Paola's Adventures in Vet School!: October 2010

So as you all know, I moved to Scotland in the beginning of September. Unfortunately I was unable to bring my dog with me. Ebony (or more commonly Bonini) is a five-year-old black boxer lab mix that I rescued while living up in San Luis Obispo, CA. Currently she is living at my mom’s ranch and absolutely loves it! She gets to chase the quads around the pasture, go and hikes, and her favorite…go on car rides!

Ebony!

While here in Scotland, I would really like the companion of a dog or cat however that becomes a complicated situation for traveling and going home on school breaks. I tried to convince my mom to let me get a snake since they do not need as much attention and don’t eat everyday. However that idea was “ix-nayed” relatively quickly…haha! You might me wondering what the purpose of this blog is so here it is…a few days ago I welcomed a new canine companion into my home! My roommate and I have decided to name him Spike! Spike will be an integral part of my life as well as a helpful study aid for the next couple of years! While many of Spike’s joints are permanently fused and he is unable to wag his tail when I walk through the door, he still manages to keep a grin on his face when we come home! He is the perfect dog, never barking at the neighbors or soiling the carpet! Hope you all will enjoy him has much as we do!

Spike!

Hello Again!

I will apologize in advance for the delayed update. Things have been a little crazy in the past few weeks! Anyways…on Saturday, October 2^nd, 2010 I attended a Highland Cattle Festival. Basically it was a cattle show with a few other demonstrations and exhibitors present. The show took place at Pollock Country Park, which is a few miles south of where I live in Anniesland.

While waiting for the first train to arrive, we met another vet student (a second year), her boyfriend, and their new Weimaraner puppy. It’s absolutely amazing how dog friendly this country is! Dogs are allowed in shops, on the train, on the buses, and into events like the cattle show. With the help of our new friends, we managed to find Pollock County Park. The park was absolutely huge and it took us about 20 minutes to walk to the other side of the park where the festival was being held.

On our way to the festival! This a view of just a very small part of the park.

At the festival, the first thing we saw was the main exhibition. Exhibitors present their cow or bull (depending on the class) to a judge in a large arena so that conformation can be assessed. There was also a very entertaining MC that talked with the exhibitors and people in the crowd (and he was even wearing a kilt)! We then decided to grab a bite to eat at one of the festival stands. My friend Kendall got this huge hot dog, which was not all beef (haha!), and had the most ridiculous time eating it! It was pretty comical! After lunch we listened to the pipe band and visited the other demonstrations. There was a children’s puppet show, a birds of prey exhibit, and a border collie who herded ducks through obstacles! We all had a lot of fun and it was a great day to spend a Saturday!