I think I love my dog

Lucy has had some problems recently. It all started several weeks ago when Lucy started scratching -- a lot. There was dog hair everywhere. Little chunks came out in my hand, and I couldn't vacuum enough to keep up with it all. I went away for a few days to visit my sister, and when I got back, she had chunks missing from her coat and sores where she'd been chewing herself. So I took her to the vet. They couldn't be sure (or find any evidence of it), but thought it was due to the bad fleas we've had this year with all the rain. So they put her on $120 of meds, and I spent the next 10 days crushing pills to mix with wet dog food (cheese did not work; she would chew it off and leave the pill). She stopped scratching and gnawing on her skin, but the steroids caused her to need to pee a lot and she had some accidents in the house.

So that went away. And then Oliver got a runny nose. And now I spend hours of my life trying to get the dog to stop licking Oliver's face to clear it of boogers. And then I saw just the most horrendous thing ever -- the dog humping (for lack of a better descriptor) my child. She's tried it half a dozen times now, and it's totally unnerving. It scares Oliver, too. I've only ever seen Lucy try to do this to one other dog (her cousin, Remington, and well, he started it). I don't know if it's related to the steroids, though they've been out of her system for a while now, or because Oliver is walking or what. Otherwise the two get along just fine. Ollie will play with Lucy -- handing her toys and patting her on the head -- and Lucy is patient and playful with him.

It's not uncommon, I guess, for a couple to have a dog and then have it supplanted a bit when they have a child. We're doing out best to make sure she's remembered and taken care of.