Do your dogs seem to  be conspiring at building an international global alliance with the Tribe of Mosquitoes? What is it with dogs and open doors?

 Ruby Doo and Cassie the Corgi have decided that the kitchen door must remain open to the Wide World at all times. At this time of year, when the weather is spectacular and the air is clean, that rule would normally be OK. But this year we're having the most amazing plague of mosquitoes I've ever seen.

In the Golden Age of Recent Arizona History, there simply were no mosquitoes here. Unless you happened to be out in the sticks near a stagnant puddle of water, which you sometimes would find toward the end of summer when streams and rivers quit running freely and go underground, you never saw a skeeter. Just now, as I scribble this, one of the little ladies is merrily circling my head.

The mosquito population has slowly grown over the past decade or so, largely abetted by idiot developers who think ridiculous water-wasting artificial lakes sell housing tracts. Last month alone, the County got over 2,000 frantic complaints from residents. But because my part of town is far from the sprawling suburban "planned communities," we haven't been much affected.

No more! This year we've had a mosquito explosion.

And, it develops, among the many things that corgis share with German shepherds (my breed of choice until I attained a dotage so advanced I no longer can handle a large, high-drive dog) is a burning desire to have all the doors in the house propped open. And no. A screen across the opening is not permissible. "Open screen, Human! Dog tear screen out!"

Well. If Anna the Ger-shep was bossy about this issue and Cassie the Corgi was imperious, Ruby the Corgi Pup is a freaking dictator! She DEMANDS that the door be open. Close it, and she threatens to poop on the floor!

What could be more terrifying?

We now have West Nile Fever in the Valley of the We-Do-Mean-Sun, and us old folks are most at risk of croaking over from it. Meanwhile, the dogs are vulnerable to heartworm. In the past my vet has assured me that, because of the part of town where the dogs and I live, Hartgard was unnecessary. But I expect that's changed. Probably it's time to get the two pooches tested and than put them on that pricey pharmaceutical.

Why do dogs love mosquitoes?