Keeping Dogs Safe in the Hot Summer Months

Summer is a great season to be out and active with your dog. Here are a few things that I've learned in the past to keep our furry family safe in the summer.

•  Easiest one first. Never leave a dog in a car. That thing turns into a hot box in a matter of 2 minutes.
• Water. Always have water available for your dog. In addition to having water inside, always have a bucket full and available for the times you are outside playing.
• This one sounds silly, but make sure your dog can swim! You may decide to take them to they lake and before you know it, they courageously run and jump of the end of the dock. Be sure they don't sink straight to the bottom. Same for swimming pools, they may jump or fall in - be sure they are able to swim. If they'll be left unsupervised, be sure they know how to exit the pool.
• Warm weather means mosquito and heart worm season, make sure the dogs are up to date on their heart worm prevention program.
• It's also tick and flea season, so make sure you're checking them close each day after playing outside or with other dogs.
• For daily walks, make sure you're going in the morning or evening hours when the temperature is the coolest. Keep off of asphalt that's roasting from the sun; their paws are tough, but they can still get hot.
• Give them access to shade. My dogs would love to go out on the boat, but we don't take them because there's no shade and they'd just be sitting roasting in the sun while we soak in the cool water. Same for backyards - plant a tree, build a makeshift tent with a tarp or build an open-air shelter, get creative! Same goes for beach outings, even through they have water, they'll need shade.
• To follow along with the tip above, always check under your vehicle before you or your guests leave. Pets might be lounging on the cool dirt or concrete underneath the parked vehicles.
• Restrict exercise for very active breeds, as they will run and run their hearts out. 
• Here's a fun one - 'pupsicles'! Make chicken, beef or vegetable broth and pour into ice cube trays, when they freeze, pop them out and give them to your puppies as cool treats. 
• Keep dogs off freshly fertilized lawns for 24 hours or according to package instructions.
• Smoosh-face or short snouted dogs should always be kept as cool as possible. Their short snouts prevent them from panting effectively enough to cool themselves.  

What else do you do to keep your sweeties cool?

Soggy

We have had a crazy unnatural amount of rain this spring. It could always be worse, so I'm not complaining, but you could have white water rafted across our driveway and into the ditch last weekend. 

Sorry that these aren't the best picture quality- iPhones were used.

This is our driveway- completely covered in several inches of water.

This ditch never has more than a trickle during rainstorms. A bunch of the millings from our poor driveway washed wayyyy down the ditch, as did most of the big rocks on the right side of the drain.

Don't be confused by this picture, it's not normally a lake. This is the bean field across from the farm. Massive amounts of water killing the poor little beans. This photo really made me realize how much farmers gamble for a living. Kelly can work his butt off doing what's best for the crops, but good mother nature will do what she will.

Above is my stepdad the skipper on his neighbor's dock last weekend, which is usually a whole foot above the sea level. We had a couple more downpours on Monday through Tuesday morning, which resulted in one of their building's basements downtown flooding as well as their home basement flooding. Not fun.

And guess what's in the forecast for tomorrow? Yep! More rain.

Happy Weekend

Flickr Greebes

What are you lovelies up to this weekend?

We don't have much going on. Family is in from Colorado, so we're meeting at grandma's tomorrow for drinks (virgin for me!) before heading out to Fricano's. I've never been, but I always hear rave reviews about their pizza. 


Here are a few fun links from around the web:

A cheap and easy way to spice up your old dresser.

How to say goodbye when leaving a party.

This homemade watermelon slush looks delish.

Get your grill out for honey balsamic grilled chicken & veggies.

Hmmm, which of our rooms would look good with these rustic, wooden curtain rods?

Baby animal photos that will make your heart melt.

Boone Hall Plantation, South Carolina

We were fortunate to be able to tour Boone Hall Plantation while on our vacation. It's located near Charleston in a place called Mount Pleasant.

Here are some more photos and a little of the history that we learned...

Another Critter to the Clan

So you've all met our dogs, and most recently our chickens, and now we're adding another to the clan, but this time, it's a...