Monday 16 August 2021

W/C 9th August 2021

 

W/C 9th August 2021

Monday 9th August

Jay went back to work today after 2 weeks annual leave. Dembe and i have slipped back into our normal pre holiday routine. In fact we slipped into it a little too well and slept on a bit.

Dembe has a walk booked with Martin from Happy Dogs this morning which I am sure he will enjoy as he will be able to catch up with his Happy Dog mates. When Martin brought him back he told me he was limping intermittently whilst on the walk. I contacted Jay to discuss it and then Jay rang the vets and managed to get him booked in for an appointment for later on in the afternoon. Dembe is very cuddly and no limping seen in the house.

Dembe was taken to the vets at 16.15, he was weighed and is a whopping 36kg the heaviest he has ever weighed. During the last two weeks it seems his Labrador brain has finally been switched on and he is trying lots of new foods that he has previously ignored! So we no longer have such a fussy eater.

He was very well behaved in the vets but sadly they couldn’t replicate the limp. The vet has said that she can’t feel any swelling / heat or crepitus in any of the joints. So at the moment she is unconcerned and thinks that it is possibly a muscle strain. He is to be rested for a couple of days and started on some anti-inflammatory medication. We are to start that tomorrow.

Dembe is absolutely fine in himself, eating, drinking, jumping around and being the usual bouncy Labrador he is. So we aren’t too concerned. If his limp doesn’t resolve then he will need to have an x-ray and we will go from there. To ensure he rests I have cancelled his walk with Sophie from Creature Kind on Wednesday.

Tuesday 10th August

Today is the first day of Dembe’s medication. I mixed it in with his breakfast and he took it with no issues. That was a huge relief. We will be watching him closely for side effects such as sickness and diarrhoea, blood in his urine or stools. It is always terrifying for us when we start him on any kind of medication having one dog in the past have his kidneys destroyed due to medication and another who started passing blood in his urine just a few hours after a dose of medication. For the most part I like to try and treat the dogs as naturally as possible but sometimes that isn’t always necessary.

Dembe is quite content to just sleep a lot of today, he is always happiest when we are all home together. He is ensuring he is topped up with Daddy cuddles and he is following me around everywhere to the point where I have almost fallen over him on several occasions.

There is no noticeable difference in his behaviour now he has taken the first dose of medication which weirdly is a relief as had there have been I would have felt terribly guilty as it would have meant he had been in pain and unable to tell us.

Jay took Dembe out on the common for a short walk this afternoon and I stayed at home as we were waiting for a delivery. When Jay and Dembe got back to the carpark there was a Creature Kind van parked beside us. Dembe refused to get back into our car and kept running to the back of the creature kind van waiting to be let in. Jay had to practically carry him back to our car and load him in.

This evening Dembe decided to raid his toy box and pull out his smallest toy, Sam’s baby. This was given to Dembe when he was a tiny pup, by his biggest fan Sam. Dembe loves the tiny beany baby and will carry it around in his mouth very carefully.

Wednesday 11th August

Dembe had a short lead walk first thing this morning. Jay is on a late finish today so Dembe will get several lead walks and a short common walk before Jay leaves. Jay took Dembe to the common around 9.30am and as they got themselves ready for the walk Martin from Happy Dogs pulled alongside, they said a quick hello and then, Dembe and Jay went for their walk.

Day 2 of Dembe’s medication and again I have to say no difference at all in Dembe’s behaviour. So I am now left wondering was he in pain or is he in so much pain that the meds aren’t touching it. The mummy guilt with this pup is strong. Dembe is fine obviously! I just don’t think he was actually in pain. We shall see it is probably too early to tell.

In the afternoon I decided that I would paint the skirting board upstairs it is something I can do sat down. Of course for the first time ever Dembe managed to get the Frenchic Trim Paint in Parchment down his side as he lay on the landing whilst I was painting! Thankfully the paint came off with some soap and water even though it was dry by the time I found it. Mind you the colour was so close to his lightest fur colour it was quite well matched.

Whilst I was painting I gave Dembe a venison leg to chew on, he stripped it right down to the bones! He really enjoys a good chew. I got 10 venison legs for less than 20 quid and as they keep him quiet for an hour or more I see that as a bargain.

