Spring Break

Class was cancelled, but it hasn’t been a dull week around the Larry Young residence. Monday, he went to the vet’s for THE surgery. He got neutered. I took him in at 8 a.m. and we went through a check-up. Then it was time for him to go back and get ready for surgery and for me to leave. I gave the leash – rather unwillingly – to Larry’s favorite vet tech and bent down to give him a goodbye hug and kiss. But he was already off through the door, leaving me alone to sulk off to the car.

All morning, I could just imagine Larry with a little IV in his paw, lying out on a surgical table. I hoped he wasn’t afraid or mad at me for leaving him there. Finally, the vet called around 11 a.m. to let me know that Larry was out of surgery and I could pick him up at 3 p.m. At 2:59, Jake and I pulled into the parking lot, excited to see Larry and talking about how he would probably be very drowsy and cute. We signed the paperwork and the receptionist called on her little headset “I need Larry Young in the waiting room.” I was thinking about how they were probably having to wake him up and pick him up out of the kennel to carry him in. Then, Larry appeared around the corner, pulling on the poor vet tech at the end of the leash. He ran across the waiting room and skidded on the tile floor as he tried to stop in front of me. We were given his pain medication and told to restrict his activity level for 10 days – no playing, no jumping. Jake and I laughed at the lady. She didn’t appreciate that.

As soon as we got home, Larry was back to his old habits: jumping up on the couch, dragging his toy around the house and eating my plants. I told Larry that if he was well enough to play, he was well enough to do homework. So, we’ve been practicing “stay” a lot to get ready for next week’s class.