Having a heat-wave...............

It's all or nothing here isn't it, one minute it's raining and cold and the next the hottest temperatures for years!

But what would we have to talk about if not the weather.............

Oft times I have been known to buck the trend and I leave it to you to decide whether this is one of them.

The sun may be great for us humans and mostly we have the option if we want to be out in it or not, but for dogs it's a different matter.  I've lost count of the number of people I've seen walking their dogs at mid-day, usually the owners are wearing skimpy shorts and T-shirt complete with baseball cap and the requisite bottle of water - their canine companions however don't seem to fair quite so well.  I'm also sure that the owners don't do these things intentionally but I wish they would consider how they would feel if they had to walk around in a fur coat in the mid-day sun!  I don't imagine many of them would volunteer!!

Here are my thoughts for those days when it's too hot to think......

Don't walk the dog from 10am-4pm or if you have no choice at least ensure it's somewhere shady & cool

Don't think that not taking the dog for a walk is cruel - given the choice I'm pretty sure they would opt to stay at home

Take water with you, not just for you, for the dog too - there are any number of handy water carriers made especially for dogs.  I have a bottle that screws into a lid inside a small rectangular bowl which clips easily onto my trouser/shorts tab.  It's not a huge amount but it's enough to give on a short walk and is usually gratefully received.

Shorten the walk 

Go home if the dog becomes distressed - they can't tell you, be aware of how they're doing

Don't play games with them, it's no fun for them chasing a ball in 90 degrees while you sit in the shade - and as we know, not many dogs are sensible enough to ignore a game.

and NEVER leave a dog in a vehicle, even if it is in the shade with the windows open.  Temperatures can rise extremely quickly causing the dog a great deal of distress and in the worst case scenario, death.

but to end on a happy note (& I so wish I had a picture of this but sadly I don't, so will just have to post a pic or Roco with Lola).

Their owner contacted me one day during the hot weather to discuss walking the little guys earlier as they don't do well in the heat  and ended by saying it had been so hot the day before that she'd had to soak Roco's ears in a saucepan of cold water!!

What I would have given to see that - Roco is the cutest Daschund and I can just imagine his ears floating!!

Anyway enjoy the sun, but please remember our four legged friends..............

Meet Harley.............

It's a while since I've had a GSD pup myself but I had a great time last weekend looking after Harley, he's under a year but growing into his feet and ears!

This time around I started to notice a lot of GSD traits coming to the fore, he leans, talks and flings his paws around at a rate of knots.  He's also very strong and going to be big I think, already he's as tall as many fully grown Shepherds, made me very nostalgic and we had a lot of fun.

He loves his tennis balls and managed to hide them frequently,  much to my consternation and his amusement.  He obviously thought I was the weekend's entertainment, after all who else but someone he's looking after would routinely get down on all fours to peer under the latest surface he'd hidden them under and then go to great lengths to retrieve them!

He also managed to steal my shoe when I wasn't looking and walked very proudly into the garden with it before hiding it in the corner and then sitting down as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

As you can see from the first picture, he's a bit of a clown and very entertaining, he really only has to hop over the child gate to get into the living room but to his credit, didn't try it once.

'Shoe what shoe'???