Eva in Wonderland

Dog Vasectomies

My nuclear family consists of all males and me. All the dogs we have owned(and I use the term "own" loosely, they are family members) have all been male. Growing up we only had German Shorthair Pointers and only girls. My mother thought male dogs bathroom manners were unseemly. My husband did not share this notion, he wanted male dogs and I did not care. When the subject of getting our dog "fixed" came up I was met with tremendous hostility. My boys claimed that I would be taking the dogs' manhood. I disagreed and tried to explain responsible pet ownership and was sneered at, as if I was only making it up to torture our pets. For the first dogs' operation I was a little unprepared. Our own veterinarian charges obscene rates so I found a spay/neuter clinic. I was assured that the vets at the clinic were top notch and performed emergency vet services. I wanted to meet the vet so I went in to talk to him. I asked if the vasectomy was a complicated operation on dogs. He laughed. Not a in-your-face-you -freaking-idiot laugh, but he did laugh. I received the explanation that they do not perform vasectomies on dogs. No, the actual operation was a little more drastic. What did I know? As I said, I grew up with girl dogs!
Today I have taken our younger dog, Winston for his "procedure". I did not discuss this with our boys because I am a non confrontational, plus they had no say in it. I do not feel in any way empowered by taking my male dogs "manhood", I just feel like I crossed off my list another damn thing I had to do. Oh, and I feel like a very responsible pet owner. Bob Barker would be very proud of me.