W/C 19th July 2021. HOT, HOT, HOT!

Monday 19th July

The UK is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave at the moment so it is important that all dogs walks are done in the coolest part of the day. Jay took Dembe out for an early lead walk before he went to work. Martin from Happy dogs picked Dembe up at around 9.30am. It was already quite warm so Martin walked the group in shaded areas, unfortunately that area didn’t have a good enough signal to do a Facebook live. When Dembe got home I hosed him down in the back garden. Martin told me what a very good boy he had been.

We had got up incredibly early ( for me and Dembe as we like a lie on, after Dembe has had his first walk of the day), we were up at 6.30am. Dembe was starving hungry straight off the bat which is unusual for him. He really isn’t the typical greedy Labrador and is an extremely fussy eater. It was so unusual I took a photo and sent it to Jay to prove to him Dembe was having an early breakfast.

I managed to get some sewing done today, whilst Dembe slept after his happy dogs walk. When I went to take some photos of my finished pieces Dembe couldn’t help but get involved in the process.

During this intense hot spell we are having at the moment Dembe has taken to lying on the patio flag stones in the shaded part of the back garden.

To help cool him off in the afternoon I filled up his paddling pool.

He enjoyed this immensely, he loves water and goes crazy when the hosepipe is out. As a result of his love of water and the heat at the moment we have bought Dembe a spinkle mat which is coming tomorrow.

Tuesday 20th July

It is as hot as Hades! When Jay walked Dembe on the common at 4am it was already 17 degrees centigrade.

I found two ticks on Dembe, one on the front of his chest and one in his armpit. He was a very good boy and let me remove both of them using the tick removing tool I bought from Amazon. He did however run up the stairs with his carrot after they were removed. It seems that he thinks we can’t get him when he runs up the stairs. Martin our dog trainer has said that is more a Golden retriever type of behaviour as they are sensitive souls.

My phone just refused to focus properly on the tick so this is the best I could do. Both ticks were of similar size. Both sites where the ticks were removed are lightly swollen so I shall keep an eye on them. Mollie our eldest Weimaraner was the same when she had ticks remove the skin would swell slightly where the tick had embedded itself.

Thankfully he did forgive us for removing the tick!

Dembe’s sprinkle mat arrived at around lunch time. We got it assembled quickly and put it outside for him to have a play with.

When the jets were on he refused to go anywhere near it. So I turned the jets off and he was more than happy to play in the water that had collected in the bottom. I turned the water back on to put the jets on whilst he was on the mat he was fine with that, thank goodness.

Dembe had lots of little walks to the shaded lane that is very close to our home. He took full of advantage of Jay being home and must’ve had about 6 walks today.

Here he is looking as gorgeous as ever!

Wednesday 21st July

Dembe woke up just before 6am, on waking I gave him a cuddle and discovered another tick on his chest near his front leg. He was very good boy and allowed me to remove it from him cleanly using the tool. We think he is picking up the ticks from the lane as it is used by Foxes and Hedgehogs. I have checked him all over several times today to ensure I haven’t missed any. I have gone online and ordered some rose geranium oil to apply to him before he goes for walks as this is supposed to be as effective as Deet at keeping the little critters away. For the minute I have used some peppermint oil on him to put them off as this is effective too.

His paddling pool needed cleaned and filled so we had a laugh with the hosepipe and the crazy dog again! He does love the water.

Due to the heat I cancelled Dembe’s walk with Sophie from Creature Kind, she had just emailed me to discuss the situation, she offered to take him out earlier but as Jay was on a late shift it wasn’t worth it. He was actually ok about not going out. The heat was so oppressive that he was quite happy to just have cuddles on the sofa with me.

Jay popped home at 5pm and gave Dembe a walk around the block, it was soooo hot. We hosed him off before the walk and then again when he came back. Dembe was more than happy for an early night and we were up in bed by 7pm.

Thursday 22nd July

It is still crazy hot! Dembe is having a very early walk on the common and then Jay will walk him in the shaded lane at Lunch time and then again when he gets home from work. It is too hot to have Dembe running around being a nutter, although to be honest he has slept most of this last week due to the heat and I don’t blame him.

This afternoon I took Dembe on to the shaded part of the patio and practised getting him to sit nicely with a huge bag of treats beside me. I also used the opportunity to give him a quick groom as the hair in the house at the moment is just bonkers. It has never been this bad ever! There are huge great rolls of hair appearing out from under furniture even though the house is vacuumed twice a day at the moment due to all the bloody hair! Honestly how he isn’t naked is beyond me.

I know I am biased but I really do think that he is such a handsome boy. I know every dog owner says that about their dogs but he is just gorgeous. I am utterly besotted with him as is his daddy.

Dembe is going absolutely crazy for Cottage cheese and petit filous deserts – both human foods, which he can have a little of sometimes. He loves the cottage cheese so much that I have been letting him have the last dregs in the tub. Until now he has never stuck his nose fully into a food container or carried it around. We laugh because Frankie our Weimaraner, who sadly passed away two weeks before Dembe came home with us used to do exactly the same. It is so sweet to see him doing stuff that the other dogs did. He makes us laugh when he races into the kitchen when he hears the Fridge open just like Willow used to. Willow was so bad if she heard a kitchen timer go off she would race you to the kitchen LOL!

Friday 23rd July

My goodness what a cuddly boy Dembe is being today, I cant bend down without being kissed and I can’t sit or lie down without being cuddled, brought a toy or kissed to death. He has managed to lick my eyeball 3 times today!

I had a lie down on the bed and he couldn’t get close enough to me for a cuddle.

It was slightly cooler this evening than it has been all week so Dembe was much more active. He wanted to get me lots of toys out and have me play with him for ages. I don’t mind as it was lovely to see him more comfortable rather than struggling with the heat.

After having a massive play session he then crashed on the lounge floor and went to sleep!

Sorry this week has been a bit shorter than normal. We are having a new boiler fitted on Monday so we have been getting the house ready. We will be doing the final prep on Sunday which would be my normal day for writing up his diary, hence why it has been done earlier. Hopefully it will go smoothly.

The next two weeks Jay is on holiday so I shall be taking a two week break from Dembe’s Diary and will catch you up August 9th 2021.