6th January 2010 - Lizzie and cold weather; children and dogs

Lizzie and cold weather; children and dogs

Lizzie, my Border Collie has been revitalised in recent weeks. She’s nearly 14 and over the past year she has been really slow and not a good advert for Burns. But with the coming of the cold weather she has become revitalised. In my time I’ve seen several dogs suffer and even die from heat exhaustion but only now is it beginning to click that this is what has been ailing her. Come the warm weather I’ll need to get her in the sea to keep cool.

In last Saturday’s Family Section in The Guardian, Sara Markham related how fostering a puppy for a year on behalf of Guide Dogs for the Blind enabled her to bring some sense of order to her three teenage boys. It wasn’t simply that the presence of the puppy diverted teenage angst into love for the puppy. Reading the instruction and training manual which came with the puppy influenced her way of dealing with the children. Reading this allows me to make a confession. Some time ago I detected a similarity between the way dogs and small children behave and how adults should relate to (deal with) them. I’ve kept that thought to myself because it could be a touchy subject.

info@burnspet.co.uk

6th January - Lizzie and cold weather; children and dogs