I took Tovah to the vet this morning to get spayed. She was excited to be there which I'd much rather have than anxious and fearful, like poor Mr. Baxter who has just never overcome his "vet anxiety." He's better than some dogs I've seen, but he pants and sheds quite a bit which is kind of hard for a Boxer to do.
The first thing done is always weighing your dog. I was actually quite curious about this since she hadn't been weighed since late February. The scale read 44.9 pounds which surprised me, because I could have sworn from lifting her many times, she was at least 50 pounds! I'm really skeptical about their scale anyway, but I'll get to that in a minute.
One of the newer vets took her back while the receptionist was going over the paperwork. It sort of drives me nuts, because they know I work with dogs, but yet, still treat me like I know nothing. :sigh: Tovah bolted back with the vet. He came out later and said this to me:
From the looks of her, you would have thought oh dear, we are in for a handful. Once back there, we asked her for a sit, she did it, and then was calm. Then, we gave her the sedation medicine.
My first thought was "well, duh.," but I refrained from saying that. Instead I said, "she has had extensive training, so it was not surprising to me she did what you asked." I don't know, I just thought that was a stupid judgment call on this vet's part. Number one, she doesn't look scary, number two, she is a boisterous puppy and was excited to be there.
I know it is pretty useless to take the comment personally, but still I dislike judgments. If you're going to make one, at least take things into consideration. I'd almost say make sure to have your facts correctly, but I often relate facts with observations versus judgments with ignorance.
So then, the scale issue. I have qualms about their scale, because for one of my dogs, it read eight pounds lighter than two years ago. And I just can't fathom that she lost eight pounds in that time. She's nowhere near underweight or anything, but it is important for me to have her (and all my dogs) correct weights to know how much to feed them. (Their diet is raw food based, so I give a certain percentage of meat, while the rest is vegetables, fruits, and organ meats)
When I told my dad about this weight issue with Daphne awhile back, he said, "well, why don't you just weigh yourself on their scale?" Umm, not likely. I have a hard enough time being in a Dr.'s office getting weighed so being at a vet's office would likely heighten my anxiety with the observation of more people.
So can anyone guess what kind of thoughts ran through my head? Yes, I was thinking of buying a scale. :sigh: Bad me Bad me. I know that probably isn't the best solution. I don't know why I'm even a bit obsessed on this honestly. The dogs are healthy and in good shape. I think it's the pure thought of wanting to be right, accurate, and proving to myself that my body distortion is not that off--that I can estimate a weight of a person/dog on looks alone. Yes, I know that last statement is probably a bit hypocritical.
Anyway, I'm still waiting for the call that everything went smoothly, and I can go pick her up.
2 comments:
As long as your dogs are healthy, I really don't think it's important to know their exact weights, ESPECIALLY not if doing so means buying yourself a scale. I know I discuss G.'s weight with you, so I may sound hypocritical, but only when he has been sick and on the downslide, when he's within his normal zone I never have weigh-ins for him. Don't weigh yourself on the dog scale, knowing its accuracy isn't worth risking a trigger! And really all digital scales are quirky to some degree.
I agree with you about being annoyed that people assume dogs that look like certain breeds are going to be difficult to work with. Breed bias is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, because I have seen so many tiny dogs that are downright vicious compared to "big scary" G. Tovah gets more gorgeous with every photo we see, by the way! It sounds like she is a very smart girl, too, she's lucky to have found an owner like you that can channel her energy and brains!
Thanks Cammy for the Tovah compliments. I'm sure she is pleased. :-)
As for the weight/scale thing, I doubt I'll buy a scale, I'll just ask my dad to pick up the dogs and see what he says. He's very astute in this area, so I figure I might as well use him for something useful. :grin:
Normally, I really don't get my undies in a bunch over this, it's just I think it's WRONG. And lord knows, that can't happen. again :grin: But I do need to know their weights for food percentages. I know they are all healthy, and this is just a factor about me more than anything. I need to let it go though.
As for the vet comment, my boss said something interesting. although she a greed it was a stupid comment, she said the vet was probably surprised to see such a well trained puppy. So it was more likely a compliment. I guess he could have said it a lot better if that was the case.
Yes, I hate breed bias too! There's way too much of it out there, both in terms of large, "scary looking" dogs, as well as small dogs who get away with everything solely on the "cuteness" factor.
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