Thursday 31 August 2017

Vets


Solar has today been to the vets.

We have done this visit different to previous visits, today Sue took Solar to the vets on her own.

Solar barked on arrival, and as usual liked to announce his presence, the purpose of today was to have a Titre test to check to see what levels of immunity he has, or is lacking.

We have chosen this to avoid over inoculation and because we have elected not to just blindly have boosters injected without just cause. There are many horror stories out there and we will do our best o ensure Solar is not another.

As Solar is a bit bouncy and vocal, it was decided it would be safer for the veterinary staff if he was muzzled.  They took him and successfully managed to shave his leg and take the necessary blood sample, check a lump/cyst on the back of his neck and put cream in his left eye, which has been continually discharging every day.

When they returned him back he was without his muzzle, he was then weighed 36.5 kg a weight which has maintained for the last few months.

They took a sample of the cyst to check it out, and along with the results of the Titre test we will know more in two weeks, in the meantime we have some cream for his eye, a mild case of conjunctivitous .

Solar had his usual swim last night, followed by shower, blow dry and spray....


Tomorrow we head off to Cumbria, Solar's first holiday at the Lake District, the place we are staying at does not have wi-fi so there will be no further updates until we return.

While we are away we hope that Solar will get to meet Margaret and Cito, a german Shepherd who live close by.

Also a chance to meet up again with Molly the Golden Retriever, who will have travelled there also on her holiday. Molly and Solar have meet a few times now, they get on really well. They last met up at Queen Elizabeth Country Park.

Below is an early meeting where Molly was encouraging Solar to swim off the Isle of Wight.



We will look forward to sharing Solar's adventures upon our return, but for those that would like to follow sooner, check out his timeline on twitter as SolartheGSD




Monday 28 August 2017

End of August 2017

So as we approach the end of August 2017 Solar will soon be going off on a new adventure.

At the end of the week we will be travelling to the Lake District in the North of England for Solar's second holiday this year. His first holiday in April was to Scotland where, a few weeks before travelling he became lame with suspected ACL, meaning it was in the balance whether we went away or not, we travelled the 650+ miles but walks and stair climbing were severely restricted.


Solar out and about in Scotland in April

Although there have been few posts, most of Solar's life has been shared on a daily basis on twitter, where he shares his adventures, mainly in image form as "SolartheGSD"


Solar is not a quiet traveller, so much so we have tried numerous tactics, the most expensive being the exchange of Sue's Renault Clio for a Citroen Berlingo, affectionately known as the "Solarmobile"

Solar still gets very excited and can be heard as we drive along, dog barking and loud CD !!


Solar remains raw fed, and a varying degree of treats, some a little more unusual raw turkey neck, beef pipe and fish to name but a few.



Swimming is an exercise he enjoys, where possible once a week....


although take him to the beach, he only wants to bark at the waves and chase stones, no interest at all with swimming.


Solar is very social creature, he often meets other dogs in the local park or while out and about, some small dogs have an issue with him, but generally he is well accepted for a play by other dogs.

He has spent time playing and chasing off lead in the local park, but because of his high chase instinct and being very focused on moving cars, it has to be well away from any exits.

Solar has a had a couple of "Play dates" with a Staffy named Daisy, they really do have a great time in the safe enclosure of K9 Pleasure Park just a few miles down the road from us.




Solar is a cheeky, fun loving, adventurous, playful and wilful dog who likes nothing better than enjoying action adventure meeting and greeting.




We will soon find out what he makes of these over the next few weeks.....

Herdwick Sheep; Resident of most of the Lake District