Recommendations

I do phink that with the hot weather set to continue, the humans might like to consider investing in an AC unit and one of these....



Also, I do really want to show you all again these crazy peole. I laugh until the tears run down my fur....



Marley Wan Kinobi :)

Phew, what a scorcher!

It s hot. You might have noticed. At least those of you in the UK might have noticed. There are things you should do to keep your dog cool and healthy in hot weather and we have been remindin' mum and dad about this over the weekend. These helpful tips com from doginfo.com

All dogs
During hot weather care should be taken with ALL dogs. Always have fresh water available. Always make sure they have shelter and shade to stay in. Never leave your dog in a car. Many people still think it is ok to leave their dog in a car if they leave the window down, DO NOT do this. Your dog could still quickly over heat and this could be fatal. There are still so many cases of dogs being found dead in over heated cars, we want to stress dont leave your dog in a car! Even if you have a window down it is not enough to keep a car cool. Even if you leave water in the car it is not enough to cool your dog! If you park in the shade the car will still over heat, and as the sun moves the car may no longer be in the shade on your return. Even if your only going to be a few minutes out of your car, dont leave them, temperatures can soar very quickly. Be safe and dont take the risk!

Brachycephalic dogs
All dogs with “flat faced” nose and head structure are technically called “brachycephalic”. Dogs with this structure feel the effects of warm surroundings and exertion sooner than dogs with more typical nose and head structure. Brachycephalic dogs include: British bulldogs, French bulldogs, pugs, pekingnese, and boston terriers amongst others.

Hot weather can be fatal to a these dogs, they don’t even need to be moving about in it to succumb to the heat. Please make sure that any exercise is given early in the morning or late in the evening, don’t be tempted to go for a nice Sunday afternoon stroll when it is very sunny or hot. Also please don’t allow your dog to lay out in the sun for long periods, they do not know when they have had enough and it doesn’t take long for their panting to become out of control.

How to prevent overheating: Do not allow your dog to lay out in the day time sunshine. Do not walk your dog in hot weather. During hot weather keep your dog inside during the hottest part of the day

How to deal with overheating:

Lower his body temperature: Always ensure that you have ice to hand during the summer months. Pour cold water over your dog, especially around his head, rub ice around his head and under his tail (around his rectum). If possible stand him in a cold bath and keep going with the ice until the breathing is less laboured.

Clear the airway: Squirt some lemon juice (from one of those plastic lemon shaped bottles that you squirt on your pancakes) into the back of his throat, he will hate you for it, but the lemon juice will quickly break up the excess foam and clear the throat. Do not allow him to drink a lot of water as this can cause him to vomit.

Keep him calm: Once you have reduced his panic keep him in a quiet place and keep a close eye on him. If this doesn’t work then you need to get to a vet as quickly as possible - put a cold damp towel under him for the journey

Brachycephalic dogs overheat quickly because of the shape of their throats, their soft palates are almost always too long and when they get very hot they cannot pant sufficiently to keep their body temperature down, their attempts to pant quickly cause the production of foam which in turn blocks the throat and causes laboured breathing and eventually they will begin to roar as they try to breath through the blockage.

This weekend, our humas have been dealing with the heat like this:

World premier

Hello lovely people. Finally, we have worked out how the computer can make films of us and so we present the world premier of a movie about Lola's first night at home last year. She is much bigger now of course, but as you can see we have been best of pals from the outset. I do play "boo" and "ball" with her and she does chase and menace me. Not much changes.



Marley Scorcese ;) xxx

Walkies...

Today Lola and I thought we would try another of our walks live via Twitter. You might remember that we did one last week.

Dad thought it would be good idea to try Ashtead Common as some of our usual walks do not have much reception with which to tweet. It has been ages since we last went to the common in our village.

As with any good walk, we started it in the car. Thankfully, it takes only a few minutes to reach the common and we were soon straining at the lead to get running. The sun was shining and the grass was long and green and O2 had managed to get a mast up somewhere close by which helped with the twittering.

As usual, we were slow to begin with and had to sniff out several nice spots for toilet breaks and general sniffing of new things.

We played spot the dog for quite a while but saw just one lone labradoodle out with his lady and then nothing for about 20 minutes, apart from a noisy helicopter. We played spot the dog just here.......



...see...nuffink at all. But then just when we thought that we would be walking alone we bumped into a nice spaniel puppy called Charlie and we ran and ran and ran and barked and barked and barked. See how Lola zooms.....



Eventually, we all fell into a very muddy puddle for a drink and had to be rescued by hoomans. Charlie did have to go his own way eventually so Lola and I decided to hunt for food in the grass but did find only ticks and trouble....

After a nice hour in the sun we went home with dad and were washed off in the garden with a hose pipe. Yeuk. Now we are off for a nap and see what the afternoon brings.

And they say we are not the cleverest dogs...

Just wanted to bring to your attention the brilliant blogging of my good friend Tony or MacHether's Anthony Oban, to give him his full name, who lives in New York City. We are an underestimated breed, no?

http://www.tonysez.com/

Marley BOL :)

Return of the King

Great celebrations in our world last night when William, our little boy, returned from his skool trip to Osmington Bay.

Here is the lovely chap celebrating with Lola.


It made us smile. Can you see our smiles here?

We do love him so.

Welcome home William.

Marley & Lola xxx

Hmmmm.....

