A Beautiful Spring Week

Lug worming at low tide

What a lovely week!  Mortimer back to full health, warm sunshine and low tide for the morning walk. Perfect. We hope that you all enjoyed this taste of Summer although we did think that the bikini clad swimmers were a little adventurous on Saturday in Eastbourne!

Spring Fever!

Drying Off

Looking for Trouble!

A Perfect Sunday

All three of us had a good night's sleep and woke up to a perfect morning. Mortimer seemed a lot better and we had a leisurely morning stroll around the marina.

In the afternoon I decided to do a little spring tidying in the garden. Mortimer was so helpful, inspecting everything that went in the green recycling bag and making sure that I hadn't added anything untoward. He also decided that the sitting room needed a little greenery and carefully selected a suitable pot from the garden and took it indoors for me. At which point he decided that he really didn't like it and reduced it to shreds!

Low tide was at about 6 p.m. and everyone seemed to be out walking on the beach. Mortimer loves it when all the sand is exposed and charged about chasing seagulls and investigating the rock pools. By the end of the day he seemed to be fully recovered! 

A Long Night

It was all going so well until we settled down for the evening at about 8 p.m. Mortimer usually joins us in the sitting room and falls asleep, in fact we usually have to wake him up for his late night walk. Not last night. He paced. And he paced. Upstairs & downstairs he just wouldn't settle and then he started panting. Not the usual "it's too hot in here" sort but short and sharp, it was very distressing. We started to wonder how much Advocate he had really swallowed and if it was the cause of this. A quick internet search revealed that this was a distinct possibility and when the trembling started it was a quick call into the vet who wanted to see him straight away. 
I hate taking animals to the vets like this - gone are the cheerful nurses and the chats with other owners in the waiting room. The practice nurse was waiting by the front door and we were taken straight in to the consulting room. Small talk was forgotten and we responded to a staccato firing of questions. We were lucky that our vet had done some research while we were on our way and, although unpleasant, there should be no permanent damage. Nevertheless Mortimer was kept in overnight with an I.V. drip and glucose feed.

When we collected him this morning he was looking very sorry for himself with a bandage on his leg which had held the catheter and a very unpleasant dribbly chin! But the tail wagged and he seemed pleased to see us. We were allowed to bring him home as long as we monitored him for the next 24 hours. Not difficult when he collapsed into a big snoring heap! Of course it's OK for him - but we're still sleep deprived and caffeine overloaded! Roll on bedtime!

Monster Dog twice over

A quick trip to the vets this morning for a puppy check up & sort out a slight eye infection. He weighed in at 31.2 kgs. In old money that's approximately 68llbs or nearly 5 stone! But this is a good weight for him and he's not carrying any excess.
He quite likes a visit to the vet as usually there are some new dogs to play with and always a treat or two. He even obliged with a doggy paw-shake (don't blame us - the vet started it!).

We left him for an hour while we hit the supermarket and came back to a scene of devastation - the six month supply of Advocate that we had left on the worktop was scattered around the floor. Fortunately only one vial was pierced and as he was due another dose it was hastily applied. Whatever possessed him to try these we have no idea! Monster Dog!  

Goodbye to Mac

Last night we received some sad news hearing that one of Mortimer's friends died. Mac the Scotty had reached the grand old age of 13 and was a character to the end. Only a few weeks ago he was minding his own business on the beach, intent on the trail of  an enticing smell. Mortimer came bounding along and rolled him over. Mac just got up, shook the sand off and carried on.  If you need a canine cuddle C. then Mortimer will oblige.

Introducing Mortimer

So my New Year's Resolution took some time coming through but at last I have my dog-blog. We've had Mortimer since October when he was four months old, and smaller. Much smaller. Everyone said "Look at the size of his feet - he'll be a big dog" and boy were they right. We thought he'd stopped growing in January but there seems to be  spring growth spurt and his head now rests conveniently at table height.