Dogs and Day Trips
When I was a kid, I was a true-blue animal lover. It almost didn't matter what kind. I especially loved anything furry (dogs, cats, hamsters, rats, etc.) but my interest included fish, birds, snakes, spiders, you name it. So I was constantly pestering my parents about having pets. They gave in a few times, eventually even letting me get my own dog. But it was never enough and back then I swore that when I was an adult with my own house I would have tons of pets, whatever I wanted.
Hah. Times change.
If you don't know, our family is currently a two dog family. But it really wasn't my idea. I had agreed while we were living in Sanders that we could get one dog. Since I am now the adult and not the kid, having a dog means a lot of extra work just for me. (Terence promised to do most of the work, but if you have a husband, you know how that goes.) So when the local tow truck driver offered a puppy he had come up with somehow, we accepted it. This cute little brown furball that we named Peanut grew into a monster-sized dog. Guess I should have been wary when her paws were so big as a puppy. (Nobody seemed to know what breed she was, so it was a surprise.) Peanut was such a handful that whenever Terence talked about getting another one, I threw back my head and howled in protest.
A year later we were heading out to the dentist on a very cold winter's morning and stopped to check our box at the post office. Next thing I know, my husband is climbing back into the car with a teeny-tiny shivering ball of black fur. I don't have a heart of stone, so I agreed that we could take the poor little puppy back home only long enough to deliver it to the shelter in Gallup. But here we are, some three years later, and Willow is now a permanent part of the Johnson pack.
Both dogs have been overdue for shots, but the money has been tight lately. We had planned to get them taken care of with some of our tax refund, but we spent more than expected getting the truck fixed. So after some searching I found a low-cost vaccination clinic at the Arizona Humane Society and this seemed to be the perfect solution to our dilemma. However, the clinic is a 90 minute drive from our house and is only open on Fridays. After some discussion, Terence took a Friday off work, and we decided to make a family trip of it. The internet info said the shots are given out on a first-come-first-serve basis, so we figured as long as we got there a couple of hours before they closed, all would be well. A bit naive of us.
First of all, imagine taking a 90 minute drive in a minivan filled with six people and two large dogs. To make this more challenging, I decided to take care of my fasting blood sugar test at the same time, so not only do I have four hyper children and two hyper dogs cooped in the car, I haven't eaten in hours. Yeah. 'Nuff said.
Then, we get to the clinic only to find out that every dog owner in Phoenix shows up to get their dogs' shots at this place. They issue tickets and you have to be there at 8:00 am on the dot to manage to get a ticket for the morning. So we were only three hours late. But never fear, they issue the tickets for the afternoon at 12:00 sharp, so we still had a chance. We picked up some lunch and found a side street to park on. That was interesting in itself. The Humane Society is not in the most upscale area. It's kind of an industrial/run down residential area next to a huge flash flood canal with barbed wire and security cameras everywhere. Still, there were trees and birds and cats so I could kind of pretend that we were having a picnic of sorts (while sitting in the van with the windows open.)
Oh, did I mention there were cats? Lots and lots and lots of them. Drove the dogs nuts. So much for closing my eyes and trying to pretend I'm out in the country somewhere.
Terence left me in the van with the little monkeys (i.e. the kids) and the pushy dogs and went to wait in line to get his ticket. And boy, was it a real wait in line. Even though we were there in plenty of time to wait before the noon ticket rollout, Terence got numbers 43 and 44 for the dogs. I guess they might as well been selling U2 tickets because people were shoving and pushing to get the numbers. Obviously we just don't understand the system. The poor souls who showed up a half hour later were too late to get a ticket for the afternoon. Who knew that shots were so popular?
Then the real wait began. I started to lose my mind after the first two hours, so I ended up calling my mom and asking for directions to the nearest Walmart. After a trip to Sonic for ice cream and a visit to the Walmart bathrooms with all the kids on my own, we made our way back to the Humane Society, just in time. Terence had finally got the dogs in for their shots. After only a measly half-hour longer, we were finished!
