Today was pretty mellow.  I had time to pull all of the seeds off of Bea's fur.  The seeds have a crunchy center so it makes a nice after-breakfast snack.  Mother keeps saying that she's going to take Bea to have her hair cut, but I really like it when it's long.  I love to snuggle up against her warm locks, and the fun things that get stuck in her hair are just an extra bonus.

Mother saw an interesting mix of pets today; some sick, some tail-wagging happy, and some acting happy but masking their sickness.   I met a new friend today, a young Golden Retriever named Teagan.  She had long flowing locks, and brains that belied her good looks.  Teagan was a champion of obedience and agility, and a certified pet therapy dog.  She was here today for her routine visit with mother, but to help her family out she stayed for the day.  Sweet Sally went over the instructions, "She needs her Rabies immunization updated, her heartworm test done, oh.. and Teagan's mom wants us to check a lump on her neck.  She says it doesn't bother Teagan, but it's been there for a few months and now it's getting bigger." 
Lump checking is a standard request for mother.  She takes a tiny metal stick, pokes it in the lump and then squeezes the goo out on to a piece of glass. Then she dips the glass in different colors and looks at it under the special eyeglasses on the counter.  Teagan didn't even notice when the lump was checked.  "Well, it's not fat"  mother said quickly as she looked at the goo that came out of the metal stick.  "That must have been a lymph node to look at those cells" she concluded after looking into the eyeglasses.  "Now the real question is why does a young dog have a large lymph node that's not bothering her.  I didn't notice any cuts or infection."  she added. 
When Teagan's mother came to pick up her daughter, mother went over her findings.  "It's probably just a reactive lymph node.  We'll put her on some medication and hope her lymph node is large because of infection.  But if it's not better in one week, we will want to do a biopsy." mother explained.  "Biopsy?  Biopsy!  Why would it need a biopsy?  It can't be cancer, can it?  She's so young?"  Teagan's mom pleaded.  "I agree, it's unusual. But we can't rule anything out just yet.  It's important that we hope for the best right now.  You can prepare for the worst, but you really need to hope for the best" mother offered, in her most hopeful voice.  I didn't smell any fear on mother, and that's how I know when to worry.  Teagan is such a strong, beautiful, smart dog, it's hard to imagine her really being sick.  I am definitely hoping for the best.