THE RETURN OF KUJO

The beautiful Louka flirting with Smooch


Smooch was overdue for his 3rd vaccination. I’ve been putting it off both because a vet visit is so darned expensive ($100.00 !!), and because the pup hates going there; he tends to become much like Kujo the moment he gets a whiff of the vet’s establishment. However, the beautiful Louka, my neighbour’s husky/wolf mix, is going into heat again, and my puppy has grown up. His interest in Louka’s condition plus the arrival of my rug rats made it imperative that Smooch be inoculated immediately in preparation for the big ‘O’.

I enlisted the help of my son, and it was a smart idea. The pup was uncooperative the minute we entered the examination room, and 77 pounds of stubborn pit-bull is not easily handled. The vet was a woman not much bigger than me; even together we could not have accomplished what my son did so easily. He picked up the dog and put him on the table in one swift move, then stood there to hold him still. The obedience training we’ve been doing helped a little and one could tell my patting him was somewhat reassuring, but it wasn’t sufficient to overcome his apprehension. If Jo had not been there with his strength, there is no way, short of tying the pup down, that we could have kept him on that table long enough for the necessary probing, then the needles. Smooch wasn’t the only one relieved when it was over. He has a part whine, part yowl that he does to show his displeasure; and we were serenaded with this for the whole drive back home. I don’t have to tell you that the date for the upcoming operation was chosen with my son’s availability in mind!

The moment he jumped out the truck, Smooch’s attitude changed. My happy-go-lucky, loving companion raced toward the waiting Grump, probably to tell his big ‘brother’ about the traumatic experience, then ran back to me again to lick my hand. My son, who was watching the scene, said it all. “Humans should be more like dogs,” he remarked. “Forget and forgive immediately. Now we play.”

We both SMILED. Sharing it with you, folks!

Luv from the bush in Quebec.