Summer Life

Since my last post we've been very busy travelling (sometimes with our dogs and sometimes without). 
The June heatwave has finished and yesterdays temperature of 34' C (93'F) has been replaced with a comparatively rather chilly 18'C (64'F). It's overcast and grey outside and rain showers are forecast; so it's back to a usual West Country Summer (the Glastonbury Festival has started so it's bound to rain this weekend even if it's not forecast).

My dogs are not too bothered by the heat and Buffy will often sit outside on a patio chair in the sunshine and after a while come inside and sit on the stairs. In the summer typically all our outside doors are open and the dogs can come and go as they please.

Bobbie (pictured below on Tuesday and who will be seventeen in September) alternates between lying on her soft memory foam bed and the tiled kitchen floor. I change their water on average three times a day during very hot weather.

Bobbie watching children dance

Bobbies arthritis continues to cause her mobility problems and she is on regular medication and supplements that help her (see my previous posts), but even so some days are worse than others and she struggles to lift her front paws high enough to get in the back door. Yet on a good day she will break into a run when she's out on our walks. She has become hard of hearing (I hesitate to say deaf) and so all walks are now on her long extender lead. Even though she is obviously stiff, if she sights (or scents) a rabbit, or an unwitting bird gets too close she will give chase and have every intention of trying to catch it. Border Terriers never lose the "chase" instinct however old they get.

Her intelligence spirit and character have not diminished with age and she is still a very loving attentive dog. I now count the days that we have left with her. I shouldn't, I know I shouldn't, but she is such a special dog and we all love her so dearly that I can't help fearing the day that we will lose her. I think as we lost Buster unexpectedly on 6th Jan 2016 to a stroke; which was very poignant as I'm a stroke survivor. It has made me even more aware of the fragility of life and we treasure every moment with our dogs and with each other. 

As a special treat Bobbie now sleeps at the end of our bed and hardly moves all night long. She has to be carried upstairs and carried back again downstairs. When the time for bed comes, she sits at the bottom of the stairs waiting without even attempting the climb. It's worth mentioning that if you carry your dog occasionally, you must always support their back legs. If you carry your dog with it's back legs unsupported you risk causing a back injury (especially in older dogs). 

Whilst it may read as if I'm overly fearful of losing her; I want to reassure you that the situation is that I'm a realist and that my focus is on appreciating her life and making sure she enjoys the rest of her days with us and us with her. 

Life is for living and a little pampering doesn't hurt.

Thanks for spending some time with me and my dogs. If you think this article is useful you can make a small donation to me here  Thank you for your support.

Cheers


Mike

Summer is Here!

At last some decent sunshine! My Border terriers love it, Buffy jumps up on any vacant garden chair even in the garage yard to grab some sunshine. Bobby is more "a get hot, go into the shade and then go out in the sun again" dog. All our doors are open during the summer and the dogs come and go as they please (although mostly this means they are never more than ten feet from me). I have two large water bowls for them around the house so where-ever they are they're never far from a drink. I change their water twice a day whether it's low or not to keep it fresh, as insects and dust can quickly taint it.

In the middle of June we went to Swansea for the day which offers a great coastal path walk under trees and has a beautiful dog and child friendly beach. This is Bobby having been in the sea watching the children run back. We normally go more often in the Spring, Autumn and Winter when the weather is cooler but this weekend it was cool but sunny; great dog weather and great children play weather.

At a recent three monthly check up our Vet found Bobby had a bit of arthritis in one of her back legs. I had been treating her for nearly two years with Cod Liver Oil supplements and half a powdered Glucosomine Sulphate tablet twice a week. Now she has the dog version of the same things and the jury is out on which is better. Bobby is Fifteen and a half (that half matters at her age). She is still bright and cheerful and loves swimming and chasing seagulls.

We don't take her on such long walks anymore and she seems none the worse for that. Buffy is now back to health after struggling for a long time with wheat & yeast allergies. Buffy is now on a fresh meat, rice and vegetable diet and on Alpoquel and is responding very well.

As it's summer in the UK now it can get warm very quickly so keep an eye on your dogs and if they are outside provide some shade. Also remember dogs and children left in cars even in the shade is dangerous! This is what the RSPCA say about dogs in hot cars.

Enjoy your day. If you think this article is useful you can make a small donation to me here  Thank you for your support.

Moving On . . .

I know it has been some time since my last post and that is for a number of reasons; but if I'm honest the main one has been not wanting to write about my dogs, because losing Buster was still so fresh and raw in my mind. I still miss him and I guess I always will but time as they say is a great healer.

People often ask me (especially soon after Buster passed) if my other dogs missed him or noticed that he was no longer there?

First I need to state the obvious that dogs are not human and they do not have human emotions; even if we sometimes transpose ours upon them. They do "read" our emotional state very well and respond to it with actions but they are not feeling what you and I feel.

Both Buffy and Bobby noticed a difference in that they were more attentive to doors opening and who may come through them, but after a few weeks that passed. They both sniffed around the gardens and Bobby took to having a wee under the bush that Buster used to use for the same purpose, so maybe she was drawn to his smell?

If Busters name comes up in conversation Bobby looks up and listens but Buffy does not. 

My conclusion from this is that Bobby has some concept of Buster and that he is no longer with us but that Buffy does not. Bobby and Buster grew up together and Buffy joined us when they were aged six and five respectively so that may explain that.

Life does go on and I have to say that I value my time with my dogs now even more than than I did before (and most people would say I was attentive to them before). Losing Buster within three days of him becoming unwell, has made me more aware of how fragile and precious life really is and how quickly things can change. Bobby is over fifteen now and Buffy is over ten.

Summer is here now and recently we've enjoyed a family day out at Swansea beach with children and Bobby and Buffy. This is Bobby below watching our girls running back.

If you have dogs make sure you treasure them and love them as they love you. You never know when they will be gone.

If you think this article is useful you can make a small donation to me here  Thank you for your support.