Chloë Feels the Heat

Find the dog in the high grass.

June was incredibly hot.  Seattle’s average daily high temperature for June is 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This June’s average high was 79 degrees, and many afternoons broke 80 degrees. It rained only four times, each of them brief. All my favorite trails were hard and dusty, which is tough on a low-riding, black dog like me. Since I absorb so much heat, my tongue  is always hanging out the side of my mouth, getting loaded with grit and making me cough. Sometimes I get so hot and dry that I have to drink  water with no Charlee Bears floating in it, if you can believe it. I’m that thirsty.  

Nor is that the worst symptom of hot, dry weather, which normally doesn’t arrive around here until August. My bald ear flaps are nowhere near long enough to cover my aural canals, leaving those two openings exposed to the elements, moist magnets for dust particles raised from the forest floor.  This is why Heather must clean my ears with ointment and cotton swabs so often. I don’t like this procedure by any means, but when it’s over Heather always gives me some quality cheese as a treat, not to mention having two clean, non-itchy ears, at least for a while.

Block watch in cool grass

Despite the heat, I walked every day in June, sometimes more than once. A couple of times we walked in the morning, when it wasn’t as hot. On our afternoon walks I would flop often to rest, especially where I could find a spot of shady lawn; we have no lawn at home. Luckily, I have been able to appropriate via eminent dog domain a small, grassy area near the corner of my street, across from the park entrance. Not only does it provide a soft, cool, grassy area (because it gets some underground irrigation and afternoon shade), but it also offers an unobstructed view of the automobile and pedestrian entrances to the park, so whenever I hear a sound I am able to glance over my shoulder while remaining in a prone position to monitor all ingress and egress activity until I decide it’s time to go home for dinner. I jump on Mike and bite his nose to let him know.

Mike did impart some bad news the other day. Regular readers will no doubt recall that Mike over the past year had dieted my weight all the way down to 16.7 pounds, well below the 18.0 pounds that my  vet advised. When Mike took me to over to the animal hospital the other day, about three months later, I weighed in at 18.6 pounds, so he realized the “reverse diet” had gone too far. A reduction of rations went into effect immediately, with the goal of getting me back to the 18-pound mark and maintaining it. My honeymoon is over, so to speak.

It’s going to be tough on me in upcoming weeks, but maybe hope is on the way: Mike and Heather mentioned that best friend Lynn will be coming over for an extended stay with me in the near future. Maybe Mike will forget to tell her about the new mandate on portion control.

Chloë’s Weight Chart

Date	Age	Weight	Notes
4/1/10	8 weeks	5.8 pounds	Elliott Bay AH pup scale
4/23/10	11 weeks	7.75	EBAH
5/7/10	13 weeks	8.75	EBAH
5/21/10	15 weeks	10.3	EBAH
6/11/10	18 weeks	11.6	EBAH
7/1/10	21 weeks	12.3	EBAH
3/29/11	1 year, two months	17.1	EBAH 1 year exam
9/23/11	19.5 months	18.8	EBAH exam for nose spot
3/30/12	2 years, two months	17.5	EBAH 2 year exam
9/11/12	2 years, eight months	19.0	EBAH for ear infection
9/25/12	2 years, nine months	18.6	EBAH for ear followup
4/2/13	3 years, two months	18.1	EBAH 3-year exam, lobby
3/31/14	4 years, two months	18.6	EBAH 4-year exam, lobby
7/10/14	4 years, five months	18.06	EBAH,examroom, eyes
9/3/14	4 years, seven months	19.1	EBAH lobby, ear infection
9/12/14	4 years, seven months	18.9	EBAH lobby,ear followup
4/2/15	5 years, two months	16.7	EBAH lobby, 5-year exam
6/27/15	5 years, five months	18.6	EBAH lobby