Key word…”puncture!”

I thought it was going to be a typical Wednesday — we’d get up, do our morning routines, and then venture up the street to get Monty to begin a long day of dog walking.

The first part went according to plan — we got up, did our morning routines and when Gretchen put the leash on me I thought, “Okay, Monty, here we come,” but instead of venturing up the street, she put me in the car and we headed east.

“Oh no,” I thought. “This isn’t looking very promising.”

When we pulled into the vet’s office, I had that sinking feeling in my stomach. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Oh Rubin,” Gretchen said, “Stop being so melodramatic. You love it when the doctor works on you! Besides, it’s not like you’re coming here to get a shot!”

What I was doing at the vet is what I do about once a month — I get chiropractic and osteopathy treatments. I know, you think I’m spoiled rotten, but for a dog of my young age (I’ll be four in February) I have some structural issues that we’re trying to nip in the bud before they cripple me later on in life. And yes, though the doctor makes me nervous at first, I do like how she moves my body around so it feels better.

But today, despite Gretchen’s comforting words that I wasn’t getting a shot, the doctor decided to use needles anyway. Yep, not only does she do chiropractic and osteopathy, she’s an acupuncturist too! And I’d like to point out that the root word in acupuncture is PUNCTURE!

As you can imagine, I was a wee bit leery. When that first needle went in I looked at both Gretchen and the doctor and said, “Excuse me, but Gretchen said I wasn’t going to get a shot!”

“It’s not a shot, Rubin,” the doctor tried to reassure me, “Even though I do use a needle.”

Of course, I didn’t hear the rest of her explanation because I fell asleep. Yep, me…the nervous poodle, fell asleep. And I have to admit, I sure feel a lot better tonight after my treatment.

I was a little disappointed, though, that I wasn’t allowed to walk with our clients as much, though. Apparently, I needed to rest after my treatment, and rest I did. But I did get some walks in…

…yes, first with Monty who helped me walk Rosie.

“Hey Rubin,” Rosie told me as we walked through the park, “How did you like those needles?” Turns out Rosie gets acupuncture too and while she’s not so keen about the needle at the top of her head, she likes all the rest of it. “Makes you feel kind of gooey, doesn’t it?” she said.

And she’s right, that’s exactly how I felt.

I’m not sure how Oshi and Perrito would respond to needles. They have a hard enough time looking at the camera. Imagine if someone came after them to give them a few punctures along their meridians?

Gemma, I’m sure, would have nothing to do with it, but I bet it would cool her jets a bit. Saber would be grateful for that though today his jets were on full speed ahead!

I guess what I learned today is that even though the plan for the day doesn’t go as expected, unexpected goodness can come out of it! And sometimes a puncture is a good thing.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin