My assistant and I
were cleaning the front desk area; the day was coming to an end. Then I heard the
door chime followed by fast approaching footsteps.
“Quick! We need
your help,” I turned around and saw two young children standing in front of the
counter. One of them was holding something covered in a blanket.
“What’s the
matter? Are you alright?” I could tell by their faces they were scared.
“It’s our dog,
he’s hurt real bad. We were playing. He fell over and wouldn’t get back up,”
the little girl told me. The boy holding the dog peeled back the blanket to
show me its face. Both eyes were closed, it was breathing loudly. I lifted its
jowl to examine the gums, they were pale.
“This is very
serious. I’ll bring your dog to the back right away,” I calmly told them. The
boy carefully moved his pet to my arms.
“It’ll be just
fine,” I reassured them with a smile.
As I carried the
canine to an examining room my assistant sat with the children.
“His name is
Buddy!” The girl called out before I left their view. I heard them sob as the
door closed. When placing Buddy on the table he let out a little whimper. This
was good; it let me know the situation was not as dire as I previously thought.
I set up an IV to rehydrate him. This should take care of everything but I
still had to be sure. His eyes were looking better, color returned to his gums,
and he waking up. Every test I ran Buddy passed with no problems. He was still
a little woozy but responding well. He headed straight for a bowl of food after
I set him down. The water in the bowl next to it was lapped up even faster.
Buddy led me out
to the waiting room; I couldn’t hold his leash tight enough. The kids lit up
when they saw him. Buddy’s tiny tail wagged so much his whole body shook. It’s
been a couple of hours since they arrived and now the children’s parents were
with them.
“Buddy! You’re
okay!” the girl and her brother were on the floor petting and hugging him.
“Thank you so
much. We had no idea where the kids were until we saw the note,” their father
came and shook my hand.
“We only live
across the road but it was worrisome. What happened?” the man’s wife asked.
“Well, with the
summer heat at its highest, the dry air we’ve been having, and all the playing
outdoors, Buddy became dehydrated. He wasn’t drinking enough water. It’s a good
thing you two were so brave and brought him here. He’s all better,” I gave
Buddy a pat.
The family, led by
their little dog, left the building. As the little boy was pushing on the door
he turned to me and said, “You’re a good doggy doctor.” He gave me a huge smile
and left.
