Shots Adventure!

Do you see the pained expression on my face?

Yesterday was a stressful day at our house.  Under pretense of going on a nice afternoon drive, my mama took us for SHOTS!  Right now, I'm just extremely irked.  Don't get me wrong, I understand the need to have proper immunizations.  But my tiny trust is quite damaged.  And we didn't even get to stop at Sonic for tater tots, can you believe it!?!  <Sniff.>

Mama did her homework and found a local organization called Kitties and Kanines that does some amazing work here in our area.  The K and K folks offer low-cost spay and neuter services, fostering and adoption placement of some dogs and cats, and basic preventative veterinary services like shots, heartworm preventative and anti-flea medications.  In honor of National Spay and Neuter month, K and K is running a special in February so that all their immunizations are $5 a shot--pretty great deal for a family that has a lot of dogs (like us.)  Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there to give kudos to K and K and to encourage folks to locate and support organizations who do similar work.

So, mama loaded us dogs up in our SUV and off we went.  (Loading and unloading us is quite an endeavor since there are so many of us and since we all want to jump out and run as soon as our paws hit the ground!  And because some of us tend to be quite heavy and no one but Lucy will hop into the vehicle without being lifted.)  Well, it started off like any normal afternoon drive, but we didn't go far.  Mama unloaded us at this clinic and we were ushered in to a waiting room with lots of dogs and a few kitties--it was pretty interesting with lots of critters to meet and greet.  A few minutes later, my mama said a bad word or 2 and dragged us all back outside to the SUV.  It seems she had forgotten to go to the bank for the cash required for the shots.  Off we went to the bank just down the block.  Well, there were all kinds of backhoes and dump trucks swarming around the bank.  It was really fascinating! However, these construction vehicles were blocking the driveways and crowding up the parking lot. Okay, so mama uttered a few more bad words (she was really getting sassy that day) and drove off to another bank a few miles away.  Then back to the clinic we went.  Mama snatched us out of the SUV and didn't even let us take time to do any sniffing at the entrance; she said the clinic was about to close and we had to hurry!

Once back inside, we settled in to wait.  There were just 2 little dogs and a couple of kitties in carriers ahead of us.  I trotted right over to take a look inside the cat carriers because the kitties inside were yowling and making an awful racket so I thought I'd better assess the situation.  Soon, this nice young lady came out and called my name, so I was happy to go down the hall with her.  She first walked me up on a little platform that made some sort of numbers come up and then she told me I was FAT!!  It seems that little platform was scales and tattled that I've been taking a few too many treats of late--stupid device!  Then we went to another room where I was poked with a needle to steal a vial of my precious corgi blood and then with a second needle to inject vaccines into me.  Last, but most distressing, the woman squirted some evil concoction up my nose.  I was just about ready to lose my cool and chew her arm off, but then she petted me and told me I was a good girl and whisked me back to my mama.

The folks at the clinic did the same procedure to my siblings and then we were done.  At the desk, my mama gave them the money we zipped across town to get and then they gave her some cute little gold colored charms for our collars...these tell everyone that we had our shots like good canine citizens.  Mama says we have to have these little charms to be welcome at the dog park; I like it there so I guess it was worth the whole distressing trip.

Mama loaded us all back up in the SUV and we drove off.  My sister Sadie, who can spot a Sonic a block away, alerted mama that she was callously passing the source of tater tots, but mama didn't care.  She took us back home and gave us a treat for being good.  Then she said something about getting a drink, but she didn't go to the red bowl on the floor; she made something in the blender.  

Today, we are all feeling just fine, no one had any adverse reactions to the vaccines, and we are having a lazy day at the house.  Mama is stroking my face right now, so I guess I'll let go of my hard feelings and agree to trust her again.  She DID go to all this trouble for us, to keep us healthy and to make us welcome at the dog park.  Okay, maybe shot day wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Lucy was hiding under the cover, but left a foot sticking out.  Maybe if she could hide a little better, we'd have avoided this entire immunization adventure!