My last post with its tongue in cheek look at the virtues or otherwise of buying expensive dog food in Strange Dogs Dinner, I want to look at walking the dogs in the heat of August in Southern Spain!
As you can imagine, daytime temperatures climb fast by mid morning to the low 30s (centigrade) and by midday they're up to almost 40. Well they stay like that for most of the afternoon and don't start to drop until late evening as the sun goes down.
So when do we walk the dogs?
Early in the morning and late in the evening when its still relatively cool!
This is mainly because its not just us poor humans that suffer in the heat, but so do the dogs. For one, the pavements are so hot later in the day that they will burn the pads on your poor dog's feet which is not very nice. Remember that while you may have your feet protected by sandals or whatever, they don't!
For another the air temperature is very hot and dry and both humans and dogs will dehydrate very quickly in the heat of the day. So its always best to avoid the heat of the day and walk the dogs when its cooler. Oh, and never leave your dog in a car during the day - see my article about this at Hot Dogs.
My favourite time is very early in the morning before the sun (and every other person) rises. Its cool, peaceful and very calming walking through semi-dark, deserted streets with Ronnie (Daisy won't get out of her bed so early) and its a good time to just enjoy the solitude.
Who said walking the dog had to be hard work?
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
What Are You Looking At?
Ronnie stares out the camera - and wins!
Sunday 10 August 2008
Saturday 12 July 2008
Strange Dogs Dinner
After writing about More Kong Toys for Dogs, in my last post I want to get back to grass roots here and talk about dogs. Not any old dogs in general, but my two in particular.
Ronnie and Daise are the two little Yorkies in question and this is what happens when their dozy owner is not on the ball.
Breakfast time arrives as it does every morning, which is the reason for the title of this post, by the way. We eat first then the dogs get theirs - the proper way to ensure that the humans rank higher in the pack than the dogs. So we have some nice stuff for the little darlings by way of a change as Jan went out and bough some of those expensive little tubs of the same gunk you can get in a tin for a third of the price, but it says on the packet its for small dogs, so that what they're having for their breakfast this morning.
I may have posted on my ways of dealing with fussy dogs that won't eat their food, so this morning was no different. Down went the bowls onto the kitchen floor, along came two inquisitive noses sniffing the delicasies that awaited their hungry bellies.
One sideways glance at the food, then both look up at me in unison as if to say "...and this is?" and they turn around and walk off leaving the food for the ants which will inevitably come in a bout an hour...
Not happy with this, some coaxing is needed and I manage to get Daisy to eat hers. Now this doesn't often happen, as its usually the very strange dog Ronnie who nearly always eats his food, him being not quite pedigree having something to do with it no doubt. But this morning Ronnie watched Daisy eat her food from a safe distance, not moving.
This is the point where I took my eye off the ball...
When I turned back I saw Daisy polishing off Ronnies breakfast too and with a grin and a wave of her behind, she was off to sleep of fthe unexpected feast.
After calling Ronnie a silly boy for letting her eat his food I gave up and was at least thankful that the bowls could be cleaned up before the ants got a whiff of the aroma and came in single file to see what was on offer today.
After settling down with a nice cup of tea (there is still some English left in me, not much, but enough for me to still enjoy drinking tea)... Well Daisy wakes up prematurely from her snooze and bolts for the cat flap onto the balcony where she throws up Ronnies half of breakfast.
Oh nice.
Guess who had to go clean that up? Mmm.
An hour later, I'm back to work on the computer in the home office with Daisy in her usual place in her bed under the desk when up she gets and throws up her half of breakfast at my feet.
Oh Joy.
More cleaning up and this one will not wait!
The moral of the story - if you're of a mind to go and waste money buying those little tubs of dog food for your little darlings, don't bother. They will just reward your kindness with some well placed dog-sick that you will have to clean up so it might as well have been the cheap stuff...
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Ronnie and Daise are the two little Yorkies in question and this is what happens when their dozy owner is not on the ball.
Breakfast time arrives as it does every morning, which is the reason for the title of this post, by the way. We eat first then the dogs get theirs - the proper way to ensure that the humans rank higher in the pack than the dogs. So we have some nice stuff for the little darlings by way of a change as Jan went out and bough some of those expensive little tubs of the same gunk you can get in a tin for a third of the price, but it says on the packet its for small dogs, so that what they're having for their breakfast this morning.
