Thurs 28th July: Jenna and Sidney

Jenna

I couldn't believe it had been three weeks since I took sharpei-cross siblings Sidney and Jenna out of AFCD, but the date was there in black and white on their vaccination cards so it was time for them to go for the next one.  Jenna is almost a real sharpei as far as her face is concerned, but both are lucky enough to have escaped the excessive wrinkles that can cause so many skin issues throughout their life.  How can I ever forget the little sharpei pup I got from AFCD last year who needed swathes of skin surgically removed so she could function as a dog should.  She's doing fine now, but how crazy is it that dogs are bred to need surgery so they can even see?  Sharpei, chow chow and bulldog are three breeds that regularly need excess skin removed from round their eyes to resolve the condition called entropian which results in the eyelids turning in and the lashes rubbing the eye itself.

Sidney

Talking of eyes, I'd finally had enough of Murphy's nightly drama performance as he went through his full repertoire of complaints, so I took his cone off to see if that would quieten him down.  It seemed it wasn't his stitches that were bothering him, only the cone itself, so we were both relieved to be rid of it.  I'll take him to have the stitches out on Friday and that will be the end of it.  It's clear that his one remaining eye doesn't see too well, but he's fifteen now and I can relate to age-related vision deterioration.

With the weekend looming and the incredible weather continuing, I'm not sure what to expect at the two Homing Centres over the weekend or Whiskers N Paws on Sunday. I can imagine that a day at the beach is very tempting from watching my own dogs plunge into the sea to cool off, but I live in hope that we'll still see adopters coming to meet their new family members.