First Vet Visit

Yesterday was Bricklin's first vet visit. It's not uncommon for a breeder to ask you to take your puppy to the vet right away to have the health verified. If there are any problems, it's best to find out sooner rather than later. In my rescue experience, it's also a good idea to make sure your vet isn't trying to nickle and dime you. If they find a lot of unfounded problems, it may be time to find a new vet. My breeder was okay with waiting to coordinate with Bricklin's first DHPP booster.

The vet's office is a GREAT place for socialization, and better yet, a place for positive socialization. The techs and staff are always really good at welcoming new puppies. There are tons of smells and noises, different dogs, sometimes cats or, depending where you go, other pets for them to see and smell.

I made sure to let Bricklin stand on the floor herself. I let all the other dogs smell her. We saw a lot of male dogs, so they were interested in this little girl. I let any of the techs that wanted to hold her. This isn't always an option, of course, depending upon how busy the office is. We had an appointment toward the end of the day, so that was helpful.

I was really surprised that when I put Bricklin on the big, stainless steel table, which every dog notoriously hates, she was willing to stand on it. She still slipped a little bit, but she wasn't afraid. She REALLY liked the table when Dr. Shockman gave her a treat.

There were no surprises when Bricklin got her shot. She simply looked back toward the doctor as if to say, "Excuse me!" She gave her a dirty look, but then got over it quickly. I think Dr. Shockman felt worse about it than Bricklin ever would have. Bulldogs have lots of extra skin, especially as a puppy, so I wasn't at all worried.

After a big visit, Bricklin was very tired. I was able to put her in her crate for some sleep. That gave her fabulous big brother a break and some one on one time. Bricklin loves Hudson, but she shows it by chewing on his face and barking at him. He's very patient and has a lot of fun with that, but we did some really hard tugging together, which I think he really enjoyed.

I know this blog is lacking majorly on pictures, and I promise to fix that ASAP. I have some really good ones. This little girl is adorable, I promise!