never a dull moment

Tuesday:
Took Griz for his 1 year check-up (even though his actual birthday isn't for a few weeks). He got his first rabies shot, and was diagnosed as a bi-lateral cryptorchid (Meaning that his testes never traveled from his abdomen to where they're supposed to be, so not only can he never be a daddy, but his cancer risk would be way higher unless we had surgery done to locate and remove them.) Easy decision; we scheduled surgery for the next day.
{In our defense, we'd never had a male dog before, and we just thought he was a late-bloomer.}

Wednesday:
Woke up around 4AM to Griz whimpering at my side of the bed. Thought it was odd that he'd need out, since the pre-op orders dictated that he not have anything to eat or drink after 10PM, but let him out into the dark yard anyway. When he came back inside, I went back to bed but could never fall asleep again because I could hear him running around the living room and jumping onto and off of the couch. A while later, I went to check on him and found him covered in hives, with his face swollen and peppered with bleeding scratches (from him trying to alleviate his itching).
I thought, "OK...one more thing he's allergic to- rabies vaccines."
{snapped this picture on my phone as we were leaving for the vet's office}

How could you not feel awful for the poor guy??

The vet gave him a shot to help his hives/swelling go down, then went on with the surgery as planned. The kids worried about him all day. Britt couldn't stand the thought of his puppy being cut open and having to get stitches.

Griz was loopy (as you can CLEARLY see) when we brought him home, so Marnie helped him relax so he could get some rest.




It's not usually a big deal when dogs get neutered, but this poor guy's neuter scar will put any female's spay scar to shame.
Britt asked me if this means Griz can't get married now (hehe...the sweet things kids think of), and I told him that one day, Griz may meet the perfect girl dog, and she won't care that he has a scar, and she won't care that he can't have puppies, and he said, "because maybe they could adopt a puppy, right?" :)

I love my little people and my little animal. They keep things interesting.
They are SO worth all the trouble, all the worry, all the stress, and all the sleepless nights that I endure for them.