dog scratch fever

I've been a little under the weather the past couple days, which is troublesome considering I have to start teaching tomorrow. The touch of fever has been affecting my sleeping, as is so often the case, and it only makes it worse that Rascal has got a case of the itchies lately. I blame the onset of dry weather*. When he really gets going on the scratching in the middle of the night it shakes the whole bed—even when he's lying on the floor, in fact. Leah keeps suggesting that we give him a bath and dose him with some puppy-targeted moisturizing shampoo, but I don't think I can face that sort of activity in my present sleepless state. You see the problem?!

*Dry meaning not humid, that is. It hasn't rained here in living memory, and perhaps it never will again.

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