The 80/20 rule and a visit to the Vet's office

I think most people understand the 80/20 rule but just in case. The 80/20 rule means that 80% of the time things go or are done right - you eat nutritiously, the traffic is good, things go your way, etc. and 20% of the time they don't - you splurge on your food, traffic sucks, things don't go your way at all, etc.

Today this rule applied to Thomas at the Vet's office. Thomas and I were there to check out a skin infection that Thomas had developed. I got him into the car along with his leash and decided to bring a muzzle also. When we arrived at the office, I put the muzzle and leash on him. It was very crowded. More crowded than I have ever seen. I thought to myself that we had to go in and this would be a good challenge. After a little self talk in which I told myself to be calm, assertive and tried to assume my best Cesar Millan attitude, we entered the waiting room. The front desk was packed and all 3 registration people were busy. There were dogs all around us. Thomas, to my surprise, remained calm - no lunging or barking. In fact, he did just the opposite. He sat and scrunched up as tight as he could against my leg. We stood at a corner of the desk and waited and waited and waited. At long last, one of the clerks was able to help me and get us registered for our visit.
We sat down right next to another dog and Thomas calmly sat not even paying attention to the dog. I was amazed. Who was this good dog?

Soon we were called and had to walk past 2 more dogs to get to the scale. Thomas performed like a champ. We saw the vet and I will mention his name here because he is so good with the dogs. His name is Dr. Maxwell. He doesn't wear a white coat and comes right in and sits on the floor with the dogs so they can sniff him and get to know him. He even let Thomas climb up in his lap and lick his face. This also gave him a good chance to touch Thomas and check out the sores on his skin. Next, he listened to Thomas' heart and Thomas let him! It has been some time (after a technician laid on him and traumatized him so bad that he is very nervous every time we enter a Vet's office) since Thomas let a Vet handle him that way. It was like the old days with him. The Vet started to check out Thomas' front leg since I told him that Thomas had been limping on it. Only then did Thomas turn and give a little nervous growl. The Vet asked me to hold Thomas' head and I did. Thomas didn't fight and stood while the Vet checked him out some more. It turns out that he has a staph infection on his skin. The Vet said that it could be from a flea bite, injury or something else we can't imagine. He gave him some antibiotics to take for 10 days along with benedryl to stem the allergic response.

We walked back out to the waiting room and paid. Thomas was still being a good boy. So good in fact that I decided to get him caught up on his vaccinations. He only needed Bordatella so I asked if a Tech could come out and give it to him. They said yes. They were so busy that we waited and waited and waited - one hour. And here comes the 20% part. Thomas was doing well with the dogs though it was getting very crowded again. Suddenly a German Shepherd and Lab came in at the same time. The Lab was a hyperactive pup and this seemed to get Thomas going. He sat but kept trying to bark at all the other dogs. I finally had to take him outside to wait. He was fine. People came by with their cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and even a couple of small dogs. He never flinched. I tried to go back in and he was okay with the German Shepherd. Then the Lab pup appeared again and Thomas went off again. Back outside. At last, we saw the Lab leave and I brought Thomas back inside. We sat down to wait.
Dr. Maxwell came out and asked if we were still waiting for our prescription. I said that we had received it and were waiting for a Technician to give him his Bordatella shot. We had already been waiting about 1 1/2 hours. Dr. Maxwell left and soon came back and gave him the Bordatella shot himself. Thomas sat calmly while Dr. Maxwell stuck the needle in his neck. We paid the bill and went home. All in all, I was proud of Thomas. He did very well - probably more like 90% of the time. I think he just wanted to play with the Lab and maybe was a little scared too. Anyway, now I feel more confident that we can go to the Vet's office and not have it be so traumatic. Good going Thomas!