The Hot Spot.... No, it has not been the Dog Park (well, it may have been) but instead it was something that Steve decided to wake me up with one morning that has made my house the spot I have been for the last 2 weeks.

Steve, also known as Mr. OCD (don't know where he gets it from... maybe breeding), had a small spot on his leg where it looked like some fur had come loose. I didn't think too much about it because he had been blowing part of his old fur and it didn't look like much. I cleaned it and went to bed. When I woke up, I had a dog that had licked the fur, the size of a softball, off his back leg. I will not go into detail of what it looked like, but I had trouble looking at it myself. I had no idea what had happened and called my vet. She had a free appointment and I was able to get Steve right in. Side note....Do not try to take a hyper dog on a ride of more than 5 miles when all he wants to do is lick and scratch and you won't let him.... It will feel like FOREVER.

Back to the story...hope you are still with me and not reading about hybrid dogs or something. Anyway, I got Steve to the vet and found out he is allergic to fleas! My dog is allergic to fleas? I have heard stories about this, but I never truly believed it. I felt that a dog being allergic to fleas is like having a calf that is lactose intolerant. How can it be?

My vet looked at the mass of wet fur and nastiness and told me that I should be proud, as it was one of the worse cases she had seen. She was impressed with his level of focus (Oh, if she could see him with a ball at the park!) and his ability howl, wail, moan, talk and growl... all at the same time (while she was creating a new style for his fur coat and he was eating treats). You know what? I am proud of that. We worked hard on those skills by riding by bikers, getting close to cats and just seeing people out and about. It is just nice to have someone else see this and be impressed. It is validation. Of what, I am not sure.

We came home with about 20 bottles of pills (slight exaggeration), some surgical scrubs, cotton, a list of how to administer everything and a full explanation of what Steve had. One thing was missing. That was how much of a joy it was going to be to get Steve to take gel caps. Woo-Hoo! I would have paid good money to not do that. Peanut butter, cheese, bread, etc. all failed.I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and boy was it ever so nice to stick my hand all the way down his throat numerous times (he figured how to work his tongue to get it back up). After 3 days of this, I got it down and I think Steve resided himself with the fact that this was going to happen 2 times a day. Though we did get the pill issue down, we still had the 2AM potty breaks and the 5AM potty breaks to deal with.

I know that dogs don't always have fleas, but everything you have seen in cartoons (Yes, I watch cartoons) with fleas having cookouts, summer shacks and bluegrass concerts on the backs of dogs, while the dog blissfully was unaware, made me unprepared for the news that Steve will never be able to hear the sounds of happy fleas. How sad is that? Instead, his body will reject the idea all together and decide to blow off some fur, cause lesions, create sleepless nights for both of us (thanks to whining and constant bathroom calls), rack up large vet bills and keep the pharmaceutical industry going strong. Stupid Fleas!

When I watch the old time cartoons and see those happy little fleas dancing and singing their little flea hearts out... I am going to yell at my TV because it was all lies! I was lied to and it was all just a lie! Guess you cannot believe everything you see in animation.

One last thing.... In working with EVBB (Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank), Social Pro Network and Muddy Paws, I have put together a Doggie Blood Typing Event for Doggie Blood Donations. I will have some more information on this in the next few days here (once we confirm times and such), but you can get some preliminary information here