Izzie has had some issues as of late. Most notably, she’s been in an Elizabethan collar since last Tuesday. Why, you might ask? Because Frontline sucks. It sucks bad. Our poor baby had fleas, and lot of them. The drama (and trauma) started a little over a month ago when we were still in Columbia. We noticed that she had been chewing at the base of her tail a lot, and that she was missing hair. So, we took her to the vet, and the vet in Columbia theorized that it was a food allergy, and we had to switch her food. So we did. She’s now on Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Duck and Potato. (And yes, it’s just as fancy and expensive as it sounds.) So we saw some improvement. Or so we thought. But then we flew out to Denver to find a place to live, and Izzie stayed with Caroline for a few days. I’m not sure what happened, I guess a whole bunch of flea eggs hatched or something, but when we got back, the small spot on her tail had turned into the entire lower half of it. At first we thought she was just stressed about being away from us, and all of the chaos that had been going on, but as we drove across the country, and Izzie kept chewing, despite regular doses of Benadryl, we realized that something was really wrong. So we took her to the vet here. Turns out our baby had fleas the whole time. She was just eaten up with them. What really surprised us is that she was on Frontline the entire time. And in fact, when we took her to the vet in Columbia, one of the vet techs said not to use Frontline anymore because it wasn’t working for a lot of animals. Concerned, we asked our vet about it. She said it was fine to continue with Frontline, and so we bought another 3 pack. Obviously, it wasn’t working. Now we’re on a new treatment plan. She’s gotten a flea bath, she’s on Advantage, and we’re giving her medicine so that her tail will heal. She has to wear the funny collar so she won’t chew at her tail. Jess calls her “Shakespeare” because of the Elizabethan collar. We take it off of her when we can watch her, and she’s not nearly as itchy as she was, so I take comfort in the fact that she seems to finally be better. Thank goodness! I hate seeing my baby girl all sickly. -Addison
I am in love. While you may think that I am referring to my wonderful wife, Jessica, I am not. I am referring to my sweet puppy, Isobel. Izzie has completely captured my heart. I think she is the cutest, funniest dog in the world, not to mention the best pet Jessica and I have ever had. Lord knows we’re had a lot of pets, so you know that I must be pretty serious about this one! We took Izzie to my dad’s house last weekend. She LOVES it there. We love it too, of course, so it’s a good time for all three of us. Dad and Mary Alice have a komodor named Lilly, and she is a giant compared to our little girl. Aunt Lilly is just a love, and Izzie has a blast with her. While I love my Izzie girl to pieces, Lilly is probably the sweetest dog you will ever meet. And she’s quirky, too. Plus she has dreadlocks, so she looks really cool. The girls played ball in the field on Sunday afternoon. It was hilarious! They also chase each other around the yard; I’ve never seen Izzie be so playful with another dog, so I’m very grateful she has Lilly on the weekends! -Addison
So, in case you haven’t noticed/seen the “evidence” on Facebook yet, Jess and I got a dog. We had been on the fence about getting another dog since the Cash fiasco, but we decided to give it one more try. Hell, we already had all of the stuff, and this one came with a 1 week money back guarantee, so we went for it! Izzie is super cute, weighs 17 lbs and is some sort of Lhasa Apso/Shih Tzu mix. She’s black and white, potty trained, and knows how to fetch a ball. Her obedience training needs some work, but she’s very smart (and very focused on food) so with some patience and treats I’m sure we’ll get that under control in no time. She’s 2 1/2 years old, crate trained, and good on a leash. She’s also really sweet and likes to snuggle. She already loves me and Jess. All in all she is the perfect dog for us, and we are so thrilled to have her in our lives. We adopted Izzie from Project Pet. We’ve actually had her since the first weekend since December, but we decided to keep it quiet in case things didn’t, you know, work out. Jess and I are all too aware of our “record” with pets, and there are certain people who are bound to/already have given us a hard time about getting (in their opinion) yet another dog. I really don’t think it’s fair for others to judge our decisions because no one truly knows how we came to make them. So, step off. Seriously. Sorry I had to get so grumpy; let’s finish on a high note! Here are some totally cute pictures of our new little girl, Isobel Rae. (For the record, we call her Izzie, and Jess hates it that I gave her 2 names!) -Addison
