Every dog has his day | Paskhaver
There are many ways to stay calm. Try meditation. Or deep breathing. Or horse tranquilizer. I need all three to get through a vet appointment. And I don’t mean to calm down my dog. I need the stuff myself. My dog, Watson, is technically a senior. Many years ago, he was supposed to mellow out and snooze his way into a ripe old age. Well, he hasn’t mellowed. His ripe old age doesn’t prevent him from dislocating my shoulder when I walk him up to the vet’s office. Watson isn’t like other dogs. He loves the vet. He would cheerfully sell his soul for a few Snausages from her. This is despite the fact that whenever he visits Dr. Anderson, she usually pokes him with a needle or sticks a thermometer in a place where no sane dog would ever want one. So whenever I see Watson’s annual physical coming up, I start to sweat. You try restraining a 65-pound torpedo all the way from the parking lot up the concrete steps and the gravel walk to the local animal hospital. I usually lose the