Puppy or Baby?

Everything it turns out, is bigger when you have a big puppy. Vet bills, food bills, poo, collars . . and the list goes on. But my puppy also did his first week of life with us in a big way as well. A trip to the animal hospital, with a surprise stay over and enough stress to put the whole family into a dither.

Kilo was uncharacteristically lackluster Thursday morning. He barely ate breakfast and after a very brief session of play went to find his best friend (the air conditioner vent). He spent most of the morning glued to the cold source until I attempted to rouse him for lunch and a little play. Again he refused to budge, and I grew worried. An hour later, when his condition hadn't improved we took him to the vet. The poor puppy was running a high temperature and obviously feeling ill. After several tests and numerous questions about his environment, we left Kilo at the vets and headed home to worry. Never before have I felt like I knew what having a real baby was like. But this week I've wondered several times if someone had played a trick on me and given me not a dog, but a crying, stubborn, yet vulnerable baby. I've decided that for all extents and purposes he is a baby, granted a hairy one, but a very big, complicated baby nonetheless.

Luckily, Kilo improved quickly and is now home once more diagnosed with a virus and bladder infection. The vets staff happily handed him over with a lighthearted comment about his healthy voice, not knowing of course, that I work at a dog kennel and therefore know all the clever ways of downplaying a dogs faults. 'A healthy voice' means: please take your dog home now, he's been barking loudly and non stop. Yup, that's my Kilo. A stubborn chewer and a persistent crate barker. Sometimes I feel like the mother whose child went to kindergarten only to have the teacher call with worries about 'serial killer' tendencies. I tell myself he's only 9 weeks old and malleable, I'll just have to have a very large and accurate hammer.

However, when the tech brought him into the room and I saw those clear eyes and wagging tail I could have cared less that he'd annoyed the staff with his barking, or that he immediately went to the wall and yanked out a medical plug, or even that he'd just robbed me of a couple weeks pay; and then, upon realizing this, I could only feel awed by his attractive powers. I blame it on his face, he's just too cute (I certainly can't point to his award winning personality yet, even if he does have his endearing moments).