Any dog worth its salt is likely to growl or back away when they see a white lab coat, so maybe that is why our vet wears a blue one.The days when medical staff dressed to intimidate their patients are long gone.  These days they try to look friendly and approachable, for example the surgeon who performed Mum’s laser eye surgery wears a disposable hat decorated with furry animals! At the time she did not think to ask where it came from, she was far too nervous about the impending surgery.  But she said it helped create a relaxing atmosphere.

Wherever you live or wokr, you can purchase good quality scrubs in a good variety of colours and designs.  Sites like http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ are suppliers of a huge range of gowns, hats, theatre wear and safety footwear to help you do your job safely and cleanly.

We all know that dogs need time off the lead to play and be dogs rather than pets. Playing off the lead is good for their health, and allows them to burn off plenty of energy. But when can you be confident that your new dog will stay where you are and not run off?

The way we decided to do this with Lula was to introduce her to other dogs who want to play, and let her off the lead gradually.  First we let her meet the other dogs on an extending lead, then we left a normal light lead attached so that we could catch the lead if she decided to run away! After a few more days, with our hearts in our mouths, we took the big step of leaving her to run free with the others.  She is such a playful dog, she initiates games of chase with any dogs who will join in, and she usually leads her pack.  This photo is not the best – it shows her challenging two Labradors to a game – she’s not actually sitting. Lula will play happily with dogs of all sizes and enoys the rough and tumble, barking loudly to keep the other dogs involved.

At this time I make sure to keep plenty of really tasty treats in my pocket and reward her every time she comes back to me.  Of course the other dogs worked out that luxury treats were on offer, and tried to raid my pocket for them – and they were much bigger than Lula.

After a couple of depressing attempts to adopt a dog from Dog Rescue centres we were quite exasperated. The procedures at some of them appear to be designed to prevent the dogs finding their forever homes. For example, we saw a dog of the same cross breed as Kevin, which was Collie/German Shepherd, through a charity operating in this county. We rang up to fix a time to see her and hear about her history. We could see her at the foster home, but if we liked her it could be weeks before a home visit took place – as we are on the edge of their area. I explained that we’d been inspected by our local dog rescue but that wasn’t good enough – they want to inspect themselves. With the price of petrol and administrative costs I’d have thought the results form a well-known charity would be good enough. So we regretfully cancelled the visit. Suppose my heart went out to this dog and she was going to stay in foster care for another month?

Our next step was to go back to the breed-specific rescue organisations: none had any dogs in this area.

Then, in desperation, I searched to see if there were any fully grown Welsh Terriers available. This has always been a favourite breed of mine, and I decided to have a quick look online to see. I am against buying puppies as I feel this encourages puppy farming. Well, I searched and could not believe my eyes when a pic of a cute little Welsh Terrier bitch appeared on the screen, with a rehoming ad. from her owners. I rang the phone number immediately to see if she was still looking for a home and offered to take her. One small matter – she was living near Manchester and we are in Sussex, but there are so few opportunities to find a nice dog like this that we decided to make the journey. We have some family living nearby, so that made the trip more sensible.

We know a few people who are motorcycling fans and here is some advice for all of you. If you need a motorcycle accident attorney Austin,here is an address for your little black book.  The legal practice of O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949.  They are committed to giving their clients the best levels of  client service and representation at law.  They are helping people who have been injured in accidents in all parts of the state of Texas.  Experience gained in this type of law means they can pass on  high quality expert advice quickly and efficiently. If you have suffered an injury they are here to help you.  While they are friendly and helpful to clients, they will act like terriers on your behalf.

One of the sweetest things about having a dog of your own is celebrating his birthday and yours together. We always bought each other small presents on Kevin’s behalf, sometimes funny and silly, but often useful. John still treasures the electric screwdriver set that he received as Kev’s 50th birthday gifts for dad – memories like this are precious and happy. And what did we buy for Kev’s birthday cake?  A pork pie, of course

Today we took a tentative step towards letting another dog into our hearts.  We visited the kennels where our local rescue dogs are kept, to get to know the adoption dogs.  One of these was Keira, a four year old Springer Spaniel.  The kennel maid said she is very food-led, and needs plenty of treats to make her obey commands.  When she arrived there she was quite overweight.  For the first two months she was given extra fat burning exercises, and she is now back to her correct weight. Sadly I did not really bond with her and she was a bit too strong on the lead for me.