Come play our game, we’ll test you

As it was three years ago, so this has been a summer for mating Norwich Terriers.  This is never without drama, and the heat doesn’t help anyone.  There is a week or so to go before expert hands will palpate the abdomens of Evie and Fern to see if anything lies within.  I have given up any pretense of soothsaying via participant observation and will have to wait and see.

High summer is also the time when Norwich Terrier upper airways get irritated, for a whole raft of reasons.  There is some interesting science going on in this regard, of which you can read a layperson’s summary here (an article with both pathos and data by my breeder friend Magda).

Doggie respiration gives me cause for concern, not least because, every summer, something seems to rise up — pollen, grass seeds or simply holidays and excitement — to cause bother for one or more of my dogs.  I am fortunate in expert and sympathetic vets, who have done much to augment my understanding of what sort of problems there are and how they can best be treated.  As it is for humans, so for dogs: anti-histamines, anti-inflammatories, steroids in serious cases.  It’s no fun for the neurotic.

I have perhaps abused the offices of Vimeo by uploading today a video shot on my phone last month, made prior to an attempted mating (which, rest assured, was not filmed).  Charm and comic relief is provided by Suzi the pup (ex-Martha who is ex-Arthur) who had discovered, near-simultaneously, the ability to bark and chase a ball, here wielded with the tantalising power of the experienced playmate by Ashburton Jay.