Savage's hospital visit went well, and the doctor gave him a prescription for 20mg prednisone in case he got into any more hornet or bee situations. Her directions to me were to give him a dose of Benadryl as soon as he got stung and then the prednisone if symptoms presented themselves. So now we are well prepared. Also at the vet's office, he received his rabies booster, and seems to be doing fine; no vaccine reactions at all. The whole visit cost only $69.66.
I talked to his vet about getting him neutered soon, and she printed me out an estimate. The procedure itself will cost only $125.15 (I believe this figure is based on his weight), but the heart monitor, IVs, drugs, etc. altogether raise the price to $381.06! Which is a LOT of money for me to be spending at this time.
But it has to be done. Even though my puppy is the sweetest, mellowest boy with an excellent temperament, I've noticed him getting a little more of an "attitude" with other male dogs. Lately he's not as likely to back down when another dog growls at him, and even though this is completely normal, I don't ever want to see him involved in a full-blown dog fight. As far as neutering to curb roaming tendencies, Savvy has never strayed and still stays very close to wherever I am, so that's not an issue at all. Another clue that he's maturing is that just a month or so ago he began actually lifting his leg to pee, instead of squatting, especially when other male dogs are near. My little (!?) puppy is becoming an adult!
It's strange to feel this way about a dog, as opposed to a child, I guess, but I almost don't want him to grow up because it forces me to face the fact that someday I will lose him. Hopefully that's many, many years in the future, but whenever that happens will be too soon. Of course, I'm also very proud of him; all the things he's learned in the last year and a half, how well he's now responding to training (especially how attentive he's becoming), what a truly "good dog" he's growing into. He's really turning out to be an amazing boy. And the really cool thing is that he and I still have so many new experiences to go through together. It gives us both so much to look forward to.