In defense of my dog….

I had to take Alfie back to the vet today. Poor thing has found this hot summer very hard and has, like many other dogs with thick coats and longer hair, developed doggy eczema. We have his his hair cut regularly, to help him cope with the heat but as our wonderful vet says, if you are prone to having sensitive skin, you have sensitive skin.

Alfie is a fantastic dog: the gentleman of dogs and has been my best friend and protector for almost 9 years now. A cross between german shepherd and collie, he is an “international traveller” , who came to cyprus with us from UK and thanks to who, Molly, Jake and Charlie cat, have been made welcomed in our home – and have become part of Alfies gang.

One of the side effects of Alfies condition is that his coat is smelly. Its a horrible smell. We bathe him twice daily in medicated shampoo to try to help him feel better and smell better but somedays are worse than others when it comes to the smell.

Today was a particularly bad day and Alfie was very fragrant – not! When I walked into the vets with him, there was an older couple with their little dog and they practically recoiled at the sight and smell of my beautiful Alf, looking at us both as if we were vermin. I was so upset with them!

Watching them look at Alfie as if he was something terrible, I wanted to scream at them that this beautiful dog has the heart of a lion, saved my from a house fire here when we first moved over and has loved and protected all of our family for all of the years he’s lived with us . He’s ill not horrible and dirty. He’s suffering but he is still loving, gentle and totally devoted to his people…….. Thankfully, Dr Inna came out to call for us to go into the surgery and made a big fuss of Alfie, stopping the judgemental pair from staring further.

Got me thinking: illness cannot be helped and some illnesses have a look and “style” of their own – there is no “normal” and there are some ailments that don’t make for pleasant viewing. We are lucky to be fit, healthy and alive – and I pray only for that for our gorgeous Alfie

A return to his sweet smelling full hairy coat would be a welcome bonus too – for him as well as us.