Brush your dog's teeth. Just... do it.

Sometimes one learns the hard way that an ounce of prevention is worth a big, honkin' tanker car's worth of cure.

Our dainty beaglette, Ivy the chaste and pure, had a thorough dental cleaning yesterday. Apparently, our laxity in addressing her dental hygiene resulted in large amounts of puppy plaque and (very minor) doggie gum disease. No worries -- it's all repairable, as long as we arm ourselves with a doggie dentifrice everyday. Her canines are like fine porcelain now - they practially "ding!" when light shines on them.

But besides the cleaning, Ivy had a suspicious growth removed from her hind leg. It was an odd little hairy growth, small in size but increasingly large in alarming us to do something about it. So our vet suggested both procedures be taken care of in one swell foop (she'd have to go under general anesthesia for both so it made perfect sense).

So, remember how I started this post out with the directive about the brushing? The worse the plaque gets, the longer the procedure takes. Hence, the higher the price tag.

Our dainty beaglette's tending and care just set us back over $800. And that, during a month that followed the Worst Month of my Career, was not a welcome surprise.

I'm now accepting creative funding ideas for my Cotton Candy escapades, especially the lodging part.

But putting it into perspective, Ben reminded me she's our child. I never wanted to say these words: "I'm a dog mom." But I am. I reluctantly-yet-gladly own it.

But please, in the future, Dear Universe -- could you find a way for these procedures to cost maybe just a lung, rather than an arm and a leg and a lung?

Thanks.