Yikes fleas!!

 We've been watching Crufts, its a great show. Some people think its sad to train dogs like this, but just look at their excitement and how they respond to their owners, those dogs love it.

I mainly trained Nell, but I only had her do basic stuff, 'Come, Sit, Stay, Leave, No' and a very important one, OFF, ' when she trampled on my garden. She learnt Fetch herself and loved running after her ball. 

She learnt 'Sit' right away and was suitably given a treat.. then all by herself she started to beg. I tried to stop her, I didn't want her to think she had to beg for food, but she never stopped begging! 

She wasn't long getting the hang of going outside for a wee and was asking to go out within a week and we rarely has a mess. We had to be very strong about her sleeping down stairs, but she did come up on our bed in the mornings, when Dh brought up our morning cuppas.. She used to run up the stairs and take a flying leap on to the bed, ears flying like wings! 

She was about 4 years old, one very sunny morning, she was rolling on the bed in the sunshine, waiting for a tummy rub... and oh my gosh I looked at her tum, she was covered in fleas!! My screams brought Dh out of the bathroom, we were mesmerized! 

Straight to the vets, we were mortified we had always kept up with her flea treatment. We got shampoo off the vet and tablets instead of the under skin stuff we were using. We stripped and washed all our bedding, got a different duvet, washed all our clothes, all Nell's bedding, towels and blanket. In fact if it was something we thought might harbour the fleas, it was washed and cleaned.

It took us 7 weeks of baths 3 times a week, combing, which she hated. Then we had a spray for the house. We used to spray our lounge, bedroom  and and all the carpets, then went out, Nell came as well. We had to leave it for 2 hours. It was more or less the 8th week when the bath water had no fleas, but we kept at it for another week to be absolutely sure. Evidently the flea treatment we had been using was no longer effective, although it can still be bought and is still advertised.

We were vigilant after that, especially when we had a hedgehog in the garden here, they are sometimes full of fleas.. There's a lot to take on when you have a dog. But they're so worth it, especially when they snuggle up to you and those eyes so full of love.

It's easier to talk about her now with out crumbling in a teary heap! I sometimes think let's get another dog, but it wouldn't be Nell. 

I loved watching Crufts.

 Chrisxx