If you lie with dogs...

...you're bound to get fleas. And that's what I'm about to do. Literally.

Well, hopefully not. I'm dog sitting for an extraodinary group of dogs...mine. :) Remember, I have the strange situation with dogs that (at least one of them) are really mine due to large quantities of training/walking time but live somewhere else. Well, that's my side of the story...and Kodie would agree.

However, Kodie and Tequila live with another dog, with whom they really don't socialize. Oh, they try, but when two 40 lb. dogs chase, bark, and pounce on a little toy poodle, it really doesn't end up to be a "friends" sort of situation. Well, that's Derby. She's an elderly gray toy poodle who is as sweet as she can be. I was warned that she is sometimes a little itchy and has some medicine that I can give her if necessary.

So the first day she showed signs of being itchy I really didn't think too much about it and gave her the itch medicine with her evening meal. This evening, as I was preparing to go to bed, I picked her up for her last outside trip before retiring and noticed a tiny little spot on her back. I looked and, what? What the heck is that? Flea poop!!! So as I took a closer look I found a couple of live fleas!!! In January!!! How could this be???

Not to mention...AHHHHHH...we share a bed!!! Luckily, I called their parents and they had some flea treatment in house so I treated all the dogs before the fleas go on a breeding fest. The treatment was Frontline Plus...please, someone tell me this is the kind of treatment that kills fleas and doesn't just make them jump off the dog onto the next warm body.

I might also add that my fears come from some past flea experiences that were unreal...

Years ago I took in a stray dog, called her my own, and got a house infested with fleas. I treated her the first day but it was some kind that just shooed the fleas from the treated beast to the next warm body. Me! I ended up with bloody ankles and every kind of flea spray, bomb, and trap known to man with no avail. Finally I purchased some lawn spray that, quite literally, bubbled the paint off the baseboards. I'm still waiting for that third arm to emerge but at least it killed the fleas.

And it doesn't end there...a few years ago I worked in a barn that had a couple flea-ridden cats and the barn office became infested. No one else in the barn seemed to have a problem with the fleas except for me. In order to defend myself while the rest of the barn denied any flea problem, I took to wearing dog flea collars over my socks and around my ankles. It got quite a stir and eventually got the attention of well...everyone on the farm...and they thankfully did something about the flea infestation.

So, as you can see, I'm a little paranoid about fleas. And it just goes to show that the 'ole saying just might hold true...if you lie with dogs, you're going to get fleas.