Sometimes life throws us a curve ball and sometimes the best laid plans go astray. There isn’t much you can do about it except roll with the punches.
In January 2022, I moved up to Alaska to take care of my niece’s dog and bird while she attended university on campus. It was an opportunity for her to experience life on campus, albeit in this new pandemic world, it isn’t quite how it used to be.
My mom had heart surgery in January so I would also be able to give my sister a break from taking care of mom. THE PLAN was to stay in Alaska until my niece’s spring break, the first week of March. THE PLAN was to then take the dog and bird back to California until summer.
Thelma Sue
Miss Thelma Sue is a black lab mix. Sweet as can be and just a year old. I’d heard from my sister and niece that Thelma was a handful. She hadn’t learned her manners; she didn’t come when called and she still had potty accidents. But I was ready. I lost my own dog just over a year previous and while I wasn’t quite ready to take on full responsibility for a new dog, borrowing a dog for a few months sounded fun!
On January 15, Thelma moved into my home in Alaska. She was very thin – so thin I did a body condition test when I first got her. The test showed that her thin build was perfectly healthy. Anyway, by week two with me, she seemed to have gained a bit of weight.
It was week three that had me wondering…. There were changes in her body that I hadn’t really seen before in a year-old puppy. We went to the dog park and the boy dogs were very interested in her. She seemed almost fat now and I didn’t think I’d been feeding her THAT many treats. Her nipples were more pronounced too. I knew that Thelma hadn’t been spayed yet but I had never owned a non-fixed dog before. I chalked the changes up to maybe she was going into heat soon??? We skipped the dog park for the rest of the week just in case.
In retrospect, I can see where this is heading and Thelma’s fourth week with me changed everything. It began to dawn on me that no number of treats would explain that amount of weight gain. I also found out that she had her first heat in December. DECEMBER! The month we were gone for Christmas holidays. The month she hadn’t exactly been supervised very well.
Yep, you guessed it. Miss Thelma Sue, our sweet baby, was in the family way! And so, life was not going to take the path I thought.
Confirming What We Know
As soon as it dawned on me that Thelma was potentially pregnant, I took her to the local vet. I wanted to know three things: 1) was she pregnant; 2) how far along was she; and 3) how many puppies could we be expecting.
While I was pretty certain that she was pregnant and was a bit surprised the vet couldn’t tell me. I had had Thelma 4 weeks, so I knew she was at least that far along. But the vet said that we’d have to get an ultrasound to confirm. He said there was something called fantom pregnancy where the dog’s body acts like they are pregnant but in reality, they are not. I made the appointment for the ultra-sound.
It’s funny how the mind works. How we cling to that remote possibility that what we are seeing, what in our gut we know is true, is not. All the signs were that Thelma was pregnant but now I had hope she was not. There was a chance that life wouldn’t be turned upside down. Maybe. Just maybe.
At the Vets
I believe in taking the very best care of my animals. But I also don’t appreciate being upsold at the vet. How could he not tell by feeling that she was pregnant? I am not a professional, but I was pretty sure I was feeling kicks and movement in her belly. I did my own research and it seemed like the ultrasound couldn’t really tell you much about how many or how far along. The receptionist suggested that an x-ray was necessary. However, I dutifully went to the appointment.
At the appointment, I waited 40 minutes before I was put in a room. It was another 20 minutes before the receptionist said the vet was running behind and they’d have to reschedule. I understand emergencies but they should understand that the walls were thin, and I heard the vet say he was going to lunch! They couldn’t tell me the price of the ultrasound and that vet lost a client for life.
Ultimately, I decided to suck it up and face what I knew in my heart of hearts to be true. We were going to have puppies. When and how many, well we’d just have to find out when the time came.
10 days after that failed vet appointment, Thelma delivered her pups!
