Beyond Adolescence - part 4

[SpanielsGalore]

Didn't realise we were that close to the end of part 3. 😂

I took him up the back alleyway when it was in the shade at around 4pm because he was going mad from needing the toilet! I can’t believe how warm and humid it is today. I went out at tea time and bought him a cooling mat and a sprinkler mat you attach to the hose so that will be him and DD’s activity tomorrow sorted 😄

Hope everyone has cool plans today and doggies are okay in the heat for those of us in the south?

I have to take Twatdog to the vet (11:00 appointment) as the spot under his nose has grown. It’s not even a spot more a red but of skin but he’s a Golden so I am being cautious. Do worry about the wanker.

'Only' 33 here yesterday but the temp dropped really slowly, so it only got down to 21.5 at 6am this morning before heating up again. Humidity was 85% too so even at that time is was a bit warm for much of a walk.

Drove the OH to work so I could enjoy an air conditioned car for an hour. Ended up having to carry big pup into the house as she wanted to get out the car and go for another walk and wouldn't budge!

Forecast now isn't cooling until over the weekend. We're going swimming with the dogs at an open water place on Sunday so they should at least get some decent exercise then.

@YorkshireFelix I was looking at those mats yesterday. You'll have to let me know how V gets on with it. Not that I need one anymore. One day of sun seems to be our limit.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks The pink patch is very strange. It's definitely spreading. Hope you get on at the vets OK. Let us know what they say.

@tizwozliz I think 85% humidity is worse than 33° heat.

Only 17° here today, so we'll be walking as normal.

I was actually reading an article yesterday that was saying early morning walks aren't always better because the humidity tends to be higher and that's more of an issue for dogs than the temp. So in some cases walking at e.g. 8am when it's a couple of degrees warmer is better than 6am when it's a lower temp but higher humidity.

@tizwozliz That's interesting. People hardly ever take humidity into account. I often check my weather station before hanging the washing out.
I used to work with someone who had a holiday home in Spain. She hated it as the humidity was 95%. She said her hair was always wet and the washing never dried.

I was just about to walk the dogs, when my neighbour turned up to help me in the garden. It's now (allegedly) 17° with 73% humidity. But the dogs are all coming in from the garden panting, so we'll wait until later now.

@tizwozliz that is interesting about the humidity and makes sense. Heat is always so much worse when it’s humid. It could 20 degrees but feel much warmer than that. I had a look at the humidity forecast just this morning actually and was surprised to see it was far more humid at 6am than it is now. And my breathing feels back to normal whereas I was struggling this morning. I didn’t think that would be the case!

When I lived in the states you couldn't dry washing outside in the summer as it was too humid.

Absolutely no sense here when it comes to hot weather. Patio doors closed today to keep the heat out, I thought she'd barked to go out for a wee!

Dog keeps wanting to go outside as well, and then will sit in the sun, before finding a sunny spot. Or he gives us his ‘let’s play ball’ face. He’s very restless and can’t seem to settle. Quite sweet at times, because he’ll come looking for us.

That’s interesting about humidity.There was a Facebook rant yesterday about people walking the dogs when it was hot. The time, 9pm!

We’ve had these cooling mats as well, but Dog has pierced the skin and the gel has oozed out (although I’ve since been told the gel
is safe for dogs, but check this).

sending positive vibes to Twstdog. Hope it’s all benign.

According to Apple weather, currently 33 here!

@tizwozliz & @Silverbirchleaf mine definitely isn’t in to sunbathing! He’s mainly lying around sleeping, on his cool mat or in front of the fan. Occasionally he will sit next to me lightly panting hot breath in my direction and his facial expression seems to say “please, make it stop”

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I hope TD is ok, and the vet knows what it is!

Forgot to add the pic

Rory actually slept downstairs last night. It was 23° downstairs and 28° in our bedroom 😵. He’s been at day care today and they’ve been playing in water so hopefully he’s kept t nice and cool. He’s not a sunbather either, he likes the shady spot under the outdoor table.

Cute. He definitely looks a bit hot and bothered.

I could not got the massive wanky twat in the car yesterday. Think it was too hot for him. So I ended up sending them photos of his little pink patch. They've not come back but I'll give them a ring tomorrow if they haven't and possibly book him in then.

