Preparing your Pet Dog for the Bank Holidays
There must be a Bank Holiday due as the recent warm weather has subsided to a more typically cool and damp feel associated with Bank Holidays.
Not that the weather will deter us Brits from making the most of our long awaited Bank Holidays in May and June.
So what are you planning other than some in car entertainment to while away the time spent in the inevitable traffic jams? More to the point what about the poor dog that has been yanked from his or her routine environment for a few pleasurable days of new scents and surroundings.
If you are taking your dog with you there is a good chance you are going to be walking, in which case you need to be prepared for how the weather decides to behave.
A certain pungent aroma is an experience best avoided when sharing the car with a wet dog. A large towel is the obvious solution, if kept handy in the boot and not buried beneath the rest of the survival equipment taken for this short break, it can be used to dispel the damp smell, although personally I think a partly wet dog smells worse than one that is soaked.
Whilst you take off your wet weather gear don’t you just wish you had invested in a wax jacket style coat for your dog. The Hunter Dog Coat provides protection from the wind and rain, covering most of the body except of course the muddy paws. If, like Duke, your dog has its place on the back seat you may want to invest in a rear seat cover to protect the upholstery of your car.
Once you have got yourselves as dry as it is physically possible to do in the confines of a car, the combination of cool, damp air meeting the increasing heat inside the car from one’s natural body temperature soon causes every window in the car to mist up until the outside world appears to be sitting in a dense fog.
‘Wind the window down’ is the usual utterance from the passenger seat.
Obediently, like the dog in the back of the car, you lower all windows and the mist within soon clears along with the dog who has seen an escape route to return to the unfinished walk curtailed by the inclement weather and to seek out the French Poodle who walked past not so long ago.
Not wishing to spoil the dog’s fun but to save you from another soaking and the blind panic of a lost dog roaming loose in unfamiliar territory, fit a window vent which will allow air into the car, nasty odours out of the car and prevent the pooch from leaping through the window.
Alternatively if your pet is confined to the cargo area of an estate car try using a cargo guard which are available for both estates and larger 4 x 4s.
Once you are all settled after your walk a drink and a bite to eat is usually called for. The family have their flasks, cans and bottles of drink complimented by a picnic hamper or sandwich box but have you thought of the dog’s culinary requirements?
A wonderful idea is the Dog Flask a compact piece of equipment that will keep both food and water fresh in a similar manner to your own flask.
If it is just portable water and treat dispensers you decide upon for a day out I have several items in stock for this purpose, simply follow the links above and have an enjoyable Bank Holiday.