Working dogs, especially working dogs on farms, come down with all sorts of stuff. It is not a crisis, it is just part of sheepdog’s life. I spent a lot of time with Red and noticed several things about him recently. He has been losing weight, even though he is eating high protein, high calorie Fromm Food, the kind recommended for working dogs. He has been biting and scratching around his neck and back.

Border collies are notoriously stoic and his energy has been high, his work with the sheep as intense as normal. When I noticed a lot of scabs on his back, some of them swollen and, I thought a bit infected, I took him to the vet, Dr. Colleen Flaherty. She checked Red, asked for a stool sample (no problem) and we decided that the black flies that have been swarming around the pasture were feasting on Red when he lay still holding the sheep during our morning chores. The flies have been horrendous this year, horse flies as well as black flies, no see’ ums and gnatsThey torment the donkeys, who go into their stalls in the daytime to avoid them, but Red never moves when he is working and I’ve noticed clouds of flies swarming over him.

I got some medicated shampoo and have bathed him every day, then some antibiotics for the possible infections, and three days of cortisone pills to ease the swelling and scratching. Those have worked beautifully and the wounds have almost entirely healed and Red has stopped biting and scratching. Today the stool sample results came in and Red has Hookworm and some other relatively harmless parasites, so we got some more medications – in powder form – to sprinkle on his food for several days Red already looks as if he’s gained a bit of weight, I think the hookworm comes from his eating some chicken droppings in the yard, this is also common when dogs are around chickens or sheep.

It is good to figure all this out and treat these issues. I’m going to test him for Hookworm several times a year, it will probably recur. Tonight, we both did our medicines together – I took my insulin shots, Red his antibiotics and cortisone pills. This is normal dog life on a farm, not a drama or big deal, and I will not be providing updates on his recovery, it does not rise to the level of that.  I want to be more vigilant about flies next summer, but truthfully, that is part of a working dog’s life. Red is looking good, doing well.  Thanks, but I don’t need advice or other remedies or special formulas, we are handling it. Just wanted to share this turn in A Dog’s Life, my new regular column.