May 27, 2014

White Dog and the others pushed their way to the door and blocked Steve who was carrying Sachi. "I know you all think it is unfair that he gets to go for a ride AGAIN," he told them. "So whoever wants to join us just stand in line and I will harness you up."

The Army jostled to be first. From the third spot in line, YoYoMa asked, "So where are we going?"

Steve's answer, "To take Sachi for his wellness exam at Dr. Julia's," melted the line; suddenly NONE of the WDA stood to be harnessed and I heard the dog door bang a couple of times as escapes were made.

At the vet's office we discovered our nearly 12 pounds of trouble was leaning toward the chunky side. Of Course A White Dog nipped at Margaret, the Tech, as Dr. Julia pronounced that losing 2 lbs was a good idea and would help with his breathing issues. Fortunately, Steve has already begun including our Little Guy in the nightly walk tradition and he seems be a great walker despite as long as they do not go too fast. Exercise (with Dr. Julia's cautious blessing) should help with the weight loss since he was previously kept pretty sedentary.

He received updates on all of his shots and tested negative for heartworm so now he can go on a preventative. Apparently HW prevention is not such an issue in parts of California but we make sure all of the WDA is protected.

Otherwise his bill of health was good. Dr. Julia would like him to see a pulmonary specialist just to have a game plan if needed in the future but we have decided to give Sachi a couple of months to get settled in and develop a pattern/routine at our different lifestyle and higher altitude that would be useful in establishing his baseline. Dr. Julia's recommendation was the very fine specialist who has treated Puff and who also sits on the Advisory Board of Paws To People.

Sachi could not wait to get back to the van and head for home, although he and I disagreed about his idea that he should sit on Steve's lap as he drove. (Sachi-San is totally devoted to Steve and frets horribly when forced to be separated...what is funny is that we were told that he was not really comfortable with men. BOL!)

Once home, OCAWD complained mightily about the diet and his being pup-handled. The WDA laughed because they know Dr. Julia is gentle, wise and kind. Our littlest one pouted on the couch and refused to even come down for a training treat.