You may wish to avert your eyes...

I walked into the room to find my wife inspecting the fur of our big dog, Gracie, and my son taking a very serious look at the belly of our little dog, Panda. At first, this activity might have been confused as a little bit of family rough-housing or perhaps even a game of rub the doggy's tummy to see if their legs shake involuntarily.

No. Sadly, not.

I found both inspection officials to be perfectly straight faced and serious about their duties and both dogs seemed less than playful regarding the thorough going-over of their personal areas.

Before I could ask, my wife called out for me to help my son. Before I could ask what it was I was helping with, he motioned for me to look at Panda.

I should point out that in our family, most consider my son to be the smart one one of the bunch, at least when my daughter isn't around.

"Does this look like a big flea or just a tick?" he asked with great concern.


"Uh, nope." I said, "That there is a nipple."

"Hmmm" the smart one said. "No wonder she didn't want me to pick it."