I Chipped

I am fostering a dog for a Corgi rescue.

While I am no stranger to fostering and rescuing, I am still learning the ropes of how they do things. Every rescue is different.

I received a very large needle contraption in the mail the other day. What is this, I thought to myself. I turned it over and around, and I saw it. Home Again. It's a micro chipping company.

Since I got my foster dog directly from the surrendering owners, I was responsible for making sure that she was fully and correctly vetted before she was adopted.

Fully vetted includes micro chipping. And since most vets want an arm and a leg to microchip a dog, it's easier for rescues and shelters to do it themselves.

Makes sense.

Except I have never done it before. Nor have I ever seen it done.

So what did I do? I turned to Youtube. Surely Youtube would have videos of how to insert a microchip. I mean, I had learned how to thread my sewing machine on youtube. And I had learned how to crochet on youtube. Of course, youtube was the answer to this conundrum.

Pfft. Easy peasy. These videos would build my confidence so that I could sit down, microchip Bindy, and move on.

The first youtube micro chipping video had a Chinese Crested who screamed when that huge needle was inserted. Screamed bloody murder like a human child. Oh my god! That was my first reaction.

The second youtube video had a Pug, who also screamed. This wasn't going well for me. The blood was draining from my face and I was starting to feel queasy. No way could I be the one to exert this kind of pain onto such a precious little dog.

The third youtube video, well the guy missed and it was terrible and that's when I shut the computer down. Nope. I wasn't going to be the one doing it. No. Nope. Uh-uh. No way.

I went to work yesterday feeling a little deflated. There is probably a good reason I never became a vet. I had given horses vaccines before. But basically you just jam the needle into their neck muscles, which they don't even feel, and you're done. I have a big problem with needles. Them and I don't get along well. I'll never have a tattoo.

Finally I tried youtube again. There was a video with a vet and a Beagle. The vet explained as he went through the motions. He lifted the skin between the shoulder blades. He held the giant needle horizontally, and inserted it into the skin. Boom. Done. Dog didn't even react.

Finally, I went home. I wanted to wait for Red to get home to help me hold her. But the microchip package was staring at me from the coffee table. "Just do it you big weenie!" That's what it said to me.

So I grabbed the package and ripped it open. I scooped up Bindy and set her on the top of one of our large crates. My vet table. I lifted her shoulder skin and put the giant needle to it. And couldn't do it. All I had to do was shove it into her skin and it would be done. I sat there, hesitated about 4 times. I was sweating. I was near panic. I had to do it. Bindy was standing there wagging her little stump of a tail, panting down at Ruger who was probably making fun of her for standing on top of a crate. She was so happy. I couldn't cause her pain.

Finally my brain started working again. I picked up the skin again. Held the giant needle horizontally and up to her skin. And I jammed it in. And I pulled it out. Bindy didn't scream bloody murder. She didn't throw a fit like the Pug in the video. She flinched. Then she jumped down and started playing chase with the other dogs, while I was left there, holding this stupid giant needle that had been stressing me out for 2 whole days. It's a huge needle.

That's what I love so much about dogs. They always live right there in that moment.

When I go in for a shot, I stress and sweat about it for days leading up to the appointment. Then when I am there, I agonize over the pain it will cause. Then afterwards I whine and bitch about the whole experience, not because of the pain, but because of the stress and agony it caused me beforehand.

Dogs don't live like that. Bindy didn't know about her 'appointment'. She was put up on a crate and stood there while foster mom played with her shoulder skin. She got poked. Then she was over it. She went on to play with the other dogs like nothing had ever happened.

Some days, I want to be a dog.