OFF TO A BAD START…

The start of our summer holiday didn’t get off to a great start.

Pixie and Roxy had been groomed in the previous 2 weeks, but there was a few adjustments that needed to made to both their faces. Pixies hair started to grow over her eyes and Roxy’s moustache was slightly uneven. So I gave the groomers a call and took them in.

The groomers is our regular place we take them to, we don’t really have any problems and there cuts have been great. They fixed Pixies face, it was perfect and she could see. When Roxy went in we got told to have a wander about the store while they fixed her moustache, she only needed to cut a tiny amount off as it was slightly higher than the other side at the nose. We walked around and returned with a shock. They had totally shaved her perfectly shaped moustache off and I mean completely off. At what point did I say I wanted it shaved off. I am sure Shih Tzu owners understand my anger, it takes months to grow a moustache back in and when shaved all the hard work of grooming it and looking after it has just been flushed away. I won’t be the only one that has experienced this and I am sure there has been eruptions when it has.

My poor Roxy had been mugged of her signature look, her moustache was her thing it was perfect shape, size and groomed well. I was absolutely disgusted, annoyed and angry isn’t even the word to use. I should of said something to them but I didn’t I guess I would of erupted and been chucked out the store. On return to the car I looked at her and felt so sorry for her as she had a face of ‘ what just happened, my cheeks are cold’. My anger had turned to tears I didn’t know what to think. My first thought was it is going to take for ever to grow back in. This had happened when she was a puppy and it took months to grow back.

The more I looked at her the more I thought it is probably for the best as she suffered really bad from tear staining and parts of her face had turned a brown colour, and having no moustache meant it will grow in white but has this is an ongoing problem it was never going to be pure white. Also the side of her face was very bad for matting as she constantly rubbed her face on the floor and this caused the hair to mat and had proven difficult to brush out. I will be growing it back out as it is her signature image and that makes her who she is. Safe to say I will not be returning to the groomers at all.

After this we had a vet appointment for Pixie to get her anal glands emptied (lovely!) for the first time. She had been suffering on and off so we decided it was time to get them done. We got used to the smell although it wasn’t pleasant, we kept cleaning her bottom with the pets wipes we got from one of our subscription boxes but it didn’t last very long. We didn’t know what to expect from this procedure as it was her first time. We thought the vet would of took her into the back to get it done but he done the procedure in front of us. Jamie held her tight while her glands where getting emptied, it was vile and poor Pixie was crying with discomfort meanwhile Jamie was gagging with the smell, rather him than me! hehe.

If we had left it any longer we could of been looking at antibiotics as it could of got infected. We are lucky we took her when we did. It cost s £18 although we will be going back in the future as it is going to be an ongoing problem unfortunatly. Poor Pixie had a nippy bottom for the rest of the day.

With a stinky bottom I decided when we got home to bath them only for my hair dryer to die on me so they mostly had to air dry and get a good brush. I think the dogs sensed we had a stressful day and one I want to forget.

 

NOW FOR THE HOLIDAY FUN TO START!

………

                                

Our weather wasn’t the best this summer so when the sun decided to shine we made the most of it. We took a trip to Troon Beach for a lovely walk. Pixie and Roxy had been there before but not with Jamie. It was busy and there were lots of dog walkers. We decided to let them walk off lead for most of the time as it was just beach sand and water. They done very well although Roxy has a wandering eye when it comes to other dogs and decides to ignore you when you call her but we are working on that. They had a good run around and enjoyed the sea breeze. They had been in the water before to swim but with their leads on so we can support them but that was a year ago. We thought we would see how they would swim with no lead. Jamie took Roxy far out into the water (Pixie just followed she just likes to get stuck in) he put her in and she started to swim back to shore. She looked terrified. We done this a few times and went further out each time. They loved it and the could swim with no problems. Roxy’s always the one that nervous with everything but the more we done
it the more she got used to it.

 

We went a walk to Pooch Pantry it is a lovely little pet shop. It was a hot day and they sold the dog ice cream so we got one tub between them. We seen a water drinking fountain for dogs and decided to get one, it was around £30 but it had a lot of positives. I will do a review of this at a later date. We also picked up their new stock of Lilys Kitchen snack bars. I had previously ordered one of each on the Lilys Kitchen website and they loved them so I picked up another one of each. This is something I will also be doing a review on at a later date. 

……….

Apart from relaxing this summer we also went to our local park were they can run off lead and meet other dogs. The sun was shining so we made the most of it. Pixie and Roxy love being off the lead it really is good to see them
get some freedom than being confined to a leash. We spent a good hour and half there, but it was getting too hot and the dogs were panting so we went home for some lovely ice cream. They love it!

Here is a couple of things we done to keep Pixie and Roxy cool in the sun:

1. We tried to keep them more in the shade out of the sun.

2. We offered them plenty of cool fresh water, when a bottle of water got to outside temperature we bought another cool fresh bottle from a shop.

3. When there was water available we dipped there feet into it or when we were at the beach we just let them swim in the sea this was good for cooling down there body.

4. When they started panting too much when running around they were put back onto the lead so slow down to get there breath back

5. They got dog ice cream from the pet shop which helped cool them

6. We travelled with the window down in the car so cool air would blow on them

7.  When it got too hot in the house we placed down a dog cool gel mat

It is important to make sure your dog stays cool in the warm weather to help prevent heat stroke and by carrying out the above points you can help prevent it.

………

Our Summer holiday is coming to an end and we are making the most of the sunny weather (which is not a lot) and taking Pixie and Roxy for walks in the park or a visit over to my mums where they can run around out the back garden with their cousin Misty.

Come and check out our youtube page to see what else we have been getting up to.

Visit Below:

www.youtube.com/AShihTzuLifeChannel