poor Bucky

Our dog has an owie on his rump and tail, just where they meet. I don't know if he was stung by a bee or bitten by a bug. It has turned into a rash. He has been gnawing on his rump for a couple of days. I didn't realize it might be serious. I finally got around to looking at his owie as he came crying to me. I thought it might be caused by fleas or ticks from the back yard.

There was a big matt of hair on his tail that I clipped away. I wondered if he had ripped his hair out because of the clump when I saw it. I try to watch for those matts as they can get big and nasty quickly. His hair is clipped short right now. Especially with the briers in the back yard.

I got out a big yellow pot, big enough to hold the dog. I put some flea dip and warm water in the pot and took it out to the deck. Bucky went in the water without complaint. I could tell it eased his pain. He liked the luke warm temperature. I poured water out of the pot onto the rest of him, careful not to get any in his sensitive ears.

When he climbed out of the pot he tried to get into the house to shake off the excess water. I stopped him at the door. We played a little game of chase on the deck. I could tell he felt better. I then trimmed back the hair around the red soar area. I could tell he had been gnawing at it, making it worse.

I found a cone the cats had used when they were supposed to not chew themselves. It fit the dog but wasn't strong enough to keep him from the area. I found some creams that I hoped might ease his pain. Every hour I rub the lotion on . He comes to tell me when it is time, moaning and whimpering and looking at me with his limpet black eyes. I get out a fresh cotton ball and apply the ointment. He rolls over on his back and relaxes, loving the feel of the ointment.

The healing will take time. But at least now, with the creams on it, he isn't chewing at the area. He loves when I put on the ointment. Hopefully he will heal quickly. The sound of his moaning and whimpering reminds me of when my children are sick and needy. I cuddle him and rub his chest while the soothing ointment goes to work.

If it was a tick or fleas I need to tackle the cats next. They wont get a bath. they wouldn't tolerate it. But I do have their flea meds around here somewhere. Another item on my "to do" list.

Tom called and said his friend with the truck could do a dump run today, early this afternoon. I dragged the carpet and pads out to the front yard. I dragged the pieces of hot tub I could lift from the back yard to the front. I want to make it as easy as I can for the men. I also want to fill up the truck so they don't load up anything I want to keep. Tom wants to get rid of the exercise equipment. I would like to set up a small gym. It will have to be in the basement as Tom wont allow it in the game room.

We still have to configure the game room. We have agreed on the direction of the flooring when it arrives, but we will still lay out some in a dry run first to see if that is really what we want to do. I pray I ordered enough. It should be plenty, but only if we do a good job. I am looking to borrow a flooring nailer if anyone has one. I have a nail gun, but the flooring nailer has the right angle for setting the nails perfectly at the right angle each time. I wonder if there is a tool you can put on the front of the regular nail gun that does the same thing, angles the front end for that perfect set.

Home Depot here I come.