Vaccinations & checkup

On the day the puppies were scheduled to go to the vets for their first set of shots (Jul 30), it was absolutely pouring with rain and thundering. I knew when I woke them up from their morning nap that there was no way they would go outside to eliminate so I had to bundle them in the van and head to the vets as is. Of course, the moment they came inside, it was potty time all over the floor but our vet was very accomodating and understanding.

In the past, the person who tattooed my puppies always insisted they be vaccinated first which is why we had the puppies done at 6.5 weeks and not 8. That person is no longer around so I had to find someone else to tattoo. As it turns out, my vet told me the vaccinations take about 2 weeks to have an immunizing effect so really I could have waited until 8 weeks to have them immunized. Nonetheless, the first set has been done.

While there, I asked him if his 4 kids were around as I wanted more children to handle the puppies. Three were at home (his clinic is in his home) and they enthustiastically agreed to come see the puppies. Here's a photo of Adriana, our vet's daughter, trying to squeeze all the puppies onto her lap. She fell in the love with the puppies and begged her dad to keep one. He turned to me and said, if he didn't already have two dogs, he would be very tempted to get a Vizsla from me. Nice words from my veterinarian.

Plus it was very gratifying to hear my vet say that our puppies are just 'awesome' in terms of their behaviour with people and to being handled. Of course, to me, their behaviour is just what I expect and want in dogs and I've been working very hard to ensure they are constantly handled and done so by so many people. I was pleased to hear him say this but at the same time a little surprised. But he went on to explain that puppies from 2 other litters brought into his clinic recently were snarling and snapping at him and that he 'almost lost it' with one breeder because of the puppies' behaviour. He gave that person a good heart to heart talk and apparently the breeder did listen up. So, I guess the moral of this story is that not all puppies are well socialized by breeders and so it pays to deal with someone who takes the time and puts in the effort to ensure it's done and done well.

After our pleasant visit with our vet and his kids, I later took the pups up to Grandma Nova's breeder's cottage for an overniter. More on that trip with lots of photos later on. I need some sleep now!