Pickle / Petal

We are finding out that Pickle and Petal sound very similar to little dog’s ears, as two little heads turn everytime one or other is called. So Pickle is getting called her full name – Piccalilli as this seems to cause less confusion.  Pickle and Herbie are settling in well. They are both very well behaved and are easy to look after. It is nice having the two of them as we pop them away together if they are not being supervised and it is nice for Herbie to know that he is not alone.  I have started doing some swimming exercises with him. I hold onto him with just his legs in the water and he starts doing doggy paddle. However, he is quick to learn, and has caught onto the fact that he is not actually swimming, and now just rests there with his legs hanging in the water. I may need to dunk him in further, however he still has kennel cough and I don’t want to make that worse.

We are really pleased with Herbie’s progress. We have seen a marked difference in his walking. He is still wobbly, and his legs are obviously ill formed in some way. However he is not walking so stiff-legged and seems more fluid in his movements. I have been giving him some supplements, glucosamine, which other pet owners have recommended, so this, and the fact he can wander during the day, must help. We don’t know what his history was, and he could have been caged for a long time before he was taken to the pound, which is sadly common, and this may have caused some of his joint stiffness. The poor little chap appears also to have a flea allergy like Bob, and has been itching his side and made it raw. Although we’ve treated him for fleas, it takes a time for the rash to settle. We put a lampshade on Bob to stop him scratching at the rash, however it seems a little mean to do this to Herbie, seeing that being blind and deaf finding his way around without a lampshade stuck on his head is hard enough…

The weather has cooled again from a heat wave recently. It was HOT! We were on orange alert. I quite like the traffic light system. As to me, when it gets to a certain heat I can’t tell the difference between hot and super-hot, so as it does allow us to plan – for instance there’s no way we’d plan to go somewhere during the day when there’s an orange heat alert. We also have to make sure that there is plenty of shade for the animals.  It also helps to make sure we drink enough water. They say 3 litres a day when there is an alert. I notice that my hands and feet swell if I don’t drink enough water and keeping an eye on the alerts and water intake has helped no end.

Summer classes have started. I have 14 hours over four days, however this year I have smaller classes which means I need to do less preparation. I start at 10, which means that I can go for a cycle ride in the morning without it all being too rushed.