Instead, I used today as a resting day and took advantage of a local vaccine clinic at Tractor Supply Company in Sierra Vista. A mobile vet clinic, PetVet's contracted VIP Pet Care (headquartered in California) comes to the store twice a month and offers clients a plethora of very affordable vaccines. I really like their prices and services. A local vet is contracted and reminders are sent out via email. For the Sierra Vista store the DVM is Dr. Siobhan Jones from Bisbee, who runs her own mobile vet clinic for non-emergencies . The medical records are all retrievable online as well. How cool is that for travelers like me?
All the dogs were due their annual rattle snake ($35) and canine influenza shot ($33). Both are annual vaccines. Since Sadie and Zeke are riding with me to Alaska this summer, I needed to get their shots updated. I also took Sweetie along, leaving Minnie behind since three dogs is all I can handle at once. Sweetie hadn't had the rattle vaccine yet, and as long as she gets walked outside, will need it. Minnie will get her shots updated next month, when Sweetie gets her booster shot.
By 1:50pm I was in the store, getting pulled by three nervous dogs. What a sight that must have been, followed by comments by smiling onlookers with "Whose pulling whom?!" The line this time wasn't too long and it moved at a steady pace. Again a beautiful (older) black-and-tan shepherd was in front of me. I assured the pet owner that my dogs would be OK next to the shepherd, named Tesla. Tesla is 11 years old and reminded me in demeanor of my Sara, may she rest in peace.
I had to hold all three dogs tightly with my bungee leash so that they would calm down. The leash worked very well keeping all three dogs close to me. Surprisingly, all three were at their best behavior (even Sweetie!), even when another young shepherd behind me started barking loudly at a bull terrier who wanted to bark back but was kept in a cart for added safety. People around me were also worried that a dog fight would ensue so we were all on high alert. I could tell my dogs were nervous.
And then my hiking pal Steve showed up with Trace. I'm glad he remembered today's shot clinic. For people on fixed incomes or with multiple pets like me, these vaccine clinics are a godsend. He came in to get Trace's rabies and rattle snake vaccine. He was just two clients behind me, and I chatted with him once my dogs were done and back in the car waiting. We didn't hang out together, though, as I had Sweetie and I don't trust her around smaller dogs. I wanted to take them all on a short hike after leaving the vaccine clinic.
Dr. Jones was the same doctor from a year ago when I first came in for the rattlesnake vaccine for Sadie, Zeke and Minnie, and she remembered Zeke, who came in smelling like skunk last time. She examined them all again and took their temperatures. The dogs weigh about the same: Sadie - 62 pounds, Zeke - 58 pounds and Sweetie 46 pounds. Next month I'll be back with Minnie for her rattle snake and canine influenza shot and then all my hiking dogs will be UTD on all vaccines. I will have to make sure Sadie's rabies shot is good for another year so that I have no issues at the Canadian border this summer.
My total bill was $245 because Sweetie needed her other 5-in-1 shots as well.
Steve and I chatted but then departed. I needed to give the dogs their walk and chose a remote dry creekbed off High Knoll road east of town, a notorious dumping ground for unwanted animals. I didn't see any abandoned animals along the creekbed where I started the three-mile loop hike. We hiked along the dry creekbed until we hit a water source west of the start (closer to the San Pedro river and some cottonwoods) but I turned around when the creekbed became too overgrown with tall dead grass. We resumed our hike along some dirt roads that offered ample views back toward Sierra Vista and the mountains. The homes here are a varied style of upscale adobe mansions and small prefab structures on ten acres. Lucky for us there were no other dogs in the yards to get my dogs agitated.
The wind was still fierce as sand blew across the roads. I did my diligent duty and got the dogs walked, but was glad to be home by 5pm. The wind blew fiercely the rest of the night. My receipt and the dogs' medical records from earlier were already in my email when I got home. I really, really appreciate the service I get from mobile vaccine clinics. It save me so much money on my yearly vet bills.
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