Chewy Goes to the Dentist

A couple days ago, Chewy went to the dentist. Yes, he's a dog. And he went to the dentist. 

He's a very well-loved dog.

But, just as you don't care for going to the dentist, dogs also don't. They care for it so little that they have to be put under anesthesia. Yes, our dog basically went through minor surgery so he could have his teeth cleaned. Are we really that image conscious about our pooch? Only partially. Apparently Sheltie's in particular are infamous for terrible teeth and if we didn't clean them, they'd decay and fall out or something. So putting him under was the lesser of two evils.

The morning of, I dropped off little Chewy at the vet's office and would pick him up in a while. 

Six hours later, this dog looked like he had spent a week trapped in a well...or as though he was shellshocked after a few months in the trenches. Poor Chewbacca was so drugged up and disoriented that I'm not sure he even knew where he was, or who I was. But his teeth? Like an Oral-B Commercial.



He lumbered out of the office and into the car and on arriving home, he proceeded to sleep for the majority of the next two days. 

The day after his cleaning, I'm sitting in the kitchen and he starts howling. Like a wolf at the moon. He's done this ever since he was a puppy, but he usually saves this maneuver for his most desperate hour when he needs the most pity. I ask him in Dog what's the matter, and eventually I just tell him to can it. When he won't let up, I finally ask him if he needs to go the the bathroom. He looks at me with despair in his eyes and says, yes.

I let him outside (in the rain...this alone shows his anguish since he usually refuses to go outside in the rain.) and he proceeded to diarrhea in about six different locations all over our lawn. It was a Bridesmaids movie moment. Afterward he just stood there in the rain, I think at a loss of what to do. I couldn't help but laugh at the sad state of my best mate. Eventually he came inside and again, proceeded to sleep.

His lethargy got so bad that my mom had to take him to the vet again last night to give him a Tylenol shot or something. He had a fever.

This is not all. The vet recommended a treatment be put in his drinking water so that it will help to keep his pearly whites pearly and white. This stuff is lime green. We are feeding my dog green water. As if he hasn't suffered enough. I almost want to try it to make sure it doesn't taste horrid, but I'm not too eager to dip my face in his dish. When I took him outside he immediately began drinking rain water out of any crevice he could find. This may be a clue.

Well, all in all, The Mighty Chewbacca is on the road to recovery. AND he has the nicest teeth of any dog, and probably of any human in our town.