A Lovable Lab

I felt bad for what lay ahead for Shea all day long. The vet. A yearly check-up and some shots. Never a good time. And with Shea, he takes everything on with such gusto, it just makes it that much more heartbreaking!

When I got home and strapped Shea's leash on, his tail showed his excitement. For he thinks wherever we go is all about play, play, play. Usually it is, but not today. He didn't seem to notice as we walked into the vet office. He was captivated by the smells of other animals and dog food. Who wouldn't be?

It struck him that this was not a good situation when the vet technician came in and stuck a cold, metal thermometer up his little butt hole. From that point on, after feeling as though he had been violated, he crawled beneath the chair I was sitting in for protection. After calling in reinforcements, they vet was able to give Shea his necessary shots and draw some blood. Then, all she wanted to do was listen to his heartbeat. You think she was asking for his first born son. Really, he was just frightened. You take the big baby that he already is, multiply that by a thermometer up the butt, and a few needles in his bony little legs, and fear is inevitable. When she finally got to listen to his heartbeat, it was beating faster than a leer jet. But, she understood why.

To atone for Shea's bad visit, I brought him to a local golf course. Covered in snow, I figured it would be a fun place to play. Boy was I right! The boy loves nothing more than galavanting through the snow.

I thought it was the perfect place to play. Nobody would be on a snow covered golf course on the first of March. And, mostly, I was right. Until I noticed some rustling up by the club house. Turns out the owner was there, doing some maintenance and clean up work. The first thing I thought of to do was to run further away from the club house, to be unseen. Shea had other ideas. He ran up to where had seen the man. Got his face right up to the glass door that looked inside. When the man opened the door, Shea, as bold as he is, burst into the clubhouse. I quickly called him and amazingly he listened.

I had no doubt I was going to get yelled at. This man was not going to be happy with me. The thought that he may even call the police on me for trespassing crossed my mind. That would be good. A teacher arrested for trespassing. Setting a good example! Well, turned out, he was thoroughly entertained by Shea. He came outside and participated in the fetch game we had going on. He invited us back to play at the golf course anytime we'd like, barring any golfers of course!

See how lovable Shea is?