First Time at the Vet!

I have to say that beyond the on-the-surface things, I know nothing about raising a puppy or owning a dog.

It was great that by adopting him we got a free Vet visit (I hadn’t even thought of taking him to one before they mentioned it!).  I’ve walked and driven by a vet that is walking distance from my house many times over the past 18 years I’ve lived in the area. It looks like such a nice place and I had also noticed it was open on weekends so I immediately thought I’d take Lance there. Luckily they have pretty good reviews as well, so I’m not just choosing the nearby option.

As his visit got closer my list of questions to ask the vet grew. There is so much to know about owning a puppy! What do I feed him? How often should I feed him? Can he eat human food? How often should I clean his teeth? Should I get him a sweater for the cold?

The list went on and on and on. I googled “what questions to ask on your first vet visit” and other similar worded phrases.

Going into the appointment with a typed up list of questions (with spaces to write down the answers) was a little bit embarrassing, but I figured that if I am to be a good pet mommy I need to be prepared and do everything I need to do in order to be informed on everything that has to do with being a mommy to Lance.

The Vet was very receptive to my questions. I told her I had a list and she told me that it was awesome that I was prepared. The appointment itself was pretty painless. He was friendly with the vet and the vet techs. He sniffed them and let them pet him. It was only when she wanted to take a look at his teeth and ears that he got a bit upset.

They took him to the back to get a better look (she said she didn’t want him to associate the bad feeling of having his teeth and ears looked at with me). She said that everything looked good. She puts his age at around 4 or 5 months. His front teeth are adult teeth but the side ones are still puppy teeth and those come in at 6 months.

She gave me some good tricks, including how to brush his teeth (daily) and how a good way to potty train him (although I know this will be more trying on me than on him!).

She also mentioned that she thinks he had some sort of bad treatment before since he is very skittish around strangers. He warms up quickly, though.

We’ll be going back in early January so that he can get his vaccine boosters – so until then no pee or poo sniffing!