Only Riggs would be excited to go to the vet

It is time to take Riggs to the vet to get his next vaccination shot and he is all excited to go.  You are the only dog I know of that gets excited to go to the vet buddy.  Such a strange dog you are Riggs.

Toy Chest - Tuesday

Since Riggs is completely spoiled rotten and has so many stuffed animals, I have decided to have a “Toy Chest – Tuesday” post series. In order to get through the plethora of stuffed animals this boy has, I will introduce you to one of his partners in crime on Tuesday every month.

Today is an obvious named one and as you can see from the photo below he is already tore up pretty bad. Today we introduce: Garfield, my favorite comic and comic character of all time.

Garfield

Mange

Riggs has been itching and scratching quite a bit lately so we took him to the vet to make sure he does not have fleas.  He does not have fleas but instead has something called Mange.

Mange: is a class of persistent contagious skin diseases caused by parasitic mites.

Apparently he has the demodectic mange version.  Also called demodicosis or Red Mange, demodectic mange in dogs is caused by a sensitivity to and overpopulation of Demodex canis if the animal's immune system is unable to keep the mites under control.

The vet did a skin scrap and looked at it under the microscope where he saw the little mites.  Riggs immune system it appears is not developing as fast as he is currently and having difficulty fighting off these parasitic mites.  So home we are sent with pills to fight the battle of mange.  Oh joy.

Riggs vs. "The Bone"

We want video of the cute puppy!  Ok ok.  Enjoy Riggs vs. "The Bone".  Yes, that is me talking to Riggs in a very high baby talk voice.  If you only really knew how low my voice really is.  Enjoy everyone.

Up the stairs great, down the stairs not so much

We live in a two story townhouse.  Riggs caught on to the concept of going up the stairs pretty quickly.  However, coming back down the stairs is a different story.  From his view it must look pretty scary at the top of the stairs looking down I guess.
  
So we have the “cat stuck up in the tree” problem with Riggs now.  He will go up the stairs but when he is ready to come back down he will just stand at the top of the stairs and whine.  You can see him attempt to put a paw down the first step but he just does not have the courage yet to come down the stairs on his own.  This whole carrying you down the stairs is going to get old quickly buddy.

Road Trip

Now having a dog has made taking trips a bit more of a challenge.  We went and checked out some local boarding places to see what the conditions were like and did not get that warm and fuzzy feeling about leaving Riggs there.  We also looked into having someone watch him at their home and that was too expensive.  So we decided to take him with us on our annual road trip up north.

Each year Vanessa and I go visit some friends that are about 10 hrs north of us.  This was our first long road trip with Riggs.  He ended up doing great.  No accidents in the car or at the hotel we were staying at.  Why the hell can we not get him to do that at home yet?

Toy of choice: stuffed animals

Over the past month, we have tried various types of toys with Riggs.  Small tennis balls, knotted rope contraptions, rubber kong with peanut butter in it, etc.  It has become quite clear though the toy of choice... Riggs loves stuffed animals.  Over time you will be introduced to Riggs' stuffed animal friends because we give each of them a name. 

Today we would like to introduce you to someone you have seen in several pictures already.  Say hello to Mr. Cuddles.  As you can see he is already in pretty bad shape.  Nose already torn off and his eyes are in pretty bad shape as well.

Mr. Cuddles