Thursday 12th August

We are up early today as we have a friend visiting. Dembe hasn’t seen V for ages so it will be interesting to see how he gets on with her. I am sure it will be fine as she loves dogs and she has know him since he was a tiny pup.

He was very excited when V arrived and leaping around all over the place. I got him a deer leg as I knew that he would be more interested in the deer leg than V. He stripped it clean within an hour but the action of chewing calmed him right down. As soon as the deer leg was stripped he was all over V sitting on her lap, licking her ears and generally demanding attention.

After V left Dembe was absolutely shattered as he hadn’t had his usual morning nap! It was only 30 minutes later and his dad came home for lunch and took Dembe around the block. It was a very quiet afternoon.

Dembe was starving hungry today as he was all out of sync with our early walk. He had his dinner at 4pm.

This was day three of his new medication, again no change in his behaviour. He has all the way through used his left leg to push off when getting up off the floor, I think he is left handed. There is no difference with how he is getting up to how he was getting up last week which was normal and no hesitancy. No limping at all around the house and his movement is fine.

Friday 13th August ( unlucky for some )

Day 4 of Dembe’s medication, again no massive changes in his behaviour nor any minor ones. He is still as cuddly as ever jumping around and acting like a loon.

This morning he had a walk with Martin from Happy Dogs. He said he would try and capture it on video if he saw Dembe limping but as he had 5 others dogs with him it might not be possible. When he brought Dembe back he said the limp was much less pronounced today and he thinks like we all do that it was possibly a muscle strain. He said he is only showing signs of a limp on uneven ground. Looking back Dembe had an episode of high energy and rough play on Sunday and came away from that with a graze on his leg. So perhaps that is what has caused his limp to flare up again?

Dembe came into the house when Martin dropped him off and then sat at the front door whilst it was wide open and I was chatting to Martin and never once tried to escape and charge out of the house. I would have never have got away with that with the Weimaraners. Mollie would have taken herself off on an adventure and would have rocked up 30 minutes later wondering what all the fuss was about. He amazes me constantly with what a well behaved boy he is.

He got in from his walk grabbed his carrot and gave it to em then he climbed on his favourite place on the sofa and fell asleep! The sign of a good walk.

Dembe and I went upstairs in the afternoon for a lie down. I managed to get some photos of him lying on my face which he what he always does when I have a migraine.

Dembe was ever so pleased to see his dad at 4pm when he finished. He was starving hungry again! He has a belly like a bottomless pit at the moment.

Sitting nicely in the kitchen as there was cheese!

Saturday 14th August

Today will be Jay’s second late finish of the week, can’t complain as he rarely is late on a Saturday. Today Dembe has a walk booked with Max from It’s A Dogs Life. He really does love his walk with Max and her dogs.

He was a bit huffy when Jay went to work as I think he thought he wasn’t going to get a nice long afternoon walk. So he went mental when Max’s van pulled up outside. He was really good with Max considering he can go months without seeing her. He was loving having a cuddle before they left and trotted off down the drive with her and jumped into the back of her van.

Photo Credit Maxine Pannell It’s A Dog’s Life
Photo Credit Maxine Pannell It’s A Dog’s Life
Photo Credit Maxine Pannell It’s A Dogs Life
Photo Credit Maxine Pannell It’s A Dog’s Life
Photo Credit Maxine Pannell It’s A Dog’s Life

Dembe had a fantastic time on his walk, no sign of a limp reported by Max. I asked her if he had been a good boy and she said “isn’t he always”. It always makes me burst with pride as he is such a very good boy and mixes so well with other dogs and humans.

When he came home Dembe was very hot, when they left it had been overcast and stuffy. Whilst out the skies had cleared and there was brilliant sunshine sending the temperature soaring. They had to find some shaded area’s to walk. Dembe was panting heavily so I took him outside and hosed him down with some tepid water and got his cool mat out. He was more than happy to lie on that and I also put the fan on.

Sunday 15th August

We have had a quiet day. Dembe woke up at 6am and Jay took him up the common whilst it was nice and cool. They came back up to bed and no one woke up until I stirred at 09.45am. Our longest ever lie on with Dembe! He was still fast asleep when I woke.

Today is just going to be Dembe cuddles and catching up on the usual household chores.

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