We've had our doors and windows open on the side of the house that doesn't get the sun in the morning and then shut them about 10:30 for the last few days. Seems to do the job. It was so hot last night though, even at 21:00 when I went out it was warmer outside than in the house. There is a really lovely breeze at the moment now though. Windy enough that the parasol is wobbling dangerously😍 Hopefully it stays.

Absolutely love the heat when there is a nice breeze, but same as everyone else - yesterday felt very muggy and humid. One of my (quite frankly bananas) colleagues went into one of the CS officies yesterday because it has Air Con. It broke at midday so she had to go home in peak heat and on the train😵

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Phew! I was beginning to worry no news was bad news. Silly TD. Perhaps he heard you talking and knew where you were taking him.
What's he like with your DH's car?

Someone started a thread yesterday about their colleagues going into the office and get stuck, because of delays with public transport. Did you see it? She was very mean gloating about it.

I have no idea how hot it is up here. Does anyone else have massive differences between in shade and in sun? My phone insisted it was 19° all day yesterday. At 7:30pm, I put my weather station outside in the sun and it went up to 32°.
Currently phone says 16° with rain due this afternoon. Weather station in the sun said 32° and now in the shade 24°.
All I know is it's hot and the dogs are panting after a few minutes of pottering in the garden. Fortunately the downstairs of my house stays cool

P is no better yet. Annoyingly her low fat food hasn't arrived. Order before 1pm and it's next day delivery. Apparently ordering after 1pm, it takes at least three days.
K is struggling in the heat. The extra weight probably isn't helping. NDN says she only gave her one gravy bone yesterday, which doesn't explain the half an apple she brought back after a visit.
N is pottering around as usual. Her mobility has declined a lot in the last few weeks, so she's no longer able to go for walks.

My garden is looking a lot tidier. I think my neighbour got fed up of looking at the mess over the wall. 😂 Bless him. He's in his 70s. He appears at the garden gate, with his tools and a mission. I don't know how he does it. I ache for days afterwards. It does make me feel very guilty, but I must admit it's nice having the garden tidied up. He thinks we should tackle the stoned area next. I think I am in for a lot of back ache.

@SpanielsGalore literally as soon as I pressed 'post' the vets rang. They're not hugely worried about it as it doesn't look horrible - but they are concerned by the rate of growth and the isolation of that growth (i.e. if it was dermatitis it should have spread more widely not as a 'circle'). They said I could either leave it a few more weeks, they could give him steroids, or I could take him in for it to be cut off.

Obviously I opted for the 'cut off' bit. So that's happening next Thursday! They're going to meet me in the car and sedate him, then find someone strong (I hope) to carry him into the surgery.

DH's car is also a no-go. Plus DH doesn't have the softness to try and manage him when he gets wanky - he just gets annoyed and says 'fine' and takes him back into the house 😂At least I try!!!

I did see that! I thought it was in very bad taste. Some people (including my team even though I told them not to) went in because of the presenteeism thing. It's hard to get out of that mindset that being in the office makes you more visible and a better 'worker' that a lot of people have. I rather got the impression OP thought her colleagues were brown-nosers whereas I took it more as they were worried about how it might look!

Sounds like your girls are coping fairly well in the heat all things considered - I imagine in Scotland you don't get the hotter temperatures as much as we do. Are you still able to give K and P short walks? Sorry to hear about N, hopefully it's just the heat and like Satan/Hen she'll perk up in winter.

Is the NDN feeding K the gardening one?😀Perhaps K thinks that bits of earth being flung around are treats because she's used to getting them from him and so she's gobbling that?

Perhaps you could offer to be in charge of coffee and tea whilst NDN gardens? That seems like a valuable contribution?

Both my dh and ds were due in the office today, but opted to stay at home, thank goodness. The trains and tubes are all up the spout.

We’ve just had a new hosepipe ban announced! Officially starts on 3rd July but they want us to start now. I think it was July last year when the previous one started, and lasted into this year.

According to Apple weather, going be 33 again tomorrow!

On the plus side, lovely to get my high summer clothes out. I do love a summer maxi dress.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Poor TD. That looks to be a difficult an sensitive spot to cut into. Hope it goes well and it's nothing sinister. (I'm assuming you'll have it tested.)

