After discovering recently that Dakota has some serious soreness in some thoraic and lumbar regions, I looked around for a good place to try acupuncture on him. I found an extra-cushy joint about 12 miles away called Harmony Vet Center. Dr. Shelley Brown practices "integrative veterinary medicine" there, which means she will prescribe meds if that's the only fix but she will also do some other things like acupuncture or herbal treatments. She also is a pain management specialist.

I thought we were in a dawg spa when I walked in. The floors in my house aren't as nice as the ones that get slobbered, pooped and peed on there (cherry wood? seriously?) The exam room was something else. No plastic chairs there. Instead, a love seat, a stereo in the corner and a (get this) prefabbed cut-out in the floor that accommodates the plush dog bed they stick into it. And then cover with a fleecy blanket. 

Dakota went into this appointment as he always goes into anything new: with much anxiety, panting and slobbering. However, he did well during the treatment. I was told not to expect any changes after the first session, but he actually did relax a ton during the time we were there. In fact, it scared me on kind of a primal level. He rolled onto his side, let out a huge, noisy sigh, and just laid there incredibly limp. In my tiny little primal brain, I screamed "he's dead!" because that sigh and limpness were unfortunately just like the relaxing giving-in to sedation at life's end. I've seen it too many times, so I couldn't help it. I thought he was dead. I guess that shows how he really relaxed.

One potentially troubling thing came out of the exam. Dakota had a spot on his foot that I had seen, but after it was trimmed up and examined further, Dr. Brown thinks it is likely a melanoma. She said since it's been there awhile, it's likely a benign melanoma. She recommends removing it and sending it to pathology, though she wasn't bothered enough by it to urge me to do it immediately. I have to believe that's a good sign.

I'm out of town all next week, so Dakota will go back in about 10 days for his second treatment. Hopefully we'll see some better movement and less reluctance to get up and about. I want him to enjoy a good back-scratching roll in the grass before summer's over.

Shari