Ticks, YUCK!!!

Here I am, in my kitchen, my daughter is watching Chip 'n' Dale while somewhat eating (the worst eater on the planet) and my newborn is in a bouncer sitting next to me, struggling with discomfort (she despises being on her back!).  My house is clean and looks fantastic, thanks to the help of my husband who decided to help me a couple of days ago when we decided to have my sister and brother 'n' law over for dinner.
There are a few things driving me absolutely bonkers!!!  No matter how clean I keep our house, we have tiny little sugar ants in our house, it's as if they fly, I don't see them craw up my arm, but suddenly I feel one on my neck and I don't see a trail or them walking anywhere from the sides of the kitchen, just out of nowhere I see several in the middle of a surface.  I hate insects with the passion and especially ants and ticks!! Ticks are absolutely disgusting and it makes me so angry when I see them on my poor dogs or on my children.

Yesterday I had to take my German Shepherd to the vet, it was a nightmare!! I didn't have any help with loading the two girls plus the dog that can't stand any other dog, but her best friend, a little Scotty, which is the type of dog that my husband brought home as a gift to me on my birthday last year... really it was my German Shepherd's gift, but he needed an excuse to get him at the time.  I go outside, start the car, take the dog out and then have my two year old walk while I carried my bag and the baby.  We are finally on our way when I look over at the dog and I immediately see 4 ticks on the inside of her ear... AHHHHHHHH!!!  Gives me chill bumps while writing it!


We had just sprayed all our trees and the lawn for ticks, not to mention used flea and tick killer on each of the dogs just two weeks ago; what had gone wrong, I just kept asking myself about what else we could possibly do!  I was so sick to my stomach the entire time we were riding in the car because there was nothing that I could do to remove the ticks until got home.  I'm a doer, I see something that needs to be done and I do it right then to ensure that I don't forget because it's undeniable that I most certainly will.  I dropped my daughters off at my sister 'n' laws, who is the most awesome baby sister you will ever meet and she loves playing with my older daughter  (who has an amazing, open, fun personality... she's hilariously entertaining!), which definitely helps.
We get to the vets office and luckily they have a cat side and a dog side of the office (brilliant idea if you ask me).  We always go to the cat side because my dog cannot handle being in close proximity to other dogs and I hate to chance anything.  I had two people wait on me, I had sat there for nearly 20 minutes before someone says, "Your appointment isn't till next Tuesday at 4:10... "Great, just my luck."  I told her what it took to get there and begged that she please see if the doctor could fit me in.  She came out and told me that it would be a little bit, but that the doc would see me, thank goodness!!
Our appointment was a consultation to get our poor dog debarked and shots.  Debarking sounds terrible, I know, but it sure beats having to get rid of one of your little ones, doesn't it?  This is an awesome procedure which only lasts about an hour and they heal within days and it's super cheap ($100) compared to the gimmicks out there that don't work anyway.   Believe me, we tried everything else and this was a last resort; we tried shock collar, she just kept getting prong marks from all the barking (the pain didn't seem to phase her), we tried the secret whistling bird house (which was a joke) and the collar that shoots nasty stuff up at them when they bark, nothing works and luckily, Petsmart takes all electronics back within 30 days of purchase as long as you have your receipt!

So Thursday morning my poor Shepherd (who I dearly love) will be debarked.  This is a great alternative to getting rid of a pet, which, I would never do... you make that decision to get one and you should stick by it till the end, as you should with a child.  Debarking is a deceitful word, it doesn't mean that they will not be able to bark at all, just that their bark is muffled and not so intense, which is exactly what we need.  Our dog's bark can be hear from a couple blocks away and I'm shocked that our neighbor hasn't complained about their 4 am bark-a-thon that happens almost on a daily basis.

When I arrived home from the vets, I immediately began de-ticking my poor dog, I only got out the ones that I could immediately find, so I know that there is probably a ton more to be found, so we are getting more medicine to put on her today and hopefully when we spray again, we will get rid of these buggers once and for all!!  The tasks never end around this house and there is always seems to be something else that needs to be done.

  Live 'n' Love Out Loud!!