Oops, MY Dog Was the Bad One

I usually like going to the low-cost shot clinic at the Humane Society because my dogs are always so well-behaved and other people's dogs are so NOT well-behaved, and it makes me feel superior. I am used to seeing dogs on Flexi-leads wandering into other dogs' spaces and almost getting bitten (usually while their owners chat with the people next to them and don't watch their dogs at all); dogs in ill-fitting choke chains that are on backwards and fit like necklaces, not like collars; dogs peeing or taking a crap behind the owners while the owners are filling out forms, et cetera. But yesterday the disruptive dog was mine when I took Zsiga for his last DHLPP shot and the rabies shot.

The shot clinic opens at 7:00, but anyone who has ever been there knows you have to be there by 6:40 at the latest or else you will be there all morning. I got there at 6:40 and there were already 6 people in line ahead of me, which made me #7. The way the shot clinic works is this: there is a big, empty room about the size of a gymnasium filled with folding chairs. There is a little office off to the side where the actual shots are given (behind a closed door, owners NOT invited in). First you go in, fill out the forms about what shot you want, then you sit and wait until your number is called, then you go hand over your forms and pay your fees, then you sit and wait again until your number is called again, and then you hand over your dog for the shots. I have gotten smart about this over the years and realized there is no point to even bring the dogs in until I pay for the shots. If you bring them in at the beginning, you then have to juggle dog leashes with wallet and clipboard, whereas if you leave them in the car, you can read at leisure while waiting for your number to be called to pay. I have never understood why I seem to be the ONLY one who has figured that out. Everyone else brings their dogs in from the beginning.

Anyway, I paid and went out and got Zsiga and brought him in. They had just called #1 in for shots when I came inside. Zsiga... well, he did not take this place well at all. When we brought him a month ago for his first shots, he vocalized the whole time, and squirmed a little, but at least he could stay on our laps. Now he is way too big for me to carry, so he had to walk in. He took one look at the room full of people and dogs, hackled up, and started explosive barking and growling at everything. He looked wildly all around him like there was danger on every side. I couldn't do anything about it because he was so, so far over-stimulated. (The correct thing to do would have been to remove him from the place, take him far enough away that he was able to focus on me again, and then gradually move him a little closer a few feet at a time. But that would have taken a long time, and it was cold outside, and I was in my pajamas and wanted to go back to bed, and truthfully, as amped up and scared as he was, there is a very good chance he would not have relaxed with just one session no matter how slow we went. Then too, he's Tim's dog, not mine, and he is not going to have performance-in-public responsibilities like my dogs do. So I just stayed inside with him even though he was acting like a wild animal.)

Everyone stared at him and I stared at the ceiling, pretending nothing was happening. I knew who was ahead of me and what order they were in, so I was pretty surprised when the tech came up to me and said, "We're doing him next, come on up." I followed her to the front of the line and carefully did not look at any of the people ahead of me in line. Zsiga was still screaming and thrashing around on his leash like a fish out of water. It is no exaggeration to say his behavior was the worst I have ever seen in all my years of going to the shot clinic, and that's saying a lot, because bad behavior is always on display there. (Usually more bad behavior from the owners, rather than the dogs, to be honest.) I have also never seen them pull even the most disruptive dog out of its place in line and send it in sooner.

No one said anything to me about cutting in front of them. I'm glad they didn't, because it wasn't my idea. Zsiga's blood-curdling screams came out of the exam room even louder than they had been out in the room. I hoped he wouldn't bite the techs out of fear, and briefly wondered about liability in case that happened. Luckily it didn't. They returned him in one piece and we went back out to the car, with him screaming all the way. Once in the car, he shut up and fell asleep, and slept soundly all the way home.

So, wow. We need to get him out every day now and socialize the heck out of him, or we will have a very big problem on our hands. Literally a very big problem, since he is going to be 100 lbs. or so when he grows up, and an undersocialized German shepherd is like a loaded weapon. We have been getting him out, but I guess it wasn't enough. Then again, 16 weeks is developmentally a fear period, so maybe this isn't quite a surprise. Either way, it definitely reminded me of the importance of socialization. I think I will take more chances with exposing Annie when socializing her. As worried as I am about parvo, I am more worried about having a dog with lifelong fear issues due to not getting out enough as a puppy. Especially with herding breeds -- they are so darn sensitive.