A Biter

So we took Blue and Sarah to the vet yesterday to get their annual shots and to get their heartworm and flea preventative. Besides the vet bill coming in at $585 (ouch!), we also had a unique experience with Blue. For those who haven't met Blue, he is a 6-yr old Weimaraner and quite possible the biggest softy you'll ever meet. He is a tall, athletic dog (weighs 70 lbs) but has never had the capacity to hurt anything, even a flea. Which brings us to the episode at the vet.

While they were getting a fecal sample, one nurse was holding Blue down by the head while the other inserted a plastic swab into his anus. Not very enjoyable for Blue as you might guess, but he has endured such many times before. The nurse must have poked him because all of a sudden he was trying to get loose to see what was going on near his rear end. Because the nurse was holding him by the head, he growled/barked trying to get free. She immediately jumped up and said, "He bit me!" We of course apologized all over ourselves, but it was too late. She ran out of the room and alerted the whole office that a "biter" was on the premise. Even more, they stamped his chart in bright red in 4 places reading "Muzzle Needed/Bites." Our Blue, who would never hurt a flea, is now labeled as a biter. So, when the vet came in to do his exam, first he put Blue in a muzzle, and then he whisked him away to a "bigger table" in the back, which I'm sure was equipped with straps to restrain an uncooperative dog. I understand that the vet office probably has standard protocol for such situations, but I'm not so sure that Blue ever bit the nurse. I think that maybe his mouth came open while he was trying to get out of the headlock she had him in because I've literally never seem him bite anything except for our other dog Sarah while they are playing. The other complication to the situation is that we happen to be friends with the vet and go to church with him, so I hated to do anything to insult him. Either way, we couldn't do much about it, so I guess we'll just have to live with a "biter" from now on. The bottom line here, beware visitors to our home, a biter lives here (so says the vet).