EW! YUCK! Dog Lice

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I mentioned in a recent discussion that Ned was really scratching under his chin. I thought it might be an allergy - to a food suppliment, to shampoo/detanglers, to his leather collar. Or that maybe his chin stayed too wet and bacteria grew.
Well, after trying various things for the past few weeks, I finally took him to the vet today - before his grooming appt. The vet (not the usual one) suggested that we get rid of all of the plastic dishes and get only metal ones - his is metal but the other dogs have plastic. She said it wouldn't be an allergy to something he ingested because the itching was only on his neck. She gave him a shot and sent me on my way. She never really looked at the site just said Ned was cute and ...
Well, on to the groomer and, lo and behold, all THREE of my dogs have dog lice!!! I paid 75 bucks to the vet so that the groomer could find what was really wrong. I go on-line and find out that Lice is RARE and usually found on DIRTY RESCUE DOGS AND IN DIRTY ENVIRONMENTS! I am pretty insulted because none of that applies to my household.
The only thing I can say is that it is passed dog to dog, so I am figuring that the Dog Parks and campgrounds we have been to recently must be "rarely infected" with dog lice.
The good news is that two applications of Frontline 2 weeks apart will take care of the problem - after the groomer bath. The bad news is that lice causes dry skin/fur problems and increases matting. Poor Ned is now a short-haired dood. Can I just say it will be his summer cut and watch out for sunburn? No calendar pictures of Ned this summer.
How did I miss this on THREE dogs who get brushed, loved, and cuddled all of the time!!?? Needless to say that my newly disinfected house is the cleanest on the block.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I wish I could groom Ned. I would love enjoy it but sadly I am scissor-challenged! I am getting less enamored of dog parks, but we go camping (in an RV but we call it camping) and we have to take the dogs out to the provided dog bathroom areas and also let them get some exercise at dog parks so....... But I am going to be so much more careful. I still don't see how I missed this.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle's immunology specialist doesn't approve of any dogs going to dog parks...even the healthy ones. We go to a "dog park" which is a huge fenced section of the forest preserves, and just walk the trails. There is still exposure from wild animals, but you get that in your own yard. I guess the bottom line is, we can't keep them in bubbles...they have to be dogs. We can just try to keep them from exposure to nasty things as much as possible.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

With all the stories such as this, and the news story last week (ABC News) about the recurrence of Canine Flu, I have to agree, the dog park is looking less and less attractive of an activity to do with our dog.

We find it best to go to Primary/Grade Schools after hours. Most are large and fenced in play areas so the dog is safe, and we can play ball or frisbee, and Spuds favorite, slide down sliding boards. It is a great alternative, but lonely--not other dogs to play with.

[3iwe1z4z14fov]

I would have to agree with you on that one. I don't want to take my dog and expose them like that, I also have my own dog park ( fenced in back yard) and friends who I know that can come over with their dogs and I also walk them in my neighborhood and they go for rides on my golf cart and is the car.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Giardia sounds really awful.
We did a lot of cleaning yesterday and will again but if people can't get the lice and the dogs are treated, I told my kids to keep their dogs home for the next few weeks, so I think we will be ok.

[Adina P]

I had no idea there were dog lice either....oh yucky! now i'm gonna be freaked out every time my dogs scratch. i'm so sorry! Thank goodness for a fabulous groomer!!!!

I have such a HUGE aversion/fear of lice. Had it 2-3 times when I was young and it is such an embarrassing thing because of the connotation! First time I was about 5 in Romania and got it from some foreigner traveling through ... my mom cut his hair and we think he had it. So I got MY hair chopped off super short... After that got it in grade school in the U.S.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Each of my boys had lice but luckily I caught it on them before a hatching - only 1 bug each time but lots of nits. They got them at their schools. Maybe now I would just put Frontline on them!!! LOL. My daughter-in-law got them right before they got married - that is what you get for teaching kids martial arts and getting sooooo close! Anyway she was loaded with them before she realized what the problem was. I was elected to be the de-louser because I am meticulous. She is half Thai and half Italian - lots and lots of hair, but luckily it was only chin length.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I wish I still had the letter but it went something like this

CONGRATULATIONS your child has lice! Lice are attracted to clean, well kept hair! Contrary to popular belief the lice will leave a dirty area just to be with in cleaner healthier head of hair. Lice are quite common to get in certain areas at certain times of the year. The lice have chosen your son/daughter because of how well he/she is taken care of. Do not be embarrassed and your child should not be punished. We are here to help you send the lice on their way Blah Blah Etc

I am not writing this are well as the Pre-K did and it has been 10 years since my boys went to Pre-K ( now in college ) but it was to help those who had to endure the TRAUMATIC event.

I don't know how true this all is, and I don't know if it makes you feel any better ( it didn't for us mothers either ) but they thought it might help.

So Congratulations Nancy and Ned. Your dogs are well taken care of, and the lice decided to choose your nice dogs and home them to live with.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I have been itchy since I read this post and I freak every time Yankee scratches himself. I am not a big fan of any type of bug so it doesn't take much to get me going.

[Adina P]

LOL...I'm the same way. Just talking about mosquitoes on a summer day makes me feel like I'm crawling with bugs!

[3iwe1z4z14fov]

I have rescued many DIRTY RESCUE DOGS, I also own one and I have never came across this problem, I think it was just bad luck. I also ALWAYS use my frontline so something like this does not happen.

[Tamara & Giada]

WOW..............hope all is well now!!