Little feet and first steps

Sunday came and went pretty uneventfully in the Cullen Menagerie. A winter storm has been in the area for two days now, much like most of the Country (well the world actually according to news briefs) and on our side of the lake we seem to get more than our fair share of snow; such is the price you pay for living in Gods Country.

Because of the storm it seemed that most of our animals had the good sense to want to curl up near the fire place and sleep the day away. Other than a few brief spurts of unabashed, joyful puppiness, Kona joined them in their pursuit of doggy dream land; a place no human can attend and yet we spend much time trying to guess at what it is our canine pals dream about, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to escape once in a while to watch them revel in their world where human boundaries don’t exist.

Monday was going to be the big day for Kona so rest was well in order….

Monday would be Kona's first day at work in the clinic with me, it was the perfect day to introduce Kona to life in the Clinic and Grooming shop since is was a quiet day; what is that old saying "Slow and steady wins the race", well that saying couldn't be more aptly applied than in reference to teaching puppies and dogs.

Arrivals are always chaotic so until everyone was booked in and settled Kona went into one of the Kennels, as she gets older and is big enough to not accidentally get stepped on and once she has enough immunity from vaccinations, she will be right at my feet but for now it was the kennel; keeping her safe is the most important thing. I half expected Kona to complain while in the kennel but she never made a peep. She sniffed around for a moment and then curled herself up onto the blanket I put in there for her bed. When she needed to go out to do her business she rang her bell. All in all she was a model employee at Huronia.

Since Kona is not fully vaccinated (we like two doses of DA2PP under her belt before we feel she has enough antibodies) she would not be on the clinic floor, where she is most likely to come into contact with potentiall pathogens, though the floor is constantly scrubbed and disinfected, caution is the name of the game so we take no chances. She will also only be in contact with dogs we know and that we can be assured they have immunization but also that they do not go to area's where they could be potential carriers of viruses on their feet etc. However, all of this does not mean that Kona's time at work is wasted, she is getting used to the sounds of equipment used, the very busy atmosphere and meeting the staff as well as the safe pets.

Kona's first task was to help Candace (one of our vet technicians) to check a fecal sample in the microscope. Kona then got busy on the computer booking in clients.....so I thought next thing I catch her surfing the net checking out her blog! OK, so a little humour but what is life with out humour right, as well the many hands handling Kona is a very good thing for her, not to mention the equipment


exposure.


For now I need to sign off folks as little and big paws need my attention and not all of them canine. I will write more later and post a few more pictures of Kona's big day. She is a remarkable little gal and has no fear .... of anything, she takes on the 95lb police trained GSD like he was a squeaky toy and he just loves her to no end. It is rather sad actually to see him mourning and moping when he can't get near her; if he is this enamoured already what are we going to do when she is 6 months old.

The Aussie is a little less impressed by her puppy teeth, he is waiting until she gets the concept of running away (not towards) him so he can herd her, Kona is not so convinced this is a game she wants to play, so poor Radar may be in for a surprise as he is quite used to the other dogs just falling into place but miss Kona has a mind all her own!