What Do Cody and Bees have in Common?

They both have hives!

Last night, Cody had a fun time running around and wrestling with a boxer named Ruby who lives in the neighborhood. There were bushes to hide behind and jump over which Cody and Ruby enjoyed.

However, this morning, I noticed some dark, pronounced areas on Cody when we woke up. At first, I thought it was the lighting or drool spots when he "scratches" himself. Upon closer examination, they looked like hives. There were very mild bumps that ranged from the size of dimes to the size of a Ritz cracker. There were a few larger ones on the main part of his body and smaller ones towards his tail. They were also only on one side of his body.

I panicked a little when I saw it. I thought that I should call the vet, but I didn't really have time that morning. Here were theories:

1) He has some weird cancer that suddenly came up and he's going to die.
2) He rolled over a huge amount of ticks and mosquitoes on one side and somehow they didn't follow him home (since I didn't get bitten)
3) He ran into some poison ivy and I will soon be developing a rash on my hands for petting and handling him.
4) He has some weird allergic reaction to something in the bushes.

Honestly, I didn't think that #4 was very likely since I've never seen him have hives. I figured it's the only one I can treat immediately though. I gave him a couple of Benadryl tablets before we left for work. Amazingly enough, a couple of hours later, the bumps were gone (but unfortunately, he did not get the drowsiness side effect).

Overall, I'm very grateful that I didn't have to spend a ton of money at the vet's for something that took care of itself.

For other dog owners, diphenhydramine/Benadryl tablets was ok'ed by my vet. Unless the dog has some allergy to Benadryl or other health issues, it's generally fine to give Benadryl to your dog for allergies. My vet told me to administer 1mg for every pound he weighs (so I gave him 50mg this morning).