Playtime!

I had an interesting experience today.  First of all, for those who don't know, I work in a veterinary clinic.  It's a great job because I like the people I work with, and I get to spend my days with animals.  The major bonus right now...it's GREAT for socialization. Every day Kepler gets to meet many new faces, kids, men and women, all eager to visit with him.  Plus he gets to meet lots of dogs of all ages, shapes, and sizes, as well as cats.   Its the perfect job to have when you're trying to socialize your puppy.   But today was different.  An appointment schedule for late this afternoon was for a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, about 2 weeks older than Kepler.  He was a big boy at about 35 lbs, compared to tiny Keps 15 lb frame.   I thought it would be great for my confident little guy to play with a bigger puppy.  However, I was literally speechless when I brought Kepler up for a visit, only for the Berners owner to shriek (thats right, she shrieked) and pick up her puppy horrified that I brought a dog near her "not fully vaccinated puppy."  I had no words to say so I just picked up my dejected puppy and slinked to the back of the clinic.

I know that in the past people thought that you had to keep unvaccinated puppies segregated from the rest of the world in order for them to avoid catching terrible puppy diseases (parvo and distemper) but I honestly thought that in this day and age people knew better.  That people knew about the importance of early socialization.  That people knew far more dogs are euthanized every year because they have aggression issues due to improper socialization, than dogs that die from parvo and distemper.  I realize a large part of the problem is that the veterinary community warns to be careful of some dangerous diseases out there, but puppies need to play with other healthy puppies in order to become healthy adults.   

On a good note, Tycho and Kepler had their first big play session tonight.  It was Tycho who was trying to initiate, and it took him a good 10-15 minutes of running around Kep and play-bowing before he could get the little guy interested in playing with him.  This is a huge milestone since Tycho has been very jealous of Kepler and grouchy towards him since he came home.  Now they are finally friends!

Sorry the video has no sound, and it's dark out, but still so cute!