The following article was first published in the Amarillo Pioneer in February 2017.

By Trent Rosser

Well, we did it. That is right; we finally took Hunter the dog to the vet to get neutered. Now I have written about Hunter before, and this will probably not be the last. I know I will have endless stories to write about him with all his antics. We took him in on a Thursday so we could be sure that he would not eat anything before his surgery on Friday. Hunter was so excited to be going somewhere. He loves to ride in the car. He also knew that something was up when things looked different from going to the dog park. He had been to the vet before and we he got out of the car, he ran right to the same tree….and lifted his leg.

When Hunter walked in the vets office, his enthusiasm kicked into overdrive. We had him on a leash and he was trying to get to the back behind the counter. His long lanky legs were moving at 90 mph on the old linoleum floor, but he was going nowhere. My wife was finally able to get him calmed down while I got him checked in. There was a small teardrop of sadness running down my wife’s face from having to leave him there overnight. There was a small teardrop of happiness running down my face from having to leave him there overnight. For once I will get a good night’s sleep. Again, I was wrong, which is quite often when it comes to Hunter. Every time the phone rang, I just knew it was the vet telling me “Come get this devil of a dog!” He is only 10 months old, but I can see him organizing a rebellion with all the other animals at the vet! So when I did finally go to sleep, I tossed and turned all night long. My wife was sad all night. The only one that was finally able to get some rest…..Rascal the cat.

Friday comes and all day long while I am at work, I keep getting text from my wife. “Check on my dog!” I never checked on him. So when I finally got home, my wife met me at the door to find out what the vet said. So I finally called. It was about 5:30 and he told me that Hunter did very good and was just waking up. He would be ready to go home around 6 to 6:30. First thing my wife said….. “We need to get him a cone so he won’t chew on his stitches and new toys!” I agreed on the cone. I also wanted to get a couple of Styrofoam balls and a Styrofoam stick. I was going to put the balls on the stick, paint them to look like olives and the stick to look like a toothpick. Then put them in the cone when Hunter has it on so he can look like a giant martini glass!! Think about it, I would take him for walks everywhere if he looked like a martini glass. My wife glared at me as she said no.

So we go to the pet store and buy a very large plastic cone and a very expensive hard plastic bone. We finally make our way to the vet at about 6:30. My wife is looking forward to seeing her oversize 90 lbs dog again, and I am looking forward to seeing a doped up dog that might actually be calm on the way home. We were told that when they are neutered that they will calm down quite a bit. So I paid the vet and he went to go get Hunter. He told us that he had just woken up and will be a little groggy and stepped out to get him. We heard noises and finally the door opened and out bolts Hunter like a bullet! He ran straight up to my wife and I and his long lanky legs were going 90 mph on the linoleum floor. My wife tried to hold him while the vet and I try to put on the cone. Hunter was having none of it. He not only fought us with the cone, but he peed all over the floor and the vet. So we gave up on the cone for now. We needed to get him home. He was bouncing off the walls in the vets and we were finally able to get him outside. As we were walking out the door, I heard the vet say, “There is something seriously wrong with that dog!” I could have told ya that! I think he was more hyper coming home from the vet and the surgery than going to the dog park!

After a little time, we were finally able to get the cone around him so he would not tear out the stitches. I was able to get the camera out and get some good pictures of him with the cone. He has not calmed down any and trying to get him to settle down is like asking the devil himself for ice water. All in all, Hunter is doing ok and he is still himself. Nothing really has changed like I was hoping it would. He is still hyper as ever and goofy as ever. So, I can almost guarantee that there will be more stories about him and his crazy antics in the future.