Harley Dog Commando Crawl

Harley gets a lot of attention from gentle readers who are kind enough to post a comment. Thank you! Here are some recent comments, also below is a short video of Harley I made yesterday.

Harley dog doing okay? You haven't mentioned him lately. on A Beautiful Life
Anonymous
on 6/24/17

What happened to Harley dog? on Hard Work
Anonymous
on 6/6/17

So glad Harley dog is going to be okay! No more sticks! on Emergency
Anonymous
on 6/7/17

Oh, my, I'm so glad this true story has a happy ending ! Our animals can stress us out completely. Don't laugh, but I pray for ours, immediately. God obviously loves animals too. 😊 on Emergency
Linda A.
on 6/8/17

Last time Harley Dawg went to the vet for the emergency in Okeechobee, it was embarrassing that he was dirty and stinky in an old ratty vest harness. Well the little fellow is a busy boy and he does wear his stuff out quickly. Just because he wore it out, doesn't mean I have it in the budget to replace it. Sheesh I look at old pictures and realize how many vests he has wore out beyond repair over the years.  He is not destructive, but he is one super busy dog. It's why he wears a vest, he tangles up in a harness and a collar isn't safe for active little dogs due to trachea trauma. So I try to find him little vests to wear.

Mostly I let him be a dog. If he wants to roll around in the dirt, I let him. He shakes and vibrates so much, all the dirt has fallen off before he goes back inside but this can be rough on his vest. Mostly he prefers pavement over dirt, but sometimes he can't resist the urge to roll around and get dirty. It's a dog's life. He has lived so much of it in a teeny motorhome, he deserves some dog time now and then to just be a mutt.

I realized Harley's shots are due. Here I am in a strange town again, this time Sumter County, Florida which is fairly rural with only quaint towns that if you blink while driving through them, you might miss them altogether. My friend offered to take me in his camper van to the vet clinic. I called ahead, it's a walk-in place, was told to come before 2:30pm. Well, we got there at about 1:00pm and the receptionist was so embarrassed. The vet had been twiddling his thumbs daydreaming about starting his vacation so they decided he would leave early and start his vacation since it's July 4th week.

What a shame! That morning I had bathed Harley, put on a clean harness vest (rough at the edges but at least it was clean!) and now Harley was wildly excited as he associates bathing with something special coming up like to chance to visit humans or dogs or both. He was already enjoying his ride in the van. He has a little water dish, food and treats in the van, so he thinks it's a big event.

Harley was spared his shots.

But while riding around the countryside looking for a junk yard my friend wanted to visit to find some RV parts, we stumbled into another vet office. Well, what the heck. Walk in and ask. Maybe they would work in a doggy for shots.

What luck! They did see us right away, gave Harley a brief exam which he did not like one bit. I warned them to consider a muzzle to make it go fast and smooth. Poor baby. I said soothing things to him while they muzzled him. He glared at us, mumbling growls. What? You gave me a  bath and a clean vest so you could do THIS to me?

When the vet (named Dr Toto!) was done, the assistant was in a hurry to remove the muzzle. I said "Wait! Let me get the leash on first!" I could see Harley was plenty agitated from his rectal temperature exam and the added insult of a nasty shot on such a frail little body. This growling is something new, he used to be kind to vets, but about two years ago, we went to an unkind vet, and well, Harley has had to be muzzled since then. Well, she didn't wait. She removed the muzzle and Harley spun around, nipped her on forearm then flew off the cold stainless steel exam table to run hide in the corner under the chairs where he growled and grumbled refusing to come out so I could leash him up.

I apologized for the nip, it didn't break the skin, but she was mad. I guess as a vet tech, it was her first time having a dog nip her. If she had let me put the leash on first, then I could have gently held him while she removed the muzzle. Also he wouldn't be cowering under the furniture now, growling up a storm with these huge angry eyes. I can't risk getting bit either or any kind of skin break. My immune system is seriously compromised and that's just how life is for me. But I can't give up pet ownership either, I love my little fur baby.

The vet tech left and upon seeing the door open, Harley got up to race for freedom, but I snagged him, popped on the leash, then scooped him up for some loving.

Here is the promised video of Harley doing his hilarious commando crawl. He had just been bathed and put out in the sunshine to dry. Since he now has a portable dog pen, he wasn't tethered or vested.

Thank you for stopping by and thank you to the angels on heaven and earth who look out after us.

Bless you and happy July 4th week!