Mission accomplished! After more than eight hours in the van, we made it back home with freshly vaccinated dogs. But I really have to wonder, why did I want pets again????
Hah. Times change.
If you don't know, our family is currently a two dog family. But it really wasn't my idea. I had agreed while we were living in Sanders that we could get one dog. Since I am now the adult and not the kid, having a dog means a lot of extra work just for me. (Terence promised to do most of the work, but if you have a husband, you know how that goes.) So when the local tow truck driver offered a puppy he had come up with somehow, we accepted it. This cute little brown furball that we named Peanut grew into a monster-sized dog. Guess I should have been wary when her paws were so big as a puppy. (Nobody seemed to know what breed she was, so it was a surprise.) Peanut was such a handful that whenever Terence talked about getting another one, I threw back my head and howled in protest.
A year later we were heading out to the dentist on a very cold winter's morning and stopped to check our box at the post office. Next thing I know, my husband is climbing back into the car with a teeny-tiny shivering ball of black fur. I don't have a heart of stone, so I agreed that we could take the poor little puppy back home only long enough to deliver it to the shelter in Gallup. But here we are, some three years later, and Willow is now a permanent part of the Johnson pack.
Both dogs have been overdue for shots, but the money has been tight lately. We had planned to get them taken care of with some of our tax refund, but we spent more than expected getting the truck fixed. So after some searching I found a low-cost vaccination clinic at the Arizona Humane Society and this seemed to be the perfect solution to our dilemma. However, the clinic is a 90 minute drive from our house and is only open on Fridays. After some discussion, Terence took a Friday off work, and we decided to make a family trip of it. The internet info said the shots are given out on a first-come-first-serve basis, so we figured as long as we got there a couple of hours before they closed, all would be well. A bit naive of us.
First of all, imagine taking a 90 minute drive in a minivan filled with six people and two large dogs. To make this more challenging, I decided to take care of my fasting blood sugar test at the same time, so not only do I have four hyper children and two hyper dogs cooped in the car, I haven't eaten in hours. Yeah. 'Nuff said.
Then, we get to the clinic only to find out that every dog owner in Phoenix shows up to get their dogs' shots at this place. They issue tickets and you have to be there at 8:00 am on the dot to manage to get a ticket for the morning. So we were only three hours late. But never fear, they issue the tickets for the afternoon at 12:00 sharp, so we still had a chance. We picked up some lunch and found a side street to park on. That was interesting in itself. The Humane Society is not in the most upscale area. It's kind of an industrial/run down residential area next to a huge flash flood canal with barbed wire and security cameras everywhere. Still, there were trees and birds and cats so I could kind of pretend that we were having a picnic of sorts (while sitting in the van with the windows open.)
Oh, did I mention there were cats? Lots and lots and lots of them. Drove the dogs nuts. So much for closing my eyes and trying to pretend I'm out in the country somewhere.
Terence left me in the van with the little monkeys (i.e. the kids) and the pushy dogs and went to wait in line to get his ticket. And boy, was it a real wait in line. Even though we were there in plenty of time to wait before the noon ticket rollout, Terence got numbers 43 and 44 for the dogs. I guess they might as well been selling U2 tickets because people were shoving and pushing to get the numbers. Obviously we just don't understand the system. The poor souls who showed up a half hour later were too late to get a ticket for the afternoon. Who knew that shots were so popular?
Then the real wait began. I started to lose my mind after the first two hours, so I ended up calling my mom and asking for directions to the nearest Walmart. After a trip to Sonic for ice cream and a visit to the Walmart bathrooms with all the kids on my own, we made our way back to the Humane Society, just in time. Terence had finally got the dogs in for their shots. After only a measly half-hour longer, we were finished!
Mission accomplished! After more than eight hours in the van, we made it back home with freshly vaccinated dogs. But I really have to wonder, why did I want pets again????
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