Monday, October 3, 2011

Rainy days and frustrated doggies...

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
MAXMOM here...


We've had some lovely rain over the weekend.  The world around us is sparkling and fresh again.  But it did keep us indoors for most of the weekend, where we spent our time watching TV - especially some of the exciting rugby fixtures in New Zealand!  "GO BOKKE!" is the general sentiment in our household.
(For uninitiated international readers, "Go Bokke!" is a chant to our Springbok rugby players to "fetch" that trophy!)
 But for the dogs; being kept indoors is a most frustrating time:


Toby got his teeth into a roller towel...

..and then settling for cleaning out a yoghurt container...


Aunt Tam spent a good deal of her time peering at the mirror:

"The King" soon tried his luck too...

At this time of the year when the heat picks up and the humidity increases, King Toffee's obsessive paw-licking takes on new meaning. Unfortunately he's starting to do damage to his paw-pads, so we've had to take emergency measures.  Usually this involves giving his paws a thorough wash, then drying them well with a hairdryer and then bandaging them up, so that he can't lick them.  Thanks to our prospective Vet - who is on holiday at home at the moment - "the King" is the proud owner of a new pair of baby socks, which have been duly secured with elastoplast to prevent his obsessive licking. 

It seems to be working, but there's never a guarantee when it comes to Toffee. In his fourteen years, he's learnt a few tricks himself.  Only time will tell who wins this round.

Toby and Tammy eventually decided that enough was enough and coersed us into taking them for a walk without "His Kingship". I grabbed some poo-packets, some treats and called Asta's mom to join us there.


The park looks beautiful - all sorts of beautiful foliage to admire. 



Soon some other dogs joined in the fun - a visit to Lourie Park always means that we'll meet up with other canine companions.



Thank you again, to everyone who participated in yesterday's LIVESTRONG campaign. What a privilege it was to be part of this world-wide awareness drive.  Thank you again to Andrea and Charmaine for allowing us to share their stories.  It's heartwarming to know that there are so many people around who are fighting for a cancer-free world.

Sending lotsaluv and wishing everyone a really happy week. 
...and yes, I'm battling to sleep at night.

"Wherever MAXDOG goes, let it do good!"


15 comments:

Piappies World said...

We share the raindrops with you dear Toby, Tammy and King Toffee!

The park adventure sure looks a lot of fun especially knowing that you got to meet up with Asta and your other canine friends.

It's great to see King Toffee being treated like royalty with his regal socks. *giggles*

Love,
Piappies Fudgie, Princess, Frappie, Mocha, Sugar, Wai-Pai, Wai-Max & Forgie (and Tabby!)

WFT Nobby said...

Toby and Tammy do have a very pleading "PLEASE take me out" look in that first photo. I can see they had a great time racing around the park later.

I am interested in Toffee's socks, and do hope they work. Hamish was an obsessive paw licker. The underlying reason in his case was his skin allergies, and I once asked my vet if it might be a good idea to protect the paws like you have done with Toffee. However, the vet said he didn't like to do that as he thought that Hamish would get stressed if he had an itch that he could not relieve by licking. So instead he prescribed steroids, which of course bring their own problems. I have always wondered if some sort of socks would not have been better.

Cheers,
Gail.

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Mom makes us stay inside when it rains too. Ciara and Lightning always manage to find something to entertain themselves, even if it isn't always a good something.

That was one very beautiful LiveStrong post you did yesterday. Live Strong and Love Strong.

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

My Dog Sam - Ruptured Disk said...

Hi Maxmom, it managed not to rain this past weekend although it poured rain this morning so the other kids stayed indoors. But I don't care about what the weather is doing so I took my dad out into the rain. He grumbled a bit but that's okay. It was good for him to get out :)

Two French Bulldogs said...

Due to the rain look at all that fun, we mean mischief you guys got into. You will always be king, Toffee. Cutie pie
Benny & Lily

Angel Ginger Jasper said...

The expressions on your faces say all. Glad you managed to get out and meet your friends.. Hugs GJ xx

houndstooth said...

It looks like it did both of them some good to get out! Poor Toby with his feet, though. That's miserable!

Anonymous said...

I hate staying inside when it's raining too!

But it's just too wet out!

xo
Luna

Anonymous said...

Well it seems that you were able to get the Pawrents to get you all out of the house for walkies jusy by chewin the paper roll, sooner or later you will prefect the WALKIES Look, and you won't even have to chew somethin!

Hang in there King, you will figure some way to get those socks off I am sure!

woos, Tessa

Anonymous said...

Hi - Nice to find you and look at your photos. My best friend is a Golden Retriever and he gets grumpy when it rains too!

http://bigdogzola.com/2011/07/31/when-toffees-humans-are-away

Nice to see the local flowers of my homeland..Greetings from the South of France...Zola

rottrover said...

Your flowers are beautiful

Curt Rogers said...

I think the rain is one of the reasons I don't like Autumn very much. Duncan gets so restless as our walks get shorter and more hurried. And I hate to see him cooped up all day. But we've been fortunate this year, with our temps still hovering in the low to mid-80s and all our leaves still on the trees. Give a week or two and I'll be singing a different tune, I'm sure.

Your park looks lovely! How Id love to take Duncan there!

Boondocks Love Shack Pack said...

Such lovely pictures!! Time spent at a park is always time well spent!!

AROOOOOF!
Boondocks & The Love Shack Pack

Tweedles -- that's me said...

Thank goodness for the visit to the park!
Who knows what other kind of mischief could have happened!
Poor little footies on the King...
I hope the socks help
love
tweedles

24 Paws of Love said...

We are enjoying wonderful fall weather this week and as we watch your world wake up to spring, there is a bit of an ache in my heart as the cold and snow will be upon us. So we will have to live vicariously through your season, even if you are all stuck inside when it rains. :)

Hope the booties do the trick. Poor baby!