The Dog Blog: Summits Take Commitment
“Let’s get her a new dog bowl if they have ‘em.”
The door to the Salt Lake City vet clinic pitched open and out came Pinder, languidly walking through a blurry heat, and the steam seemed to come from below her paws. Her rib carriage looked slight and Macye wanted to feed her and give her water.
She slipped from the car and took hold of Pinder’s collar, escorting her to the back of the SUV. From there Pinder waited for the hatch to open up and she hopped up quickly seeming to get her bearings, and if to say “get me out of here.” Macye noticed her big eyes were milky before shutting Pinder into her cool space.
“The results?”
“Good.” The vet tech offered up the certification. “In both eyes.”
Macye breathed out a large sigh. “That’s huge.”
“Let’s go celebrate, Mom!”
And they did. They thanked the vet tech and left for Ma and Paw’s. Pinder got a treat shaped like a taco, and a new red bowl, one with puppy prints on it. Macye emptied her warm Dasani into it, and she smiled at the lapping sounds as Pinder drank with great gusto.
Dark thunderheads threatened and before they could get two miles down the road, the heavens were throwing down arrowheads. They struck the hood and roof hard. Hearing what the other said was nearly impossible. Pinder settled in on the large forest green dog bed and fell asleep.
The hotel was in an area north of the city. Finding the lights of a smaller community was comforting, yet Macye still felt anxious doing a roadtrip during Covid. Being away from home was wearing on her. One look in Harper’s bleary eyes, and she knew her daughter had reached her max for the day.
During a period the following morning, Macye and Harper waited for the Land Rover to be serviced. The heat was unbearable again, and they couldn’t wait inside with a dog. However, they could sit outside (mask-free) on the sidewalk. They used an old grey and white towel to sit on, and started playing card games and tickling Pinder, until Macye’s cell phone lit up. The first was work.
Next, there was a vet tech calling from back home. “Sorry we should have called you back sooner. It took awhile for us to figure out that the Minneapolis-based laboratory that tests for EIC has closed down from Covid. Obviously, Pinder’s blood expired. We’ve refunded your payment.”
Macye attempted to hide her annoyance. “Okay, that’s another instance of this Covid puzzle. What would you recommend?”
“Not really anyone right now,” the tech answered. “Due to the pandemic, it’s hard to find a lab who can do it, there’s no one else who tests exercise-induced collapse.”
“Are you sure?”
“You can order a kit online and test her yourself.”
Sounded sketchy. There’s a lot at stake with Exercise Induced Collapse, Macye surmised after her prior conversation with Glenn, Pinder’s trainer. You need to find out if your dog is a carrier. If she is, she can’t be bred with another carrier. It’s best to breed two “normal” or “negative” labs to ensure puppies won’t be carriers. Dogs with Exercise Induced Collapse can literally pass out in the field; if this happens, they are vulnerable from then on to collapsing or over-exerting themselves. “Well thanks for refunding us.” She took a few more minutes to schedule Pinder’s hip and elbow check, which she could accomplish in Jackson. She was beginning to wonder again, why go through all of this?
She stared at Pinder. The dog had her head resting on her folded back paw, freckled nose tucked in. Despite the heat, Pinder rolled with whatever their plan was-she was a loyal dog. With both hands Macye rubbed behind Pinder’s butterscotch ears.
Her daughter looked up from the game on her phone. “Mom-last night...that was crazy how we snuck Pinder into the hotel room. Remember that lady I asked if you could have pets, and she shook her head. And I said, ‘oh, that’s good, I was talking about bringing in my stuffed animals.’”
Before Macye could reply, an entrance door to the dealership swung open.
Pinder didn’t look up, but Macye turned and saw a lady carrying those long popsicles in clear plastic sheaths. The kind Land Rover employee offered brightly-colored flavors, in green, pink and purple.
“For the dog…”
Harper shot up and passed her phone back to her mom. “Otter Pops? Thank you! I get to give them to her…”
“Momma-you’re home!” Leisel jumped down the steps that led from the house into the garage, wearing her black Nike gym shorts and gymnastics leotard. Gunner was on her heels. They both climbed onto Macye, the girl was kissing her neck, and Gunner pawed her seat and sniffed her mouth.
“I don’t ever want you to leave again!” Whimsical and serious, Leisel had a way with words, and her ten year old body was a joy to wrap around, a sinewy, lithe form from training competitively.
Gunner, the other dog in Macye’s life had the athletic drive like Leisel; Gunner was a German wire-hair, trim and lean. He also had intensity in his eyes. A slight drift of white ran down his nose and above his eyes.
Gunner moved too fast, but Macye held onto her youngest daughter. “You wouldn’t have liked the heat. It’s better here.”
After the travel bags were moved into the grey-stone foyer, Alex and Beckett showed up. Everyone wanted to know if Pinder had passed the eye exam.
“Yes!” Macye and Harper cried unanimously. Everyone partied around Pinder who kept raising her eyebrows, wagging her tail all the while getting noticed by Gunner. They always seemed to have to reintroduce themselves to each other after one of them went traveling.
“I’ll feed them,” Alex said and hugged Macye. “You take a load off!”
Synapses popping, Macye felt elated now. It seemed like an important beginning for Pinder. Only one test was done and passed, yet her yellow lab had begun the ascent, climbing a remarkable trail to the top. Summits take commitment...
