Once every week Fran and I gather our four dogs and commit “ablutions” on them.

Whether they like it or not, the get mani/pedis, teeth brushed, faces washed, ears cleaned, etc. This is in addition to a few times a week brushing.

It’s a pain in schedule trying to find time for it every week. And until they’re used to the routine, it’s incredibly time consuming when they’re puppies. Torque was a screamer for ears. Booker has incredible “twitch” muscles when we’re doing his nails. I’ve dremeled my thumb instead of his claws on more than one occasion.

But when you take responsibility for an animal, you do it all the way. You make sure they’re fed, warm, clean, and healthy. And this week we’re especially glad we take the time and effort to take a really good look at each of the boys.

Tango is a scruffy-looking nerf herder at the best of times. When he’s between groomings, it can be hard to see his eyes. But, like lots of fuzzy dogs, he reduces down to otter-like when he’s wet. And this week we noticed an opaque, reddish spot on his eye. We knew immediately that it

The red spot on Tango’s eye.

required a trip to the vet the next day.

Fortunately, at the moment, the vet thinks it’s a result of dry eye, possibly from allergies. It doesn’t seem to be an injury and we’re treating it with medication for the next week to see how it goes. He may need to be on eye drops/ointment the rest of his life.

And that’s really good news. Because whatever the spot is, we saw it early in its development. And at least now, we’ve avoided surgery. But the point is, Tango never bothered his eye, never rubbed his face, never got watery eyes, never seemed to squint or blink excessively. We noticed it because we make it a point to notice our dogs at least once a week. Tip of the nose to tip of their tails – we take notice.