Lifestyle

Pepe & Murphy’s Pawfect Day Out

My dogs love the summer months, our back door is always open, and they wander in and out of the garden all day long. A short nap, then another mad half hour of ‘chase and wrestle’ followed by a snooze in the shade. They have their regular short walks and they also accompany us on our days out. However, I often wonder if I asked them what their Pawfect day out would look like, how would they reply?

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]I often wonder if I asked them what their Pawfect day out would look like, how would they reply?[/perfectpullquote]

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The Usual…

Our short doggy walks usually consist of a trot around our local meadow, with some fetching of the ball and then home for lunch. I think my dogs would choose to have the whole afternoon out with us lunch included. With this in mind, we decided to take them on a doggy summer picnic aka the pawfect day out…

Let me introduce you to Pepe & Murphy.

Both Shih-tzus, Pepe (black and white) is the older and by far the best behaved and the overall boss! Murphy is the younger, funny, cheeky one. Most people remark that he looks like a baby Wookie from Star Wars and we all agree…

They both get into scrapes and have had a few mishaps. Pepe once ate some slug pellets (rest assured we no longer use them) He was very ill and almost died even though on the packet it said the pellets were pet safe! Luckily, we had taken out dog insurance for him as he ended up staying at the vets for over a week and it would have cost us a lot of money.

Pepe

When Murphy was younger, he had to have a hernia repaired, again we were so glad we had taken out pet insurance for him. I think our bank manager was relieved too!

Murphy

Pepe and Murphy’s Pawfect Day out.

This summer being one of the hottest (when it wasn’t raining) we took the dogs out later in the afternoon, when the sun was lower. The pavements were almost too hot for them to walk on, so we abandoned our usual meadow and walked them in the forest, taking advantage of the shade under the trees. We were very aware of pet summer safety rules and always made sure we had cool water and a bowl for them to drink out of…

We took them on a doggy picnic in wooded area at the top of a hill. Perfect views and a lovely breeze. We stopped for drinks and cuddles and snoozed on the blanket under the trees.

They loved it, rolling around on their backs and snuggling up for a ‘story’ Murphy loves to be the centre of attention and always poses happily for the camera. Pepe not so much, being the sensible one he finds a shady spot, observing from a distance until the treats come out!

Petplan Approved Summer Safety Advice

Walk dogs in the cooler part of the day and check the heat of the pavement with your hand, if its too hot for your hand its too hot for those little paw pads!
Make sure you have plenty of water to hand and take advantage of the shade.

Having a water fight in the garden with your dogs is a great way to keep them happy and cool. We tried this with our garden sprinkler!
Remember dogs cannot sweat and dissipate heat by panting, because of this some breeds are more susceptible to overheating than others.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Our dogs loved their special afternoon out with us. Spending time with them brings us so much joy and laughter, we plan on doing this more often.[/perfectpullquote]