The vet trip today was a fairly boring affair, so that’ s the reason for the title.

In the truck cab with me today was Freedom the big Alsatian we rescued from the desperate situation in San Sai just 6 weeks ago, a terrible story you can read about here … Note the difference in Freedoms appearance.

Thanks to volunteer Gill’s dedication and care, here he is today looking happy, healthy and ready to go ! Yes, we think we have a home for him and his partner Hope, they will be off to Europe when they are both fully back on their feet.

Freedom stood with me – well I was sat driving actually, he was the one standing – walking from side to side, looking out the drivers window whilst standing behind me, readjusting the mirror and generally cleaning up the windscreen with his nose or tail. A very friendly and up-close experience. I can totally recommend it for anyone who wants to overcome any issues they may have about relinquishing their personal space!

It was a relief – for both of us I think – when we arrived to get out of the car.

Also along today was Chok Guay, as his skin is still very dry and his hair is not growing as strong and is starting to fall out.

Seems the guy just needs a daily moisturiser. He has nothing on his skin that he shouldn’t have. So we shall see if a daily rub all over with the contents of a donated bottle of moisturiser will help him or not.

The other patient at the vets today was Jing Jok. This little girl has almost no tail and her vulva is very close to her anus.

We have come across this condition in an adult dog we had been treating for TvT. But this little creature was young and we wondered if there was anything we should / could or be required to do, in order to help the girl live an otherwise healthy life.

Dr Beer said that Jing Jok’s genetic / hereditary condition was not as bad as some cases she had seen and suggested that all that could be done would be to provide cosmetic surgery to adjust the distance between the 2 openings but in all seriousness, Jing Jok could lead a perfectly healthy life without such an operation.

Freedoms trip today was to get his hip Xrayed and indeed he took a pretty picture.

Thankfully the photo here shows that his left hip is only slightly affected by Hip Dysplasia and the evidence of this is shown near the required pen tip (veterinarian pointing device!) and a very slight noise from rotation of the joint.

No big problem, most Alsatians suffer this to varying degrees and many other large breed dogs too.

** Advice ** The art of getting a big dog back into a car when they don’t want to go, is to climb in through the passenger door with their lead in your hand and crawl over to the drivers side. Worked a treat with Freedom!

After returning to the shelter and taking a short break with some of the other volunteers at the shelter,  it was time to take White, the TvT patient from Saraphi back to his home.

Earlier this year in March, we picked White up from his home at a road side shop where he had lived with an enlarged nose and forehead caused by TvT.

You can read that story here …

TvT – Transmissible Venereal Disease is a terrible affliction that appears to be rife amongst dogs here in Chiang Mai.

A transfer of blood during any contact, either during sex, just saying ‘hello’ with an intimate sniff or lick, can spread the infected blood between dogs.

White, a mature male had suffered with this for a couple of years until we spotted him. His forehead was enlarged, the bridge of his nose showing an open wound with puss & blood seeping from the head. Poor guy. But just 8 weeks later, his body is rid of the disease and his outlook on life is a lot brighter.

Happy to see his dog returned home, the shopkeeper wanted to make a donation and loaded a large sack of rice into the car for the shelter.

Great !