Going to the vet can be extremely stressful for dogs. From the car ride to the cold, unfamiliar room full of strangers, the whole experience can feel unpleasant, to say the least. You can't quite blame most pups for being suspicious of veterinarians and vet techs.
But every once in a while, there exists a pup who is so cheerful and positive that he even loves the vet. Like this senior dog, for example, who is quite simply a precious ball of canine sunshine.
Kayleen Campbell, a certified vet tech at an emergency animal hospital, came across this pup at work one day. She had to assist with drawing blood from the dog, which involves holding the neck.
"We have to hold off the jugular vein after drawing blood," Kayleen explained on Reddit. "But this sweet old girl thought I was just there for the hugs."
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Indeed, the 12-year-old dog just kept leaning back happily into Kayleen for more snuggles. Needles? What needles? This is a cuddlefest, right?
As a vet tech at an emergency animal hospital, Kayleen Campbell sees a lot of distressed animals throughout her workdays.
Some of them are more difficult than others.
But then, sometimes, Kayleen gets a total, unapologetic cuddle monster.
They give all the love they can muster, and they make all the hard days worth it.
Recently, Kayleen was called in to assist with a blood drawing on a senior dog who's between 12 and 13 years old.
The neck is the preferred site for blood drawing, Kayleen explained to the Dodo. It allows vets to quickly draw blood without sacrificing the veins in the front legs, which could be needed for IV catheters.
Part of the process involves cradling the dog's neck to hold off the jugular vein.
This dog, though, had a totally different idea of what was going on.
"This sweet old girl thought I was just there for the hugs," Kayleen wrote on Reddit.
"This is why I love my job."
"Holding the vein off usually only takes a short amount of time, but this sweet old girl kept leaning back into me and thought I was just there to give her love and attention, which I was happy to give," Kayleen said.
“I wouldn’t say this is a common reaction mostly because a lot of dogs don’t want to sit still for a prolonged period of time in a place where so much is going on,” she continued.
Nope, this little girl was just incredibly special.
But Kayleen does get to handle other friendly, cuddly animals on a regular basis.
"Of course some are nervous or scared, in which case I try to be as respectful of their needs as possible. But when I see friendly, happy dogs or purring cats, I always make time to give them some attention and love."
And the cuddles are just a bonus part of her job. Kayleen's favorite part is something much more selfless: helping these little cuties get well.
"I love being part of the diagnostics process to figure out what is going on with a sick pet,” Kayleen said. “So that I can then be part of the treatment process to get them on the road to recovery.”
Still, based on the view of Kayleen's job provided by these photos, it's tempting to quit my job and go back to school to become a vet tech right this second.
Because if receiving dog and cat hugs is in the job description? Sign. Me. Up.
Kayleen's photos of the hug-loving senior dog blew up on Reddit, where other users could not even handle the massive amount of cute.
"You win," one user wrote.
Other users pointed out that being a vet or vet tech is actually really difficult in a lot of ways. Of course, it definitely is — and we should all be thankful to the hardworking folks who take care of our pets.
But also, WOW, THE CUTENESS.
Is there a profession that involves dog hugs but without the hard parts of being a vet tech?
That's what I want to be when I grow up. I've decided.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
