esrosedotblog

HUNGRY DOG

Franklin has a date with the vet today.

There is a cyst kind of thing on his ear and we want to take it off before it gets 'ahead' of us and him.

That means that he has to be anesthetized and, if he is anethsetized, he has to skip breakfast before the operation.

We have a routine to breakfast.

We go out to pee (well, he does), and then we come in and get the bowls set up; water and kibble.

The next part is sort of unofficial. I have some fruit and yogurt and, well, he gets to share a bit of it. On his kibble. Sort of like a sundae or parfait. Just a little.

Today, the bowl setup has water, no kibble (his last drink will be right before his 6AM walk).

My morning appetizer was yogurt on raspberries. I thought I might get away with eating it without being 'caught'. Franklin was outside still chasing mysterious 'intruders'.

I no more than got started on my first course than I felt a presence behind me and the presence started to do the airedale talk/groan/growl/whine that is so familiar.

He followed me from room to room. He was patient but persistent.

And then he was gone.

Franklin has a healthy ability to detach and move on.

Now, he is out there chasing and hunting again.

It will be a stretch until 8AM when we take him in but I think he will make it. He has a history. Every so often he will decide to put off breakfast until later or to skip it entirely.

Today is just involuntary.

While he is 'under', we will take advantage and get his teeth de-tartered.

They are not too bad but we want to take the opportunity. Did you know that tartar contributes indirectly to an early dog death? Bad teeth, poor mastication, infection. All that.

We are doing the preventive step.

I think we have found a good doc again. We have been in vet purgatory for awhile. All the vets at the hospital are good. We have never had a problem but we have never gotten over our first vet, Dr. Leonard.

He up and left because he really didn't like living in the desert. He went back to Chicago.

Imagine.

But now we have Dr. Burbank. He is good with us and with Franklin. He has a lot of good bedside manners. Franklin likes him. We like him. Bingo!