A Brave, Brave Boy

Obi is not a fan of the car. He gets pretty carsick and really stressed out so to help with this I gave him a supplement to help with nausea and then completely covered the front passenger side of the car with old towels. I also strapped my fully loaded treat bag to my belt so I had distractors to be passing him on the drive. 

Poor guy did not love the windy road to the vet 

With one hand on the wheel and one hand giving Obi an ear massage we wound our way down the hill to our vet office. Obi was so stressed that he was really checked out. I felt so bad for the little nugget. And then when we got there it was pouring rain - another of Obi's least favorite things - so he actually was happy to get inside the office. 

There are so many reasons that I love this vet clinic but one of my top reasons is that my vet is very behaviorally savvy and super respectful of how the animals are feeling. Obi got lots of time to sniff and check things out and the exam was able to be done with great low-stress handling techniques.

His least favorite part was getting his teeth looked at but he let me show Dr. Sperlich his teeth and she was able to observe without having to handle his mouth herself which would have been tough for Obi. He did let her look in his ears and eyes though, stood on the scale, had blood drawn for his heartworm test, and had a rabies vaccine. That is a lot for 1 scared little dog to handle. 

The good news is that he checked out as very healthy. 

Back in the car and getting strapped in to head for home

We then made it all the way home without any vomiting or excessive drooling and he deservedly crashed on the dog bed downstairs. He earned a nice long nap.