Darn Dog

Ace was a superhero at Halloween. If I made him wear this every day, he wouldn't be able to chew on his bug bites.
(Matt was a good sport about it because I only put the costumes on long enough to take a photo.)

I love my dogs - both of them. However, one of them has a special knack for driving me crazy sometimes.

We had to install a shock fence to keep him from digging in the flower beds after he destroyed hundreds of dollars worth of my plants (c'mon, I can kill them on my own; I don't need any help). We now have to keep the tall trashcan in the kitchen on top of a chair so that he can't get into it every single day. When we took both of the dogs to obedience classes, Ace immediately became the class's "bad kid" because he doesn't get along with other dogs. He whines constantly when he wants something and nudges your hand whenever you stop petting him. He is also a little hyper and a bit of an attention hog.

Well, his recent favorite past time (obsession) has become bee hunting. He stands next to a patch of lamb's ear in the back yard, waiting for them to congregate near the plants. Then he tries to catch him. They sting him. He doesn't care; he tries to bite and catch them in the air anyway.

Since he's extremely OCD, he started chewing and scratching the bites earlier this summer. At first I didn't know what it was until I actually saw him get stung and then tear into a new piece of flesh on his front leg. Because he won't leave them alone, they get bigger and uglier. Simple bee stings should heal within a few days, but it's now been a few weeks.

I've tried everything on this dog to get those wounds to heal: liquid bandage, Benadryl, medical wrap. He's relentless and as a result, he's got some scarring and constant open wounds. He wakes us up in the middle of the night chewing and licking them. Some nights he starts crying as he's scratching them.

I called last week to get an appointment for him to see our vet, but with the holiday, they weren't able to see him until this week. I took him in Tuesday and was prepared to pay an unhappy amount. I was pleasantly surprised when we left though. I got some great advice and Ace got a cortisone shot and some antibiotics for around $46. There's no way that could I get all of that from my doctor at that price!

Now we've just got to use some of the tricks the vet showed me to keep him from chewing until those darn bites can heal. I'd thought about putting a clown cone on him, but the vet said that he wouldn't recommend that method for a dog as "intense" as Ace. He sure would look funny in one though; I think it'd cheer me up after having to deal with his obsessions!