Day 4:  Mikeyba Goes To The Vet

Today is Mikeyba's vet visit.  I arranged to leave work at 3:30 to come home, get a cab, convince the driver to take us, and then to get Mikey to the Williamsburg Animal Clinic on Grand St.

We woke Mikeyba at around 7:20.  Brief walk up and down the street.  Plenty of robert, and a moses also.  Good spirits. More progress on “sit”.  He does this cute backward walk before he sits because I trained him by holding a treat over his head and moving it towards his tail over his back.  He’d watch it, scoot back a few steps until he bumped the wall, and then finally drop into a sit.  So now I think he thinks “sit” means “walk backwards three steps and sit” which is still a good skill to have. Better, if you think about it.  It combines “back off’ with “sit” and would even work for “leave it.”.  What a smart guy.

Mikeyba ate most of his breakfast (a few softened kibble, liver wet).  

He apparently enjoyed his midday walk so much they kept him out an extra 15 min. (No robert moses.)  Csaba the dog walker recommends longer midday walks because Mikey is having SO much fun.... but maybe he says that to everyone. I asked Csaba, how can you tell he's having fun?  No response.  I'd REALLY like to know!

I couldn't leave work until 4:00 but still got home in plenty of time. Mikey had a few minutes outside before leaving, but was uninterested in robert or moses.  I got a car service to take us to Williamsburg.  They sent a minivan and Mikey was good in the car.  We even practiced sit, which was VERY tricky in a moving vehicle.

We arrived at the vet a half- hour early, which is great, because there was some paperwork to fill out.  While I tried to fill it out, Mikey was the star of the vet's waiting room.  "So pretty!"  "What kind of dog is that?" "What do you mean, he's not yours?" I started to tell one woman about fostering and NYC Shiba Rescue.  The room was pretty small and soon I realized EVERYONE was listening.  It was The Mikey Show.   "Really?  There are other shiba inus available to be adopted?" "So you're not going to keep him?"  "You should keep him."  "Seriously.  KEEP HIM."  We'll see!

He was so well behaved among all the other dogs.  This was my second time in a vet's waiting room, and my first time in a crowded one.  Actually, ALL the dogs were very well- behaved!!  And some were HUGE.

Mikey's turn!  First the vet tech weighed him: 22 lbs.  Then two vets listened to his heart and agreed that he has a heart murmur.  They recommend an echocardiogram.  

This was Mikeyba's exam room.  He was so brave.

Slight infections in both eyes, for which I was given ointment.  He is slightly arthritic, and the vet recommended glucosamine supplements, and I was able to report he was already on them.  She said no painkiller was necessary. He had no microchip so they gave him one.  He got his Lyme shot and needs a boost in 3 weeks.  One eye has a cataract.  The other is clear.  

From time to time, I wonder if his hearing is impaired.  Unfortunately, when I asked, they said they can't test his hearing.  (I guess he's got the shiba inu selective attention.) 

Claws: clipped! Heartworm: negative! I forgot to ask about the end of his tail, which is a bit dark and bald.  The cab ride home from the vet was uneventful.  I pulled Mikeyba onto my lap for the ride home so he could put his nose by the window.  He tolerated (or maybe enjoyed?) me holding him on my lap.  I hope he enjoyed it.  All dogs are crazy about the wind in their nose, right?

This is how we'll get to the vet next time.

Since he was okay with me pulling him onto my lap, maybe he'll be okay with me picking him up later? I may put him onto our bed tonight to see if he wants to sleep up there with us. 

After a brief 7 pm walk, dinner out for the humans, and then a longer 9 pm walk I came home to discover... an accident.  Both robert and moses.  I felt terrible.  Why didn't he do robert moses at 1 or at 7 or at 9?  He hasn't done Robert or Moses on either of his midday walks.  It was probably between 1 and 5...  I hope.

BUT HE ATE ALL HIS DINNER!  And bedtime went well.