Wednesday 28 April 2010

What to do when it gets hot

You may have noticed that the ambient temperature has risen. We have at last crawled out of the long cold winter. This had meant that I have been able to go out running in shorts and tee shirt. It has also presented Harvey and me with the dilemma of how do we make sure he doesn’t get too hot! There are at least two aspects of this.


To start with, should I get Harvey a trim? Since he arrived at number 9, he has grown a second coat, which bunches up on his back like a Mohican hair cut. Underneath, there is a thick down, which means he will have to do a lot of panting to keep cool, especially when he is running – which incidentally is every day. Over the last week, I have been debating whether to go to a pooch parlour, I even booked him into a place at Aberlady, but something was stopping me. I like the ragamuffin look which Harvey has developed, he looks like just what he is – a scamp. The trim has been put on hold for the time being.

The other issue is leaving Harvey in the car. Over the last few months, this has been an ideal arrangement when I have been at work. One – Harvey is used to being in his cage in the car and doesn’t have a problem with it, and two, I can pop out to let him go to the loo, and take him for a walk at lunchtime. Now that the weather has improved, I am worried that the car will over heat. There are no good places in the car park to shelter the car in the shade, but I don’t want to leave him at home alone for long periods. I couldn’t work out what to do, so I convened a doggy support group with some colleagues who suggested I buy a silver backed car window shade. So, a quick trip to Halfords and I am now in possession of the shade and I also picked up a device which can be screwed into the ground and the dog lead (with dog) attached, ideal for camping. The shade worked very well today, which was intermittently hot. So hopefully, it will do the trick.

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