One night while working at the emergency clinic, a man walked in with something cupped in his hand. He said, “I found this, and don’t know what to do with it.” There, in his hand, was a newly born puppy. He was a little black thing and was colder than he should be. Damn it!!! Another 10 minutes and my shift would have been over - I would have been gone. Wouldn’t have been any need to weigh the life or death issue on this little guy. Damn it!!!
I had never raised a bottle baby before, but finally decided to give it a shot. After getting instructions on how to care for the little critter, we headed home. I had NO intention of keeping the scrawny thing, but would at least give him a chance at life. He’s a male. Another reason not to keep him. (I’m a bitch girl).
Over the next couple of months, he went with me everywhere. He had to be fed every 3-4 hours, so he really NEEDED to be with me. That first weekend we had an agility trial and I snuck him in. He clocked a lot of miles over the next few weeks. We went to agility trials, obedience trials, rally trials, hotels, my job, etc. He was a lot of work, and kind of a pain in the butt actually! But I did sort of enjoy seeing him grow from a squirmy little blob into a funny puppy with a personality. Sort of. He was still too young to determine what breed he might be.
Then one day while I was doing something to him (one of the many chores involved with a bottle baby) he made a kind of purring noise. When I finally realized that he was growling at me, I almost fell on the floor laughing. Was there anything more absurd than this tiny, totally “at my mercy” pup giving me the proverbial finger? Talk about attitude!!! OMG! How dare he?
Good thing I’m not keeping him.
What a precious picture. I had to laugh at your comment about being 10 minutes away from your shift ending when Micah came in. I ended up with Sparky the same way and Izzy arrived when I wasn’t even working, but I was called from the clinic to see if I wanted her. *sigh* Life in the animal ER is always an adventure! I’d say we got pretty lucky with our rescues.
Yes - life in the ER is never dull!