I may have posted on my ways of dealing with fussy dogs that won't eat their food, so this morning was no different. Down went the bowls onto the kitchen floor, along came two inquisitive noses sniffing the delicasies that awaited their hungry bellies.
One sideways glance at the food, then both look up at me in unison as if to say "...and this is?" and they turn around and walk off leaving the food for the ants which will inevitably come in a bout an hour...
Not happy with this, some coaxing is needed and I manage to get Daisy to eat hers. Now this doesn't often happen, as its usually the very strange dog Ronnie who nearly always eats his food, him being not quite pedigree having something to do with it no doubt. But this morning Ronnie watched Daisy eat her food from a safe distance, not moving.
This is the point where I took my eye off the ball...
When I turned back I saw Daisy polishing off Ronnies breakfast too and with a grin and a wave of her behind, she was off to sleep of fthe unexpected feast.
After calling Ronnie a silly boy for letting her eat his food I gave up and was at least thankful that the bowls could be cleaned up before the ants got a whiff of the aroma and came in single file to see what was on offer today.
After settling down with a nice cup of tea (there is still some English left in me, not much, but enough for me to still enjoy drinking tea)... Well Daisy wakes up prematurely from her snooze and bolts for the cat flap onto the balcony where she throws up Ronnies half of breakfast.
Oh nice.
Guess who had to go clean that up? Mmm.
An hour later, I'm back to work on the computer in the home office with Daisy in her usual place in her bed under the desk when up she gets and throws up her half of breakfast at my feet.
Oh Joy.
More cleaning up and this one will not wait!
The moral of the story - if you're of a mind to go and waste money buying those little tubs of dog food for your little darlings, don't bother. They will just reward your kindness with some well placed dog-sick that you will have to clean up so it might as well have been the cheap stuff...
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Friday 20 June 2008
More Kong Toys for Dogs
In my last post Kong Toys For Dogs, I went through some of the reasons those Kong Toys for Dogs were driving me to distraction with Ronnie the strange dog chasing his Kong all over the room and just not letting up!
Well a week or so has passed by and... ha! If you thought I was going to say that Ronnie was still playing with that damn toy well that would make him some kind of super-dog or the strange dog that never sleeps or even the crazy Yorkshire Terrier strange dog who's so hooked on his Kong dog toy that he forgot to sleep, eat or anything else for over a week!
Ok, that didn't happen and Ronnie did actuall take time off to sleep, as well as all the other things that even strange dogs need to do throughout their hectic daily schedules!
But that doesn't mean he's forgotten his new favourite toy. Oh no!
It has become a bit of a saga we could entitle "Strange Dog Ronnie and Case of the Kong Dog Toys For Small Dogs That Robbed Him of His Sleep" because he still gets the thing out of his toy basket and wants to play non-stop for hours on end! Luckily, right now he's decided to take a nap as even his energetic little frame has to rest sometime. But I can see the cogs turning in his little brain as he builds up new reserves of energy to be expended chasing that crazy Kong dog toy all over the house the second he wakes up!
So I've taken to playing my own little game with him.
While he's been snoozing I stole the Kong dog toy that he was gusrding and hid it under a pile of cushions on the other sofa. I wonder how long it will take him to realise the toy is missing from its last known position, then to sniff it out and find it again!
Well, he can't have all the fun, can he?
Ronnie is such a strange dog, after all!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Well a week or so has passed by and... ha! If you thought I was going to say that Ronnie was still playing with that damn toy well that would make him some kind of super-dog or the strange dog that never sleeps or even the crazy Yorkshire Terrier strange dog who's so hooked on his Kong dog toy that he forgot to sleep, eat or anything else for over a week!
Ok, that didn't happen and Ronnie did actuall take time off to sleep, as well as all the other things that even strange dogs need to do throughout their hectic daily schedules!
But that doesn't mean he's forgotten his new favourite toy. Oh no!
It has become a bit of a saga we could entitle "Strange Dog Ronnie and Case of the Kong Dog Toys For Small Dogs That Robbed Him of His Sleep" because he still gets the thing out of his toy basket and wants to play non-stop for hours on end! Luckily, right now he's decided to take a nap as even his energetic little frame has to rest sometime. But I can see the cogs turning in his little brain as he builds up new reserves of energy to be expended chasing that crazy Kong dog toy all over the house the second he wakes up!
