I was away from home last night as I had to be at a school rocketry competition in Essex. Holly pined for me. She was restless all night and has spent today watching the front door. When I got home tonight she went crazy and hasnt left me since. As I write this she is lying across my foot and snoring. It must be love!
Ooof...just got back home from taxiing around a 12 year old three-legged Galgo named Nanda. She belongs to an older woman I met through doggie rescue here in Spain. She lives out in the boonies a bit so I've been visiting her a couple times a week for the past few months. Nanda stopped eating five days ago but I didn't know about it until I got back from Ireland yesterday. The lady doesn't have much money, so she just thought if she waited, it would get better. Her heart is in the right place, but I really want to shake people who try to save money by not going to the vet. It ALWAYS ends up being worse for the dog AND worse for your bank account. So poor Nanda had blood tests, an ultrasound and is now hospitalised for at least a day. The good news is that it seems it is only gastroenteritis (sp?) which has gotten out of hand. The bad news is that if she would have been seen at the outset, 5 days ago, she would have come out with a shot, a few pills and all would have been right as rain by now. Brogan used to have such attacks occasionally and the vet here would sort him out with a 20 minute visit. Instead Nanda has been poked and prodded and stressed and the bill will creep upwards of EUR300. Argh. On the bright side, I get to pick her up tonight and cuddle her as she is staying over with me seeing as how I live so close to the vet. I 'll be sure to tell her that if she'd like a slumber party at my house in the future, all she has to do is ask...no getting sick needed.
I hate hate hate hate this sodding hot weather hate it. 4 more months of this I just want to curl up and never come out. I forgot how vile it is and how much I really really hate it
I have two rabbits and tonight one of them got out of it's hutch. Stanleys never been with them when they're out of their hutches and he charged towards him, my stomach has never dropped so much thinking he would think it was a toy or something. He got to him and started licking him That dog is the softest dog I've ever known
Maybe he was just basting them to make them a tastier snack for later on? (Just kidding by the way - I know he wouldn't eat them, lol)
Thank goodness we have a flexible dog walker. OH was meant to be home before lunch time but got stuck out of town last minute for the full day. Our dog walker went to get Quinn with zero notice and is taking her on her errands so she has a good break in her day and they will go on a walk later. Phew!
You know what the internet's like, Jen, POIDH ("pics or it didn't happen" for those of you who don't spend much time online)
Paging @Emily_BabbelHund! I've got a couple of "out of curiosity" questions for you. I was talking to my mum about you and Brogan, and how you travelled around Europe and on planes etc, and the first thing she said was "that must have been expensive" and then "oh, she must have been in Business class, or in the door seats in Economy, because you can't fit a dog under plane seats." So question one: was there a cost for travelling with a service dog? Question two: did you have to sit in a certain part of the plane? Btw, my mum is French and was very interested to hear what you had to say about travelling with a big dog in Paris. "But there are dogs everywhere in Paris!" she says. And I relayed what you'd said about it being small-dog friendly, but definitely not for anything bigger. She's in France now and I've put her on dog-watch, I want to hear what her thoughts are on the friendliness of the French towards dogs (but she's in small-town France, so not the same).
It's been 26 degrees here for the past couple of days. In northern England this is a very rare occurance. And my little boo can't cope, he's just too hot. I'm going to buy him s paddling pool for the rest of the day (although we'll no doubt be back to rain tomorrow ). Any tips from those in the hot climates? He's all panty and unsettled, bless him!
I'm in the North too, and my dog is the same. I have all the windows open for a nice breeze, plenty of water down, and he's been enjoying the cool bathroom floor. It's going to start cooling down here though, with rain
I think it's a bit different for places that just get hot and stay hot - the increase in temperature is a gradual thing most often and the dogs have time to acclimatise. In the UK, it tends to be mild to HOT for a day or so and then back to good old dreary grey again. So no-one (dogs or humans) have much time to get used to it. It's been a bit of a shock for me and Luna coming from the moderate temperatures in the UK back to Spain - it's a lot hotter here than when we left! Wednesday was 33C and yesterday reached 38C. It's OK, though, because the house is cool, so we spend the day inside, have our long walk/running around/training in the early morning before it has a chance to heat up and then more of an amble at dusk when it's cooled down some. Evenings are still warmer than early morning, though. Obviously, they have access to fresh water at all times and they get frozen kongs, carrots and ice cubes regularly throughout the day. Willow LOVES the heat, and, on days she decides it's a sunbathing day, I often have to force her to come inside, because she'd happily bake in the sun. Shadow is a lot more sensible and at least hangs out in the shade when we're chilling outside. Luna runs hot, so I thought she'd struggle more, but she's actually doing just fine. I brought cool pads with me last year, but they don't use them most of the time. I slept on one one night when I was really uncomfortable. It was amazing for about 15 minutes, then it warmed up and I was just sleeping on rubber, which was disgustingly sweaty in about 15 seconds The best thing for them seems to be sleeping on tiled floors, so if you have carpets throughout the house but tiles in the bathroom, say, maybe let him chill out in there, as @SilverFalcon suggests.
Oh, a GREAT game, if you have a garden, is filling a balloon with water and then freezing it into a huge ice ball! You peel the rubber off and the plop it on the lawn for the dogs to chase. Mine adore that game. If you have a paddling pool, you can pop it in there, too, for loads of entertainment. Just be careful with pools, because they can be very slippery for dogs. The rigid ones with a rough bottom are better than the foldable ones - which dog claws rip through easily anyway.
Poor Stanners Less exercise, plenty of water, somewhere cool to rest (Ella usually lies on the kitchen floor). A pool will be really helpful but I've also used an old bath towel, run it under the tap and put down on the kitchen floor. Ella will choose to lie on it every time
We were just talking about this today as poor Ella seems to be getting a little chilly at night and our house hasn't been dropping below about 15 at night! The OH told her she should sleep outside for a night to toughen up
Thanks guys! We've got laminate downstairs and he's been lying on that. Lots of water and ice for him. It's just awful seeing him so uncomfortable, poor little sausage. He's been completely decrated so he can lie on the kitchen floor on a night. Just try and keep him cool as best I can
Don't forget to enjoy the calm behaviour that comes with the heat Ella loves to celebrate a cool change!
