Wednesday

The Dog has been having a rough time over the past few days. Lesley was out for a long time on Monday and I had failed to get a successful morning walk done on my own. I’d taken The Dog to some local woods – plenty of tree cover to avoid the worst of the heat and a clean stream to get a drink from and have a bit of a wallow when needed. But we hadn’t got more than 100m from the car before she gave me the look that clearly says

“Do you know what? I don’t really fancy this.”

I couldn’t tell what had caused it but I knew there was no point in trying to convince her otherwise. We headed back to the car and drove around for a while to get the benefit of some air conditioning before heading home.

The Dog then slept on my feet in the bed under my desk all afternoon while I bounced back and forth between the DWP and HMRC call centres.

We all slept fitfully in the heat that night and in the early hours I heard The Dog pacing around and then heading for the back door. She needed to be let out into the garden.

I padded through the house barefoot – too hot to wear slippers – and she dashed out and threw up. I went outside to check on her but it was only when I went back in that I found that I hadn’t been quick enough letting her out. She’d already thrown up indoors once and in the dark I hadn’t seen it. I only found it because I wasn’t wearing slippers.

The Dog was mortified. She always is on the very rare occasions that she has an accident indoors. I suspect that she’s been beaten for doing it in one of the homes she had before coming to us. No danger of getting a beating here. Just soft sympathetic words and comfort.

Being up and awake earlier than normal gave us the chance to get The Dog out for a decent walk before it got too hot. We headed to a park that also has plenty of tree cover and a stream to play in. We haven’t been to this place for a while – not really sure why – but The Dog recognised where she was and absolutely loved it. The walk was topped off with a vigorous game in the stream.

And so to the afternoon walk. It was still hot. The Dog was tired and not exactly keen to go out but we thought that as the morning walk had been quite early she would at least need to relieve herself. We stayed local to the house and stayed on the footpaths that link the streets together. One such path has a high garden wall and some notoriously insolent cats that enjoy sitting on top of it. Once, when we first got The Dog she couldn’t resist the temptation to run up the wall. That time she performed a flip in mid air and landed heavily but safely of all four feet. As she has been so much calmer recently we have not been too worried about a repeat performance and have been able to get past without incident.

No such luck today.

The Dog took off and, possibly due to being tired from the hard run this morning or the heat or just being that bit older, her timing and agility let her down. She crashed hard onto the tarmac with a sickening thud.

We knew she’d hurt herself. She just shuts down when she’s hurt. It’s quite obvious when she’s in shock.

After a couple of minutes to get herself together we walked a few paces to the nearest patch of grass and I sat with her as she came round. She had blood round her mouth and both front paws looked sore. We got home slowly and I checked her out. The blood was from a nasty graze on her chin. I haven’t checked her teeth yet. Other than that she seemed shaken but nothing more.

She was subdued and clingy all evening and couldn’t jump on our bed at bedtime.

We were all restless as the end of the heatwave hadn’t yet arrived. In the early hours the temperature subsided and I was then gripped by the worst hay-fever attack in years.

So another night with barely any sleep and now we have a dog who had stiffened up overnight and can hardly walk.

Bloody hell.

Author’s Note

My Mum was in a nursing home in the Thames Valley for a year and a half until she passed away in December 2024. My Father-in-law went into the same home the following January. But Lesley’s sister didn’t approve and made the situation so awkward that he had to be moved. He passed away in March 2025. Names and locations have been changed or hidden to protect the identities of those involved.

Image Credit

Original Image by Nick Gilmore. June 2025.