Sensei suffers from dreadful allergies. My allergies cause my skin to itch which makes me have a desire to scratch at it. Scratching at my body damages my beautiful coat and makes me quite uncomfortable.
In response to my scratching, my student checks my body for fleas. I realize she does this to protect me but it's really quite insulting for her to imply that I might carry parasites like some common filthy vagrant. She, of course, never finds any.
My student also worries that Sensei's allergies may be caused by my diet. However, ever since I have come to live here I have always been fed, healthy, allergen free, fish based food. My food is made with Salmon and has no wheat or corn or other ingredients that cause allergies. I have eaten several types of good food, but still, my allergies remain.
It may be that I am allergic to pollens and other things in the area as my allergies can get worse in the springtime. Even so, they remain all year long.
Perhaps I am just allergic to the other dogs that live here that actually ARE a bit filthy. They roll in dirt and other foul substances. They like digging and participating in other unclean and unhealthy activities, but I digress...
Whatever the cause I experience horrible allergies. In order to help Sensei and my body better cope, my student provides me with small, oval shaped, pink pills covered in squeeze cheese. I quite enjoy my morning pill dripping in runny cheddar, so much so that I run to the kitchen whenever I hear any pill bottles rattling that may predict my much loved cheese snack. It's not always cheese, my pills have been delivered in peanut butter, little chunks of meat, cream cheese and sometimes even in "pill pockets" which are clever little liver treats with a hole for my pill. Some mornings I won't even finish breakfast until my pill has been given. They may think differently but I am not being fooled. I don't mind taking my pill at all. I am quite aware that my daily gooey snack has a little surprise hidden inside, but I couldn't care less. Do they not see that I rarely chew my food and prefer to gulp it down, I certainly don't chew my little pill. In fact, I would probably eat the pill without the lucious coating as they do make me feel better, but it's nice to keep them on their toes so I will continue to run to the kitchen each morning and wait for my delicious delivery.
