How I Feel About Powder

She's a good dog, she really is. Look how nicely she lets me put pig tails on her.

However.

I took her to the vet this morning because she had an ear infection. The vet laid on the guilt since we had not been in for an exam in a couple of years. I was nice but I gave it to him in "vet speak" as in, "You are barking up the wrong tree."

She is well taken care of. She eats, sleeps, and plays. We take her on walks. She has her favorite shady spot in the yard. We protect her with a fence. We paid $800 to have her knee replaced a couple of years ago. I just fail to see the need for $350 in diagnostic blood work on a yearly basis when she appears to be healthy merely to see if anything is wrong with her. She is 10. Of course there are things wrong with her, but what good could come of knowing? There is not much you can do for a 10 year old dog- if her kidneys are failing, then Powder should make tracks for the white light. She's had a good life.

I do not feel that my attitude makes me a negligent pet-owner. In the interest of full disclosure, anyone who knows me knows that I don't really love Powder, but if it's any comfort to you, she doesn't love us. Seriously, she doesn't. There's an affection there, but she would happily live with anyone who remembered to feed her, let her out, and offer the occasional belly scratch. Am I a bad person because I missed a few check-ups? I think (and hope) not.