Busting the back, dog days

Between my elbow planches and some severe (for me) planking last night my lower back is pretty sore today.  I just am not used to utilizing my lower back to that degree.  I am hoping to keep these type of moves in my exercise rotation so they become less severe in their back issue aftermath.

Ali is heading up to PA for several days to visit her family tomorrow.  As a result I will have the dogs back out at the house for dog sitting duties.

Ali continues to have tick issues at her new place.  For some reason the problem seems to be worse for Nicki.  Sadie has had a few ticks crawling on her but none have latched on and filled up with blood. Nicki on the other hand has had a number of engorged ticks on her, even after having a double dose of Advantix as well as a supplementary flea and tick collar.

Obviously Ali is very frustrated that despite her extraordinary measures, (she also has a spray down/inspection ritual before and after every walk) ticks keep showing up on the dogs.  She is dumbfounded that her tick problem has not been reiterated by other dog owners in the community she has talked to.  Ali doesn’t know what to do short of shaving the dogs, which would not only look silly but be traumatic for both of them.

I suggested that regular baths with flea & tick shampoo (natural) would probably be a good course of action.  Not only does the stuff kill anything that would currently be on the girls, it also will help prevent new bastard ticks from latching on for a period of time.

Ali is willing to give anything a shot at this point so I ordered some shampoo with good reviews off Amazon.  I may try to give them baths while they are out at the house this weekend.  It’s a tough job solo but doable.