Sitting in the Principal's Office (or the Vet)

Today was a rough day to be a dog in the Cummings household. This morning Toby and Penny visited the dentist. Our day began at 7:30am so I could drop them off at the vet before 8. We are not early risers, so I literally had to shake Penny awake while she lay on her bed made from the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. Their emotions ranged from sleepy stupor, to elation at the sight of leashes and the car, to terror at the entrance to the vet. Apparently 7:45 was the peak time to drop off your dog because the lobby was packed. I grew maternal out of nowhere and found myself wanting to protect my children from the unruly pug and his irresponsible mother. We started off on the wrong foot when she lost hold of his leash and he lunged at Toby and she lunged along with him trying to recover said leash. Toby was startled more by the large woman throwing herself forward and yelling, "Get back here!" than he was by the pug itself. Here are snippets of the conversation that happened behind me while I was checking in at the desk.

Pug Owner Wife: "Look at the white one! She's funny lookin'!" (Note the exclamation marks. It was early and the obnoxious pug owner felt the need to yell each comment.)
Pug Owner Husband: "Keep him [pug] away from the black one; he [Toby] is scared."
Wife: "No he ain't; they're just fine."
Husband: "Look the fur on his back is standin' straight up and he's shaking."
Wife: "He's just cold."
Husband: "Pull him [pug] back away from him."
Wife: "He [pug] is just smellin'. When he growls, that's when you pull em back."

I really wish this lady didn't wait till she heard a growl as her signal to "pull em back". I felt like I was dropping my kids off for kindergarten and was fearful for them being bullied by the mean pug. I then envisioned myself telling off the other mother reprimanding her for not keeping her child under control. Oh man...if this is how I want to react with my dogs, I can see myself becoming a crazy, overprotective mother with my real children. But seriously lady stop yelling, remove your unruly dog while you let your husband handle registration, and it's not okay to let your dog growl and intimidate mine or anyone else's in that waiting room!

This morning I was the paranoid, overprotective mother. When I picked them up this evening, I was the guilt-ridden, feel-like-a-terrible-mother. Total cost for the two teeth cleanings, anesthesia, blood work, and medication...$414. Gulp. Wasn't expecting that. So maybe I was put a little on edge from the sticker shock. The vet comes out to the lobby to debrief me and all I hear is, "You're a bad owner. You're irresponsible. As a parent you fail." No, the pug lady is the irresponsible one. I'm kind and nurturing. I take my dogs for walks, throw them birthday parties, and they have enough outfits to clothe 6 dogs. The vet actually has to ask me this question, "Do you groom Penny regularly?" Ouch. Yes, yes I do! They made a note in her file to mention the matting, especially around her eyes. Oh no, she has a blemish on her permanent record. I feel like I'm sitting in the principal's office being told I've sent my second grader to school in dirty clothes. They're the doctors; don't they recognize that she has chronic ear and eye irritation, conjucta-something? We rescued her at age 10! She'd never been spayed, had fleas, ear mites, yada yada. We inherited her like this. We didn't cause this. We saved her. We're the heroes, not the bad owners who neglected her and let her get like this! (Note my exclamation marks at this point.) Toby's debrief is maybe worse, "Okay so he lost two more teeth." Yes she said 'more'. When we first got him he lost two at his first teeth cleaning due to rot. I actually voice my defense this time, "Yes when we got him, (ahem) rescued him, we rescued both of them, his teeth were in bad shape (read- we didn't cause this). Is there something we can do to help him? Are we doing something wrong?" She assured me it was probably genetic and prescribed the chewy treat Greenies. This is like prescribing candy for a child. Greenies are like crack to Toby . After vomiting bright green after a trip to his Grammy's house (where he received the bulk of his Greenies), we discontinued his consumption of them. I thought I was doing the right thing and being a good parent by eliminating them from his diet. Wrong.

The three of us trekked home: Toby toothless but still reeling from the Greenies prescription, Penny looking like a hot mess with wet? and selectively trimmed hair where she was matted, and me feeling defeated and embarrassed by my lack of parenting skills. A rough day for all of us indeed. I'm trying to do right by my children. Sometimes love and nurturing (and turtleneck sweaters) aren't enough. Dogs need proper care and know-how. They will be boarded next week while we're out of town, so maybe they'll do better in the hands of professionals. Below I have humbly posted pics of the recovering patients to prove the hot mess-ness of Penny and my embarrassing missteps as their owner. I pride myself in my love for dogs, especially my own, so revealing my imperfection (complete failure) as a pet owner is more difficult than revealing imperfection in other areas of my life. Forgive me my children and don't blame everything on me, your pathetic mother, in your therapy sessions.

The haggard Ms. PenelopeA toothless Mr. Tobias