So, I learned something sad today. Sometimes, border terriers get sick. One of the things they can get is Canine Epileptoid Cramping Syndrome (CECS or formerly known as "Spike's Disease" ) - a recently recognized canine health problem and hereditary canine disease in Border Terriers. It may previously have been confused with canine epilepsy.

Symptoms can inlcude staggering, dizziness, exaggerated stretching, unusually slow and/or methodical posturing or walking, trembling , abdominal and lumbar muscle contractions, falling over, struggling to rise but unable to do so. Some are presented with borborygmus (loud intestinal noises) and apparent intestinal pain. Dogs are cognizant, responsive to stimuli.

As usual, some kind human is tryin their best to help with this and so we salute Kris Blake and all his friends at http://www.borderterrier-cecs.com/

Marley :(

Sweet dreams my friend

This little man is having the best dream ever...run, squirrel, run



Marley :o)

One day

One day I shall be old and when I amI do hope that some kind person might look after me. That will be mummy and daddy but for some dogs they need a new home. These kind people help that to happen. Good for them.

Marley

My Hair

Lola needs a hair cut. That got me thinking about our nice coat and I found this lovely description at www.terrificpets.com:

"The dual coat of the Border Terrier often allows for a soft layering of colors. It is not uncommon to find Border Terriers with a salt and pepper appearance, often called grizzle. They can also be found in what is called a red grizzle, wheaten or sometimes just plain tan. While the coat can sometimes be long and a bit tousled [Lola], there are other dogs whose wiry coat is fairly smooth [Me]. On the face, the hair is tame with a bushy muzzle, giving the appearance of dense whiskers.

When it comes to a durable, weather resistant double coat, a good brushing two times per week is the most recommended method of care. As with all dogs whose coats consist of dual layers, bathing should only take place when necessary [Humans please note]. Frequent bathing will eventually wash away valuable oils trapped in the undercoat. Without these oils, the skin not only loses its defense but the coat's ability to remain weatherproof is greatly diminished. A simple brushing will distribute these oils to the right places.

Since clipping a Border Terrier's hair can have a negative effect on regrowth, a method called stripping is recommended instead. Stripping is the act of removing hair that is blown, or growing out and dead, by hand. Going with the direction of hair growth in an area, one grasps the blown hairs between the forefinger and thumb and gently removes them with no stress to the animal whatsoever [Lola has asked me to point out that this is all relative]. Stripping knives are a tool commonly used to remove more hair faster. While it requires time and experience, the entire body, from tail to muzzle, can be stripped. One can either strip out their dog's hair over a period of days or seek out a professional groomer who is likely to take only one or two hours to complete the task.


Incidentally, not all Border Terriers will require stripping. It is not unheard of for some Border pups to come into the world with a simple single coat of wiry hair. As these dogs will do little in the way of shedding, they make a top pick for dog lovers who suffer from allergies."

Marley xx

I am auditioning for our movie

Lola and I have been auditioning dogs to play us in the movie of our life.

I really like this guy for me. He's got the chewing thing down and I really like his sofa skills....

Naturally

A quick hello to all our chums at Border Terrier World - what other sort of world would it be?

BOL: Marley

The Big Walk

Today has been the best of days and the worst of days for us. Our little boy William went off for a 3-night away school trip this morning and we are sad not to have him around this weekend, especially Lola. She gave him an all-over lick before he left and he rewarded her with a game of ball.

Once he was gone, mummy, daddy, Lola and I went to Headley Heath for our epic walk to Mickleham. It was a good job William was not with us as he hates this walk - how far is it? how long will it take? are we there yet?, ARE WE THERE YET?? It was 5.5 miles there and back and we were very tired on our return. However, we managed to build ourselves a small shelter for future expeditions, as you can see.

The most exciting bit was finding a pile of freshly sheared sheep wool in a field near the village. Mummy said I approached it as if it was a sleeping mammoth (well, it did smell like an animal!) and Daddy said we had to get out of there fast before I discovered it was the world's most comfortable place for a nap and might never leave.

We lunched at the King William IV pub (sandwiches for the hoomans and a cooling bowl of water and crusts for Lola and I). I did think this a most appropriate venture in view of our own missing "King" William.

We finally wound our way back home and have collapsed across Daddy's legs whilst he and Mummy watch a movie. When I wake I must get back to my twitter pals. A dog's work is never done in cyberspace.

Barks of Love to you all.

Marley

I'm Lola BT

Hello my name is Lola BT and Ive come to talk to all my border terrier buddys. Me and Marley have to sneak on to here without being seen by hoomans just to able to blog. We'll always try to blog a couple of times a day. Hopefully you'll eventually be able to see the world of border terrier through the eyes of me. WOOF! WOOF!

Live Tweet

Earlier this week, we went on a walk to 30 Acre Barn behind Ashtead and we did do a live feed to twitter. Here we are on our way. We will be trying to do another one at around 9.30 am (UK time) on Wednesday 24 June weather and phone signal permitting. Why not join us..!

Putting Us All to Shame

We heartily recommend that you check out Tycho and Carolyn. The world's most impressive BT? We are not worthy....

Year Zero

Hello doggie chums and their human entourage. Lola and I are taking our next steps into cyberspace today with the first post to our new blog. We hope you like it. It will be all things Border Terrier. Today, we recommending you to see our friends at the Yahoo Border Terrier Group and also to visit our best friend Henry (the world's nicest animal: official - although he is not a BT). You can also find Henry on Twitter (@henryandfriends) See you soon.

That's me above.