Sunny had a GReat week this week-I’m starting to see things we’ve been working hard on in our training really click for him. We’ve enjoyed a little break from the heat this week to get some hiking in and we spent a lot of time in the yard. Sunny is learning to watch us garden instead of actively “digging helping”.

Sunny loves to train with bumpers. He will retriever them or find them when we hide them in the yard. It’s really fun to see how happy he gets to find them.

The grass that has survived, is a cool place to hang out after a good bumper session…froggy style.

We had a bad turn today when Sunny woke up vomiting. It got serious when he refused food-he turned his nose up at chicken, which he loves. We ended up in emergency tonight (because there is an unwritten law that all dog emergencies happen between 6pm Friday and 8am Monday;) to find that somehow Mr. Sunny Bunny had decided it was a good idea to eat a rock. A fair sized one at that.

So now I am sitting here worrying about Sunny, who is staying the night at the emergency vets so they can monitor him. They are hoping he can pass the rock on his own but if not, he will have to have surgery. I really hope he doesn’t have to. It’s always so hard when your fur-kids are ailing-that feeling of helplessness. This is the first time he’s been away from us and I really miss him. It’s going to be a long night until they x-ray him again in the morning, to see if the rock has passed into his large intestine.

I’m still trying to figure out when he managed to swallow the rock-I never let him our of my sight because he is not trustworthy with the plants and lawn in the yard just yet. It just takes a second and he is a very fast dog.

All this makes me think of a conversation I had with a young woman last week, who was admiring Sunny because he was “so cute” and that she wanted a Golden puppy because “they look like teddy bears”. I have had this conversation more than a few times while doing pet therapy with Spencer. It involves a discussion of the great things about dogs/Goldens, but also pointing out the things that often are not considered before getting a dog. Things such as- Goldens are very active, large dogs and if they don’t get enough exercise and stimulation (especially as pups and teenagers) they can be shall we say, “more than a handful”. In large urban cities, it can be difficult to find ways to get enough exercise for a Golden. A walk around the neighborhood is merely a warm up for a young hunting dog.

The other major consideration is cost. In large centers, like Los Angeles, a basic vet visit starts at $50 and its not uncommon to be $70 or $80. Blood work starts at $150 for a basic panel and goes to $250 for a full panel. Sunny’s visit to emergency so far has cost $1960 and if he needs surgery that will grow to $5000. I have seen many dogs in the LA area given up to shelters because of medical costs. So this is something that needs to be seriously considered when adding a pet to the family.

After going through 3 cases of cancer, we knew about the costs and set aside a savings account for Sunny, long before he came into our lives. I am now also considering getting insurance for him as well, as an extra precaution. If anyone has any recommendations I’d love to hear them.