Adventures in DarlaLand

Oh Darla!

Since I can not walk Darla, because it doesn't tire her out and has nearly killed me several times, we play catch each night when I get home from work in the yard. This assures me a slight amount of safety and Darla can get in a good run. As winter approaches the evenings are getting dark earlier. It turns out playing night ball can be a bit dangerous!

After a while of throwing the ball around tonight Darla dropped the ball and fell to the ground. She began biting ferociously at her feet. At first I thought she must have picked up a sticker, as will happen in a large, unkempt yard. I tried to check her feet, but she wouldn't let me. She nipped at me and took off running/limping. Once we were in the light I tried again to examine her feet, but as before, she kicked and nipped, and acted crazy. I started to get worried, thinking maybe she had been bitten by a snake. Since she wouldn't really let me look at her I began a search for clues in the yard. It didn't take me long to find Darla's nemesis.

Black ants. Thousands of them.

At one point her ball had rolled under some brush and she took some time to retrieve it. All the while she was standing right in the ant hill. I, of course, call her ER vet (the number is on speed dial) just to make sure that ant bites are not deadly. The ER tech was super helpful and assured me that Darla would be okay and that there wasn't much that they would be able to do for her that I couldn't at home. They recommended that I wash her feet, which I tried, but failed. I gave her some Benadryl (which is one of the best drugs ever, by the way) which should help a bit with the pain and itching. Darla gets very drowsy when she takes Benadryl, which is fine, I hope she will sleep through most of the discomfort.

Once I knew she was going to be alright, the situation kind of made me laugh. For all this poor pooch has been through, its the ants that finally cause some pain.

Poor baby...Sleep heavy, don't let the bad ants bite.

As for the ants, I'll deal with them tomorrow. So much for my live and let live attitude.