The Dog Lady Blog

The parasites, regardless of species, are becoming more resilient to weather and virulent to immune systems.  Fortunately I've kept the dogs on flea and heartworm year round but about two weeks ago, I noticed tiny ticks on a couple of my dogs after returning from a woodland hike.  Today I met a dog that was loaded with them, some already engorged and disgusting.  Her foster home was planning a bath tonight before they take her in for a spay and vax vet visit later this week.

For now I'm still able to wear perfume or essential oils to bed but once the mosquitoes begin to bite, I become a Willa Cather character, scrubbed clean at night and covered in my eucalyptus "linament" from head to toes. 

One of the gifts the three inches of rain gave us was washing the trees (and the 32* grade of the hills they grow from) clean, flushing all the ticks down to the creek which leads to the lake and it's classified forest. The fish and lake dwellers will have a parasite feast--which mean lots of frogs this year.  One of my Almanac-isms.