Chuck's been Chipped!

Charley had an appointment at the vet today (officially his favorite place on Earth at the moment) to get micro chipped. I wish we would have done in earlier in his life (although thankfully he never tried to run away!) but there have been a lot of pet thefts lately, so I'm glad we finally got it taken care of. I guess I'm home with him more often than not, or he's normally with me anyway when I go somewhere, but it creates a little peace of mind to know that he's chipped now just in case.

This dog is hilarious. When we get to the parking lot of PetsMart (where his vet is located), he starts whining and pacing around in the seat because he's so excited to go inside. Then he drags me across the parking lot. I got laughed at today by a lady that was leaving the store when we arrived- I had to look pretty strange with Charley running full speed and me trying to keep up... but all I could do was say, "Can you tell he really likes it here?" to lessen the embarrassment. Charley is constantly wiggling through the store. No one can go past him without some kind of acknowledgement on his part. His tongue and tail are always wagging. All I can do is laugh.

Recently, he's gone to the vet a few times for booster shots. Every single time he goes in, not only is he excited to see everyone, but the feeling is mutual. Each time we go, I meet someone new that heard about him and wanted to come meet him. He does a bunch of tricks (for treats, of course) and usually wows the crowd. We need to learn some new ones. Most people love the wave or High 5. Today, when he was getting chipped, he had to go to the back room and I couldn't go with him. I heard him yelp when they put the chips in, and then I heard a chorous of ladies that were with him going "Ohhh sweetie!! You're okay!! Good boy! Good boy!"... It was pretty funny to observe so many people oohhhing and ahhhhing over him. He absolutely loved it... minus the shot. He came running back in the room where I was, jumped up on the bench with me, and cuddled. Even though he hurt, he still soaked up all of the attention he got from everyone in the store. The vet trips are a love/hate thing for me. I hate how much the leash hurts my hand to try to hold onto him... and my pocketbook after the vet bills. (It's not too bad... we have him on a Wellness Plan now... but still... having a pet is expensive!) On the other hand, I love seeing how happy people get when they see him. He is always so happy and excited to see anyone in the store, and 9 times out of 10, people will make eye contact with him and have to come over to pet him. I'm a proud mom. I just need to go to the gym so I can get a better handle on him when we go in... it seems like that's the only time he really pulls on me or tends on to listen very well. That shouldn't be an excuse, but I sort of just give up when we go in there because there are so many people, pets, smells, etc. that distract him, I feel like I'd need a 25 oz sirloin just to get his attention!

There's one more thing funny thing that he's done recently that I feel is worth mentioning. Whenever he goes outside and is finished doing his business, it seems like he comes hurdling towards the sliding glass door and wants to get in as soon as possible because he's cold... sometimes he doesn't wait long enough for me to open the door all the way and he slams right into it!! I always feel bad for him, but it doesn't seem to phase him at all! His poor shoulders are probably bruised. I try to open the door as fast as possible now, and I normally try to stand in front of the door to hopefully make him back away for a second. The kid is crazy.

Anyway, I think I should probably stop writing about the dog now. Since I figure his 'grandparents' are probably the only ones reading this, and they probably won't mind too much, but there comes a point where I realize I treat him like a little kid and I should probably calm down a little bit. :)

That Charley Brown, he is a clown.

-Charley's Mom