Today I had a doctor appointment about some warts on my foot. I thought they might be burning the warts off, so I brought my wheelchair so I wouldn’t have to walk on it. Felix has been to this doctor once before, but I had carried him almost the whole time.
You may remember that I ran over Felix’s paw with my wheelchair a couple of weeks ago, and ever since then he’s been a bit shy about heeling next to my wheelchair. Well today was a big test because I had him on the ground almost the entire outing!
First we had to walk next to each other on a very narrow sidewalk that had just enough room for a wheelchair and Felix. Then we had to make a tight turn around an informational sign (sigh, when will they learn not to put these in the middle of walkways???) and through an automatic door. Felix did great with both of these.
When I pulled up to the counter at an angle and got checked in, Felix sat in front of me up against the counter. Then he heeled nicely over to the waiting area and lay down next to me there, too. People in the waiting room were very impressed with him, and surprised to learn he is only a year old!
We only waited probably 3–4 minutes before they called us back. Felix did a great job going through the door ahead of me and then waiting while I went through. We then had to walk all the way down the hallway to get to almost the last room! Again he did great! I was able to have him go through the door ahead of me into the exam room, and tuck him next to me as I got positioned against the wall. The nurse asked me questions about why I was there, and Felix just hung out on the floor next to me.
After the nurse left, I had time to snap one picture of Felix in front of the exam table before the doctor came in. Boy it was quick!
I did pick Felix up for me to talk with the doctor because I didn’t know if I could split my attention. So he was in my lap as I showed the doctor the warts. She decided that it would be better to see a dermatologist who might have some less invasive ways of removing the warts than freezing them off. So after less than 5 minutes with the doctor, we were on our way out. I think we were there less than 15 minutes total!
Again I put Felix on the ground and he did a great job going through doorways, down the hallway, through the waiting room, and down the narrow sidewalk.
I was so proud of him!!! I can tell he’s still not back to as confident around my wheelchair as he was before, but he really did a fantastic job today!
Picture below of a sable and white Japanese Chin wearing a galaxy harness in front of an exam table.