I can understand people being worried about how it looks in your office. Is the big shake up and job cuts still in process?

We didn't walk at all yesterday, as they were all panting after two minutes in the garden. I think going from needing the heating on to sweltering over night hasn't helped. They've had no time to acclimatise.
On Tuesday I walked the cockers down the sea front and took K to the woods later in the day. I wish I hadn't. She was very quiet, barely ran or left my side and I ended up worrying there was something wrong with her. 🤦‍♀️

NDNs are a married couple. The wife feeds the dogs and the husband does my gardening. I have been supplying iced water. But when it was cooler, the wife brought us both cups of tea out.
I keep saying I am going to higher the wall to stop K jumping over, but they enjoy her visits. Their 4 year old cat died very suddenly a few years ago. He was heartbroken and refuses to get another pet. So K is a pet substitute for them.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Forgot to say, good luck for next Thursday.

@Silverbirchleaf I love a summer maxi dress. Unfortunately I struggle to find ones short enough for me. Even the petite ranges are often a bit too long.

Does anyone else have a lunchtime ‘bewitching’ hour. Dog seems to come alive and wants to do stuff. I’ve just been hiding a ball for him to find, and now he has a lickimat. I’ve got (an own brand) rocket ice lolly.

Thankfully where I work they are very laid back about working from home. Technically, we are supposed to be in the office three days a week but practically, it’s down to each line manager to enforce it. My manager is located on the continent so he doesn’t give a stuff where I work from and I have three working for me and don’t ever force them in to the office. In the past, I will say I’m going in (if I am) if they want to join but no pressure. Two of them live over two hours away! I’ve been in to the office once since I got Pablo a year ago.

We are off to the vets shortly for his yearly jabs. I was thinking of postponing due to the heat but I need to get flea & worm stuff so may as well go. Will weigh him when I’m there if anyone wants to take bets.

@Silverbirchleaf not mine he is equally lazy at all times of day 😂

@Silverbirchleaf thank you! Sure he'll be fine. I just worry about him.

Where do you get your maxi dresses? I always struggle to get one that fits just right - they always make me look a bit 'booby' 😫

@SpanielsGalore yep! Definitely going to have it tested.

There is a part of me wondering whether it is an allergy to something. His biscuits from Lily's Kitchen look slightly different this time and I'm wondering if they changed the recipe and that's what's caused it...

Yep! At some of the grades it's looking like 50% cuts. Overall reduction is expected to be between 30-40% of staff. Which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact most of the other Civil Service departments also have hiring freezes or and/or are facing mass redundancies as well. I've heard rumours that at DHSC the cuts might be as high as 60% headcount. So people know that chances of getting another CS job are very slim.😑

Maybe K was a bit hot on Tuesday? I can completely see how going from it being cold enough for heating to this sort of temperature is a challenge though!

Oh bless them! Yes they probably miss having a little friend around. And K is very lovely...

@VanGoSunflowers I don't suppose wherever you work is hiring? One day in the office in a year sounds like a dream😍How did it go at the vets? How heavy is he now?

Hope everyone has a slightly cooler day today. We went out this morning, but only did 25 minutes as even at 6AM it was too hot really for the dogs. I was dripping in sweat by the time we came home - there a literal river lines down my back.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks they’re always hiring 😂
The vets went fine, air conditioned car journey there, parked right outside and inside was air conditioned. Pablo is still hovering around 28kgs as he was about three months ago. The vet said he’s the perfect weight. I didn’t get a lecture on castration this time! He was a little nervous and had to rest his paws on my shoulder and bury his face in my neck while they gave him his jab.

Hope you get to the bottom of TD’s face invader!

@VanGoSunflowers 10kg lighter than Twatdog! Pablo always looks so healthy in the photos you share of him though so it must be nice to hear the vet say he's a good weight! Nice for the vet as well given how many chubby dogs there are...

Bless Pablo though for being so worried! I suppose at least you can get him in the door...the vet has to come out to my car to sedate Wanky Features before he will even go in.

I bet he absolutely loved the air-con though. I am really considering getting some for the house. I'm sure it's because I have so many dogs, but the house gets insanely hot. It got up to 31 yesterday inside and that was with all the doors and windows shut, fans on and blinds drawn.