Shane & the Troublesome Thumbs

There's Shane checking out his nails. And here we are resting after a visit to the "salon."

Shane has two extra “fingers”—one on each paw—whose nails grow in a circle and have to be trimmed regularly or else he’d be in a lot of pain; or, maybe, with a little red nail polish, he would look like one of those women whose fingernails grow so long, they begin to curl into themselves, giving them a witchy quality. Then they get jobs as cashiers.

Anyway, since it’s such an ordeal to bring Shane to the vet’s nail salon, Joan usually tries to cut these extra fingernails by herself. Alas, it’s not always a success. First she tries to soften Shane's nails by giving him a bath and letting the tub fill up to paw level—she also pulls this trick on me even though I don’t bite—and then she cuts the nails while the water is running and she sings “What a good dog you are”—you know, as a distraction.

Well, yesterday, she failed. Shane wouldn’t let her cut his nails, so we all went to the vet’s for Shane’s “event.” I didn’t need my nails cut, since the vet had done it when I was sick. While Shane was getting his nails done, everyone in the waiting room made bets on my heritage and told me how pretty I was, even though I wasn’t “pure” and didn’t have papers from the la-dee-da Kennel Club. I’ve got papers from the Huntington Little Shelter, but I guess that’s not good enough. There were some nice dogs and cats in the waiting room, and even two very sweet children who reassured me of my beauty.

And when Shane came out of the “nail room,” people said that he was very handsome even though he was wearing a muzzle and had “issues.” When you think a dog might be interested in biting you, you don't worry about his purity or his papers from the Kennel Club.

The car ride to and from the vet's was exceptionally tranquil, because it was so icy outside the car, and there was so much sun inside the car, our eyes kept closing and opening with the humming of the motor. As long as no one is going to poke me, I welcome a visit to the vet’s office. It only cost ten dollars.

Best wishes, Juno