Hot Summer Canine Woes

Cool Under the Dining Table

Summer can be really tough for us canines. It has been a really scorching week. Temperatures reach as high as 41*C (105.8*F), says my favorite human. And, though she tries to keep us well supplied with cold water for drinking, we are still having a tough time. 

Most of the time, Jyoti and I sleep because moving around makes us feel hotter. Our caretaker humans give us a bath every week (bath means nice smelling shampoo and really relaxing rubs) and they try to cool us down with showers (showers mean they let us stand under the garden hose and get as wet as we want). Plus, they make sure the ceiling fans are on where we happen to be sleeping. We don't go outdoors in the daytime unless we really, really need to pee. 

I have not been feeling well. I get allergies, you see. Yes, dogs get allergies too though Jyoti never seems to suffer from any. Maybe Yellow Labradors are just more sinsitive than Pomeranians, who knows. 

When the season changes from spring to summer (summer here has three parts -- hot, hotter, and oven-like), my skin gets all itchy and red. My favorite human gives me a soothing wash, made up of guava leaves boiled in water, after it has been allowed to cool. It helps with the itching and heals all the raw places where I have licked myself too much.

Too Hot to Move

But, when my allergies get worse, I become sooooo sleepy that I can barely keep my eyes open and I just don't feel like moving much. The skin between my toes get all read, painful and raw. My worried caretakers then got me my usual medicine. Today, I do feel a little better, but I am still not too keen on moving. Jyoti is being a pest. He just won't leave me alone even when the humans tell him to behave. :(

Because Jyoti and I do not eat much when it is so hot, our humans make sure we have lots of cool, juicy and yummy cucumber plus those long melons ("tar") to eat. And our favorite human puts ice in our water during the hottest time of day (around 2 pm).

Anyway, I can't wait for summer to end.

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