::A Geek in Korea::

The day started out well, but that only lasted as long as the time it took me to wake up and pull back the curtains to our veranda.Our dog, Yoshi, who had no signs of illness when we put him in his bed last night, had soiled the floor of the veranda completely, with every possible bodily fluid known to dog-kind. It was foul, but worst of all was the look on the dogs face. He didn’t know what was going on either.

Today was already designated "wash the dog" day, anyway, so we got started a little early. I got veranda duty, while the wife got to drown wash the dog. We had just purchased a special mop for the veranda so finished early and started looking up what might be affecting the dog. There was a potential virus threat, and lots of lists of things to do. Universal to all the advice I found was the fact that a puppy of two months needed professional medical attention in his condition due to the threat of dehydration.

We mobilized a plan. We’d go to the puppy store/hospital we purchased the dog at and get the treatment he needed. We saw that the dog store didn’t open for an hour, so we got to witness dog retching for the first time. The joys of first time puppy-hood! When we were sure the dog store would be open, we grabbed an old care package box, once sent by Mother to keep me from being homesick, but now used to transport a shih tsu with a leaky ass.

I was filled with a bit of urgency when we left the apartment. Partly because I didn’t want the dog to have complications, but also because I didn’t want to be trapped in a taxi with a dog that couldn’t control it’s functions. We were heading in one particular direction, so when a taxi passed the other way, we sort of gave him a "Hey, turn around" sort of motion. He drove right by, made no recognition of us, and didn’t turn around anywhere we could see. We figured he missed us, so when a taxi heading our way happened by, we jumped in and told him to head to the hospital.

As we approached the light at the end of the block, the taxi driver we had flagged but had been ignored by pulled up next to us. He had his window down and started cursing at me in Korean. "Hey you F******* Foreigner! ***** You can’t wave me down ***** and then not ********* wait to get in my ********* taxi!"…or something similar.

We had no idea he was going to turn around! He didn’t honk his horn or even turn his head! Had he even SLOWED DOWN, we probably would have waited, but the finer points of taxi etiquette were missing considering the sick dog. It’s not like I was going to get in his cab to make it up to him now that he was cursing at me anyway. When I made sure we weren’t going to have to worry about him following us, I gave him the one fingered salute and an hearty curse of my own. Not my finest moment in international diplomacy.

The entire trip to the pet store I sort of expected to be hauled out of the taxi and beaten in the street by this man. The taxi driver we rode with downplayed everything and said that people get stressed when they miss a fare due to how many taxis are on the road and how competitive people are. When we got out of the taxi near the pet store, a driver trying to squeeze by to get another fare around the corner blared his horn. I jumped, thinking it was the same driver I had pissed off early. Thankfully it was just some other rude taxi driver and no one I had caused direct annoyance to.

The pet store/ hospital was a complete disaster. The first few hours they let the dogs run around the store for exercise. The vet wasn’t going to be into the store until noon at the earliest, which was two hours later than we were willing to late. The dogs were running around, defecating everywhere, sniffing each other, and just making a mess. Clearly there were many possible disease vectors in the store to keep a weakened dog in the store. (Hey, Thanks Microbiology 121! I remembered something! )

We made a decision to trust a coworker that had told me about an animal hospital somewhat closer to our house. My coworker swore by this particular vet, so we went over to visit and see what he could do for Yoshi.  By this time, the dog was shaking and clearly weak. We grabbed another taxi without incident, and by this time I had stopped locking to doors at every light for fear I would be tracked down and cursed at by the rogue taxi driver in the morning.

The vet at the animal hospital was much more professional and seemed to know what he was talking about. He even had some hearts with worms displayed in jars, which was gruesome but cool. In the course of a thirty minute chat about our dogs health he managed to stick three long tube like devices up the poor dog’s ass.

Yoshi was tested for a virus, which was thankfully negative.The vet recommended an IV drip and some medicine, along with special food for a day or two.
It was thankfully a less costly procedure than we had both imagined, and not nearly as serious as we expected. The dog still needs some extra care, and I’ve got to give him two more doses of Pepto Bismol like medicine, but thankfully the dog isn’t emptying at both ends anymore.

While it might have seemed that I was unwilling to take the responsibility for the dog, which I was, when it came plain that no one at my Parents-in-laws was going to be capable of taking care of it properly, I accepted that we needed to do was take Yoshi into our home and care for it the best we could. Perhaps my patience has grown considerably in the last year, but I actually don’t mind the dog….much.

He’s cute, doesn’t bark, and is as friendly as you can ask for in a pet. We’ve taught him to sit in two weeks, and we are working on a few other commands too. He generally stays to the veranda and doesn’t bother me except when I have to clean up his messes from time to time. When I can actually take him outside (post shots), I’ll even consider the dog a positive if he gets me exercising more. As long as his health doesn’t become a prohibitive factor in keeping him, I won’t mind having him around for a while.