If he would just brush his teeth....

Scooter had dental surgery today. He is twelve and a half years old, was born at our house to Muzzy, the world's best Sheltie mommy, and was always the gentle soul of the litter. He was born in the middle of Muzzy's second litter on May 1st, 1997, just one month before Joy graduated from high school. CB and JB had been married almost one year and Boo was finishing her first year of college when Muzzy gave birth in a little swimming pool we had filled with old towels and had put in my sewing room . Scooter was one of the fat puppies with brown and white spots--looking like a little fat jersey calf. From the get go he loved to be on the bottom of the dog pile. No matter whether the puppies were in the pool with Muzzy or outside with her as they grew older, he would always find the bottom of the heap and just lay there while the others climbed on top of him and tried to one up each other. He would look a little forlorn and hang back from the others when folks came to look at them when choosing a puppy to purchase, which is probably why he wasn't chosen.

Actually, he was chosen. By a physical therapy student who kept coming by to look at him, but honestly couldn't care for him while he was in school. Graduate school and work is very demanding and not a time to purchase a puppy! But, we saved Scooter for this student who finally decided that it wasn't fair for him to take the responsibility of a dog. By that time we were completely smitten with him and decided to keep him. Muzzy had weaned him and he was rapidly outgrowing her, little snippet of a Mama dog that she was. We tried to get him to chew rawhide during his puppyhood to keep him from chewing things he should not. He did chew some, but mostly would try to chase balls and frisbees that belonged to Muzzy, who would discipline him severely for such actions. Consequently he just never was enamored with chew toys and bones and rawhides. So he developed dental problems which can lead to more serious health problems in canines.

Today I took him in at 8 a.m. to the clinic and they called at 11 to say that he was waking up and doing fine. He also had a cyst below his ear removed, and stayed there another 3 hours to wake up better. When I went in for him he was wobbling all over the place, but turned his face to the door and would not look at anyone. Trying to hop into the car, he was so woozy that he missed the back seat and hurt himself a little. I picked him up and laid him carefully on the seat, and he promptly walked to the other side and stared out the window all the way home. Inside he hit the water dish and walked around for about an hour, bumping into furniture, the small Norfolk pine tree, and some violin cases that belonged to students. Definitely not awake fully! Finally he gave up being social and snoozed in the bedroom until the sun went down. When he woke up this time he was much more alert and capable of walking. He isn't eating ravenously, but his mouth may be a little sore. If I could just teach him to brush his teeth we wouldn't need to make these appointments.