Last Friday, I went and picked up a new foster dog in Joliet. He is ~5 year old stray, dark red, about 80 pounds. (He hates it when I sit at the computer typing., like most dogs. As far as they can tell, you’re just sitting there, you may as well be petting them). He was found out near Peoria, so we had a dog relay. The drive home was super stressful, as he wouldn’t settle down, and it was raining, but we made it okay.

He did great over the weekend and we went on a bunch of long walks. He doesn’t pull on the leash, he doesn’t bug other people or other dogs, just sniffs and walks along. Perfect. The first dog I had would baaaarely walk. She started really slow and just went slower and slower, so even though we just went on a walk around the block, by the time we were home again, she’d be going at a turtle pace. The last dog just pulled hard the entire time, plus he loved getting out and running wild. It’s nice to have a happy medium.

Monday I had to take Duke (that’s the name they gave him. So far they’re 3 for 3 regardng giving lame names) to get neutered. Yahoo. Unfortunately, the vet found two tumors on him when he was doing a routine inspection, one that was about the size of half a tennis ball. They removed them, but now, in addition to being a eunuch, he has an 8″ gash on his back. It’s totally yucky. He doesn’t seem to mind very much though, as he’s been as energetic as he was before, though I’ve been trying to keep him settled down.

The vet bill for removing the two tumors was around $400, I believe. On the one hand, it seems like a lot of money to spend on a dog, but on the other hand it seems really cheap for such an invasive surgery plus a biopsy. The same exact surgery on a person would surely be in the thousands. I suppose a lot of that has to do with overhead, especially insurance, but it still seems crazy. If I ever have to get a tumor removed, I’m going to try to get a vet to do it.