Yesterday morning, Ben and I were cooking breakfast when I heard him say, “Well, hi there, Jake!” I came running outside and there he was, all smiles and fur and black-and-white cuteness.

We haven’t seen Jake for a couple of weeks. Our neighbor Elaine says he doesn’t come around too much in the summer because school’s out. Right. No school bus—no Jake. So we were thrilled to see him come ambling up to the back porch.

About a month ago, Ben called me and was obviously upset. Jake had stopped by the farm and was looking really skinny and not well. Ben checked him out and he was covered head-to-toe in ticks. Elaine was worried about him, too. Both Ben and Elaine had been feeding him, but it was obvious food wasn’t the cure. Ben asked me to find some flea-and-tick control STAT. I ordered online and had it overnight-shipped to the farm. After it arrived, Jake didn’t show back up. Ben got even more worried. Elaine did, too.

Finally, he appeared in the yard and Ben was able to put the stuff on him as directed. And we haven’t seen him since. But look at him now! He looks healthy and happy and in all that petting, we didn’t find a single tick.

Treats for all the dogs! And then, he trotted back up the road to continue his visiting.