Is It Elephants or Dogs That Have The Greatest Memory?

This morning I had to take Brutus in to get his booster shots. I figured it would be a quick in and out appointment, so I didn't even take my coat off. We checked in with the receptionist and headed to the doggy scale. Brutus wouldn't budge. I thought that was strange the first time we went to the vet, but "whatever". I lifted his butt up on the scale. He's only gained one pound since we've had him, and the vet was very pleased with that. Then we were off to the exam room. Brutus laid down and played dead. I mean seriously dead. It took the vet tech and myself to drag him, literally, into the exam room. It was the same vet tech from our last visit, and she remembered Brutus, WELL. Hmmm. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Anyway, we got him into the room, and she tried to give him a treat to loosen him up a little bit, but he wasn't opening his mouth for anything. We are talking total two year old behavior here. This is a boy who would eat a piece of paper if you let him! So, after answering a few questions that I had, it was temperature taking time. I still had my coat on, thinking that a quick temperature and three shots shouldn't take more than five minutes. She came at Brutus with the thermometer, lifted his tail, barely, and Brutus had a melt down. He started bucking like a bronco and flipping out. I had been holding him really tight, and he even got away from me, and she hadn't even gotten near his butt yet. This was not good. She decided to go get the vet to see what the plan would be.

The vet comes in "trying" to be very cheery and sweet, but I could tell that she was a little apprehensive, which means Brutus could certainly tell. The doctor got down on the floor and played with him a little bit, and kept trying to pet him closer and closer to his bottom. Brutus started to growl at her. This was not good. Off came the coat. I offered to get on the floor with them, because frankly, at this point I was covered in fur anyway, but she thought it might be best to take him in back and do his shots. She was going to forgo the temperature for today so that he wouldn't be completely traumatized and never be willing to come back. Can anyone say "too late"??

The tech brought him back about three minutes later, shots done, or so I thought, and said that they needed to muzzle him, but then he calmed right down. Then she actually said the following words to me. "We were out of one of the boosters, but the delivery should be here in about an hour. Can you bring him back after lunch?". OH......MY......God!!! Was she kidding me? Nope. She wasn't. So now I am sitting here looking at Brutus wondering how I'm ever going to get him through that door again, on the same day. Ugh. If only he could just forget.