I didn't realize how much I missed the bustle of busy clinic life until it was gone; the comforting buzz of the humming table motor, the pitter-pat of sneakers walking back and forth and the worried panting of most of our furry visitors.  Father and his helpers even managed to drown out the noises from behind the wall.

One patient today was especially memorable.  He was a blue pitbull puppy named Donatello.  He was practicing his ninja moves in the yard at home and landed wrong on one of his legs.  "I normally nail that move," he panted "I don't know what I did wrong".  But whatever he did made his left leg bend at an unusual angle.  "It really kind of hurts," was that last thing he said before father dosed him with a good amount of dreaming medicine.

And dream he did.  Vocal Vonnie and Brawny Brandon took the black and white pictures of the sleeping pup on the humming table.  They had him upside down and backwards and the little guy kept on sleeping.

"Wow, he really did a number on himself," father commented after looking at the pictures. "Looks like he's going to need surgery."  Father went to call Dr. Quinn, surgery woman, while mother wrapped Donatello's bad leg in layer after layer of colored blankets; first white, then brown, then blue.  She even strapped a large piece of plastic to his leg that I heard her call 'a splint'.
Donatello slept for the rest of the morning.  When he finally woke up, he seemed more disappointed that his leg was all wrapped up, and he couldn't bend it. "How am I supposed to do 360's off the porch now?" he whined.
Well, they say pitbulls are tough dogs, but I've never heard anyone accuse them of being smart dogs!