So I've taken to playing my own little game with him.
While he's been snoozing I stole the Kong dog toy that he was gusrding and hid it under a pile of cushions on the other sofa. I wonder how long it will take him to realise the toy is missing from its last known position, then to sniff it out and find it again!
Well, he can't have all the fun, can he?
Ronnie is such a strange dog, after all!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Monday 9 June 2008
Kong Toys For Dogs
Kong toys for dogs are driving me nuts!
Well after the photo shoot of those two with their Summer Haircuts for Strange Dogs in my last post, I thought I'd mention one of the toys that drives Ronnie the strange dog into a frenzy.
Its that little red funny shaped contraption that makes up on of the fascinating range of Kong toys for dogs. This isn't going to be a review or sale pitch or anything, I'll leave that sort of thing to other dog oriented blogs. So really this is just a post that was prompted by a game Ronnie was playing a while ago and it started out as a lot of fun but them became more frustrating as it went on.
You see, Ronnie loves to chase things that you throw for him.
It doesn't matter if its a ball or a soft toy or a chewy stick. If you throw it for him, he'll chase it across the room them bring it back for you to throw again - sometines after a minor tug of war which is all part of the game.
But this game included the Kong dog toy we bought him a while ago. That toy is not a ball as such more like a hollow rubber half rugby ball shaped thing that is practically indestructable. Which is necessary with Ronnie, because he might be small but he's a destructive little terror when it comes to balls and soft toys.
Anyway, the kong came out of the toy basket (yes, we have one of those!) and got duly tossed across the room. Unlike a ball, the Kong dog toy bounces and jumps all over the room in all directions meaning Ronnie was chasing it in all directions. Well that was ok for a while until it started bouncing down the stairs.
Well that was funny for a while because it kept bouncing first down a few steps then up a couple and down a few more etc...
Ronnie was going crazy because he couldn't catch it and Daisy, not to be left out of the game stayed at the top of the stairs and yapped her pretty litlle head off! Well it was pandemonim before too long with Ronnie joining in the barking and Daisy running up and down the stairs to try to catch the Kong dog toy as well! They were making so much racket between them it was nearly a case of calling for the dog rescue people to come and take them away! Only joking!
I joined in and managed to catch it and throw it back up teh stairs again and off the game went once more...
I tell you, if you want to have a lot of fun with your dogs, get one of these things for them. Its the original from the range of Kong toys for dogs and comes in different sizes to siut all sizes of dog. Great fun!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Well after the photo shoot of those two with their Summer Haircuts for Strange Dogs in my last post, I thought I'd mention one of the toys that drives Ronnie the strange dog into a frenzy.
Its that little red funny shaped contraption that makes up on of the fascinating range of Kong toys for dogs. This isn't going to be a review or sale pitch or anything, I'll leave that sort of thing to other dog oriented blogs. So really this is just a post that was prompted by a game Ronnie was playing a while ago and it started out as a lot of fun but them became more frustrating as it went on.
You see, Ronnie loves to chase things that you throw for him.
It doesn't matter if its a ball or a soft toy or a chewy stick. If you throw it for him, he'll chase it across the room them bring it back for you to throw again - sometines after a minor tug of war which is all part of the game.
But this game included the Kong dog toy we bought him a while ago. That toy is not a ball as such more like a hollow rubber half rugby ball shaped thing that is practically indestructable. Which is necessary with Ronnie, because he might be small but he's a destructive little terror when it comes to balls and soft toys.
Anyway, the kong came out of the toy basket (yes, we have one of those!) and got duly tossed across the room. Unlike a ball, the Kong dog toy bounces and jumps all over the room in all directions meaning Ronnie was chasing it in all directions. Well that was ok for a while until it started bouncing down the stairs.
Well that was funny for a while because it kept bouncing first down a few steps then up a couple and down a few more etc...
Ronnie was going crazy because he couldn't catch it and Daisy, not to be left out of the game stayed at the top of the stairs and yapped her pretty litlle head off! Well it was pandemonim before too long with Ronnie joining in the barking and Daisy running up and down the stairs to try to catch the Kong dog toy as well! They were making so much racket between them it was nearly a case of calling for the dog rescue people to come and take them away! Only joking!
