag my tail and look friendly. I sit beside my dad as we await our turn at the signing, and shortly, it's our turn as my dad starts to speak to the secretary. "I'm here with my dog, we made an appointment to have him vaccinated and anything else needed so that he can get a license."
The secretary nods her head as she looks over at me, "Ahhh yes, we were informed there would be a wolf dog coming. It won't be ready for a few minutes, but we will have a private room for you to wait in so that we don't stress your dog too much," she says. My ears perk up at that as I try to ignore the yapping dog, who I begin to realize doesn't see me as a threat, but seems to be doing typical small dog thing of, 'okay now I'm your boss.'
Glancing over at him just gets a loud Yip from him before backing up to hide behind his owner's leg before continuing to bark. I just roll my eyes and look back as I missed part of it. We were told to wait, and a few minutes later, we were ushered into a clinic area. I could smell the medicines and the cleaning fluids. I give a small sneeze as everything overwhelmed me for a moment.
It felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes before the door opens and a female vet walks into the room. Seeing me, she gives a smile, "Wow, aren't you a big boy." I give a small wag of my tail, trying to smile as best as I can with the muzzle on my well...muzzle. She has a look over my body from a distance and hmmms, "He seems to be in good health, any behavioral problems?" she asks.
I half expect my father to respond with, 'Well, he refuses to do his homework if that counts?' But he simply just shakes his head and gives my head a rubbing, "None at all, he's been very well behaved, I only put the muzzle on him because you guys requested it, and it was to put you at ease," he says. That gets a happy wag of my tail as I push against his hand.
She looks apologetic about that, "I am sorry about that, but there have been problems in the past with wolfdogs, and he certainly looks like he's either more wolf than dog, or at least got the looks from his wolf parent. Which runs the risk of other dogs acting badly," she says, finally approaching me and leaning down to look me in the eye before holding out a hand for me to sniff.
The scent from her has a tinge of fear, but it's more animal fear, and not the bad kind, just the kind any anxiously confused animal might give off when in a strange vet place. I try to lick her hand, but can't exactly get through the muzzle, so instead I nudge it gently.
"You're a good boy...you know what, I will ask one of my other assistants in here, but I think we can take the muzzle off. At least while he's in this room, but still need to be careful," she walks over to the phone and buzzes someone, saying, "Can you send Ted in here?" she says as soon as an older guy walks in looking curious.
"Yes, I'm going to take the muzzle off this dog. I don't expect any problems, but want you here in case he gets aggressive or scared," she says as I can smell the nervousness from him, but can see him nod slowly. Once that's done, she reaches out and begins to unclasp the muzzle from my face as I give my head a small shake and work my jaw a bit, trying to see if anything was wrong.
Ted jumps slightly at my bark, making me wince, dangit I scared him, but I was so happy for the muzzle to be off that I nuzzle her hand. She stares for a moment, shocked, before smiling, "Okay let's begin. We're going to have to do a few exams on him. Ted, hand me the thermometer," she says as she reaches for it. He nods his head as I dutifully open my mouth for it.
I wait and look confused when I can't find her, ummm, where did she go, and why is my dad giving me a weird look as I suddenly yelp, feeling the thermometer as I fight the urge to run, my tail going straight and smacking her in the face. Thankfully, it was over quickly as I give the vet a glare, I don't remember THAT being my mouth. She shakes her head, "Well, if he didn't bite me during that, I think he won't bite me ever," she says.
After a few moments, I finally relax, but my ears were burning from embarrassment. I see her walk over to the fridge and pull out a couple of small bottles as my ears perk up, and I back up to hide behind my dad. Which causes the vet to laugh when she turns around with the syringe in her hand, filling it up, "Is he really hiding?" she asks, apparently finding it funny.
My dad, knowing just where this is going, takes my collar in his hand gently, "Come on, fluffy, nothing to be afraid of," he says, trying to calm me down, and I do a little bit, but I know this will hurt, they always do, I think as my tail goes between my legs.
The vet nods to Ted, "Can you come here and help?" she says before looking to my dad, "Don't worry, I think even the bravest dogs sometimes react badly to a needle, just a precaution," she says. Next thing I know, she's kneeling next to me while Ted holds my back carefully. My heart was racing. I know this is going to suck. I feel her grab my scruff as I panic, wondering where the needle will go. Then the next thing she's backing up as I stare at her, what about the needle, the shot, did she decide not to?
I look at her, confused, and then to my dad as he laughs, "I don't think Fluffy realizes you already injected him. I was expecting him to jump." It was more for my clarification, but also makes her laugh.
She nods, "Yeah, I like the scruff, they rarely if ever feel it, and even if they do, it allows me to keep control a little bit," she says as she gets rid of the needle and gets a clean new one and another bottle as it takes me a moment to register. Wait, it's already done.
This time, I relax a little as she gets the vaccine in the needle and walks over. I even wag my tail as this time there was the smallest hint of a sensation now that I knew what I was looking for, and the slight smell from the vaccine, but other than that, it was all over. She smiles, "Good boy, if you were a human kid, I'd be giving you a lollipop, but unfortunately, they don't make meat flavored yet," she says, disposing of the second needle.
Moving back over, she puts on some gloves and gently checks my ears, teeth, and gums, giving a small nod, "He looks in good health, probably young," she says as she moves over my body. I stand still, only jumping slightly when she puts the stethoscope against my chest, but otherwise it's more ticklish than anything else. She finally speaks, "He looks good and ready to be licensed. The last two things to talk about are, we will need a stool sample just to be sure, and I would recommend having him neutered."
I jump slightly at the words, giving her my best accusatory look that I can as my dad looks shocked and stutters a second, "We feel that we would like to decide on that more. Is it required?" he asks as I can hear the panic in his voice that I myself feel.
My whole body goes tense as I try to comprehend the discussion going on as the vet's words relax me a little, but not a lot, as she says, "No, but it will make the license a little bit more expensive. But not a requirement, all the other things you've done here. If you decide you want him to be neutered, call the office, and we can discuss it, otherwise bring him in a few months to have a followup, plus bring in the stool sample."
I feel my dad relax near me as he nods his head, picks up the muzzle, and moves to put it on me as my ears pin back slightly. I could handle it, but it certainly wasn't any fun, but the doctor stops him, "I think we can let you walk out of here without it. And unless he shows any aggression in the meantime, you're welcome to bring him without it next time," she adds. My heart skips a beat and feels a little joy, everything is going wellish, and while she's showed her evil colours in the end, she wasn't completely bad.
"Thank you for this, it means more to us than you will ever know, and my daughter will be happy. Already attached to him," he says as we walk out, the noise hits us again, but this time I ignore it as my dad is given the papers to prove that I've been checked out and ready to be licensed. After a quick goodbye and fighting my urge to bark, we leave. I wanted to bark goodbye, but can imagine the chaos such a thing would cause with all the other animals in there.
