His New Nickname

Since Joe Dog is our original baby, I guess I am allowed to talk all about him on here too... Yesterday I had the pleasure of driving Daddy's big truck into town so that Joe could go to the vet's office for his annual check-up. (See Amy, I am a good pet owner!) He had to get his rabies shot and heartworm test, all the works. Fortunately, Joe LOVES to ride in the back of the truck. I think if you offered him the choice between his owners getting a million dollars (which we would try to convince him would entirely be used for dog treat purchases) or just a quick ride around the block, he would already be in the truck bed waiting. If the tailgate goes down for any reason, like Bo loading up hay bales or bringing home something big from Home Depot, Joe is convinced that he needs a ride and will actually camp out there in hopes that we will think so too. One afternoon, he jumped up in the back and waited until it was dark outside (and Bo had forgotten about him) and was devastated when he had to get out to eat his dinner.

The good news in all that is his short memory didn't make him concerned at all about going to the vet. He almost pulled this prego over when he was on the leash and headed for the door. Our vet will allow you to drop your pet off first thing in the morning and then just come back at 5:00 to take him home, so I went to work while he was getting checked out. They said he looks very healthy at his 99 pounds and is doing great. So that evening, new rabies tag in hand, we loaded back up for a very happy and slobbery ride home. He loves to lean his head over the side and feel the wind in his face, which unfortunately makes him salivate at an unnaturally high rate. There are streaks of slobber all down the sides of the truck bed, and the back window looks like someone pulled a very mean prank on us and smeared a 5-gallon bucket of snot everywhere.

For some reason, I convinced Bo that this year, we really should put the rabies tag onto his collar just in case, and he also has a little silver charm with his name and our home phone number. Putting both tags on, in Bo's opinion, was incredibly stupid because now he would make so much more noise when they clink together. But I won out, and now he has a new nickname when he goes clinking through the house:

Mr. Joe Jangles