My Annual Check-Up

Sage Canine Advice, by Sage Riverdog – April 29, 2012
None of us really likes going to the doctor, including me. But I get taken every year anyway.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Mark Green since I was 7 weeks old. He has taken good care of me, even though I really don’t understand about the poking and prodding.

When I get to the office I’m amazed by all the smells and animals.  They take me over to the walk on scales and I stand there a minute and get a treat.

Then I go to a special room where I see Dr. Green. He and his assistant coax me up on a cold shiny table and the table growls and raises me up high. Then Dr. Green begins his examination. He looks in my eyes, ears, nose and mouth.  He reminds me to make sure my ears get cleaned regularly because I like to swim.

This year he scraped on my teeth a little to remove some tartar, that wasn’t fun.

Dr. Green then checks me all over to make sure he doesn’t feel anything that shouldn’t be there. I enjoy the massage, he’s careful not to hit the ticklish spots.

There is discussion about the gift my owners brought Dr. Green. Why he likes to be given dog poopie, I’m not sure.

The last part of my annual examination is to get a couple shots. This year I didn’t even notice them. But I also get nose drops because I may go off to doggie camp this summer.  That I really didn’t like and it made me sneeze.

All in all it wasn’t a bad experience. There are lots of dog treats involved and I am told this annual pilgrimage keeps me healthy.

You should have seen the fuss the cats made when Dr. Green examined them and gave them their shots. I don’t know why cats can be such “drama” queens.

So make sure each of your pets gets their annual check-up.

About Sage – Sage is an 8-year-old black Labrador retriever who lives with River District Executive Director Edna Chirico and Edna’s husband, John Huber. Sage earned a Canine Good Citizen award, which allows her to visit nursing homes, hospitals and schools. Sage loves to run, fetch, swim, ride in boats, travel in the car and play with just about anyone, especially children.