Scratch, scratch, flee flea.

Behold the miserable dog fresh from the flea bath! Her expression is reflective of our morning so far.

In case you're wondering, Piper is a Shih Tzu- Chihuahua mix, aka a ShiChi. She weighs in at 3 pounds. She's also ancient, cranky, prone to barking at nothing, and loves to roll into your face at night, thereby suffocating you.

Back to that flea bath.

Hershey and I didn't feel like walking this morning. I armed myself with coffee and we pooled onto the back deck to watch the sun rise. Piper's incessant scratching spoiled what would have been a tranquil moment for us, however. A quick exam yielded little black flecks. Yeah, we have fleas. (There weren't any on Angus and Hershey. Whew.)

We've had an infestation at this house before. Patient Zero is always my mother's demon dog. Enlisting her help is like pulling teeth. She can't see them ergo they don't exist. It's been a week of Mondays and it's about to get worse.

Every insect fills a niche. I'm down with that. Let the spiders murder crawly things in the basement. Encore, house millipedes! My symbiosis with nature ends when a flea enters the picture.  Sure, fleas actually serve a purpose in the ecosystem...

"They help dead things rot and enrich the soil. Flea larvae emerge from the eggs to feed on any available organic material such as dead insects, feces, and vegetable matter." Adult fleas also spread parasites which is important in regulating the breeding frequency of some mammals.

  ...but fuck that shit. Kill it with fire!

I'm loath to taking matches to my dogs. I fling my anti-chemical bullshit to the side and embrace toxic things instead.

Prevention is key but Piper is too small for products like Credelio.  

The shampoo of choice is Hartz Ultraguard Pro Triple Active Flea and Tick Shampoo for dogs. It works well and isn't too toxic for a dog Piper's size. Plus, once it's soaking on the coat, I can take perverse pleasure as the fleas crawl through the suds and die. Shame on me, I know.

I murdered only one flea during this morning's bath. Disappointing considering this was all happening before 6:30 AM and sans any coffee. Gruffhick wishes flea death to be glorious and slow! Take your time! 

We'll see if more come along.

The bork bork nom noms gobbled up their prevention med and we all returned to the back deck.