I joined in and managed to catch it and throw it back up teh stairs again and off the game went once more...
I tell you, if you want to have a lot of fun with your dogs, get one of these things for them. Its the original from the range of Kong toys for dogs and comes in different sizes to siut all sizes of dog. Great fun!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Saturday 31 May 2008
Summer Haircuts for Strange Dogs
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Well with summer on its way, these two scruff bags have been transformed into two competely different looking dogs!Hard to believe they're Yorkies anymore - in fact Ronnie the strange dog looks more like a miniature Doberman than a Yorkie!
Daisy is embarassed by her new haircut and prefers to peek out at the camera over her fluffy cushion, which she loves to sleep on, except now she prefers to sleep behind it so no one can see her!
Ronnie on the other hand couldn't care two hoots about how he looks, he's just happy to be cool again. Although the lack of fur does make his ears look far too big for his head!
So now he's not only a strange dog by nature, he's also a strange dog to look at, at least until some of that fur grows back again!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Friday 25 April 2008
Walking The Dogs for Health
Well its been awhile sice my last post Strange Dog Ronnie, so its kinda hard getting new material together for this blog about a very strange dog, so I'll go off at a bit of a tangent.
I want to talk about walking the dogs not from the standpoint of the strange dog antics of Ronnie while he's out with me on our treks through the urban jungle of southern Spain, bbut more on a healthy note. So its walking the dogs for health, then!
Well, when you think about it, dog owners are rather more healthy in the main than their non dog-owning counterparts simply because the little rascals need their walks! What better form of exercise is there than walking? Not too many, especially for the older humans amongst us.
Sure, when you're in your teens or twenties, you can run, jump, dance, swim, clinb mountains and ride mountain bikes along the city streets, but aas your body ages, those things get harder to do. So walking becomes the main source of exercise, so those of us that do more walking, naturally get more exercise.
And those of us with dogs do more walking (on the whole) than those who don't.
So there. If you want an excuse to walk along the streets or through the park on your own without people thinking you are strange, then get yourself a dog and enjoy not only their comapny and their antics, but also the better health that you will gain from giving them their daily dose of exercise!
That's it for this post - Ronnie will be back soon for more crazy fun from the very strange dog!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
I want to talk about walking the dogs not from the standpoint of the strange dog antics of Ronnie while he's out with me on our treks through the urban jungle of southern Spain, bbut more on a healthy note. So its walking the dogs for health, then!
Well, when you think about it, dog owners are rather more healthy in the main than their non dog-owning counterparts simply because the little rascals need their walks! What better form of exercise is there than walking? Not too many, especially for the older humans amongst us.
Sure, when you're in your teens or twenties, you can run, jump, dance, swim, clinb mountains and ride mountain bikes along the city streets, but aas your body ages, those things get harder to do. So walking becomes the main source of exercise, so those of us that do more walking, naturally get more exercise.
And those of us with dogs do more walking (on the whole) than those who don't.
So there. If you want an excuse to walk along the streets or through the park on your own without people thinking you are strange, then get yourself a dog and enjoy not only their comapny and their antics, but also the better health that you will gain from giving them their daily dose of exercise!
That's it for this post - Ronnie will be back soon for more crazy fun from the very strange dog!
Terry Didcott
Strange Dog
Sunday 27 January 2008
Strange Dog Ronnie
Just so to keep this little blog alive and kicking, here is a short but sweet post about our little friend, Ronnie the strange dog.
Why is he such a strange dog? Who knows...
Ronnie the strange dog is very much still as odd as ever and still gets up to his old weird tricks and antics which makes him one special little guy!
See more of Mr Ronnie, the strange dog over at his very own Squidoo lens at Strange Dog and also see a lot more of him at my main doggy website and blog at For Dogs
Gotta love the little guy!
Terry
Strange Dog
Why is he such a strange dog? Who knows...
Ronnie the strange dog is very much still as odd as ever and still gets up to his old weird tricks and antics which makes him one special little guy!
See more of Mr Ronnie, the strange dog over at his very own Squidoo lens at Strange Dog and also see a lot more of him at my main doggy website and blog at For Dogs
Gotta love the little guy!
Terry
Strange Dog
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Ronnie"s Duck
...or is it a pillow?
Ronnie & Daisy
Brother & Sister? Not Quite!
