Looking after a dog, or indeed dogs, involves a great many things, visits to the Vet being just one of them. Aside from the routine vaccinations, there are likely to be other, less predictable issues too. Flash really should have had a ‘Frequent Flyer’ badge of some sort in light of her many trips arising out of one mishap or another, some serious and some less so. Leica seems to have been more fortunate, suffering fewer accidents but still having been treated at one time or another for a number of minor infections, skin irritations and stomach upsets. KiKi seems to be in rude good health thus far, but her enthusiasm for running at full speed among the rocks at the beach caught up with her just recently, gashing her forepaw on a piece of broken glass hidden among the stones. Several stitches, a dressing and the ‘Cone of Shame, anti-inflammatory treatment and antibiotics were all required, along with three follow up visits to check the progress of her healing. For ten days, she patiently and quietly took her tablets and allowed us to administer a syringe full of anti-inflammatory solution in her throat each morning. Yet again, her ability to remain entirely placid, even when at the vet and clearly in pain was obvious. Despite the cone she was wearing, she did still manage to bust her stitches resulting in having to have her wound dressed and re-dressed at home, sometimes twice a day or more. The wound was on a part of her foreleg which flexed with each step, making the application of the dressing difficult since it couldn’t be so tight as to cause more discomfort, or so loose as to allow it to move around too much. Still, the wound healed, albeit more slowly than might have been the case if the stitches had held.