A temperature warning!

Its not always the landowner's fault. When my piece of land was my dad's, he kept livestock on there. Its classified as agricultural land and the farms on either side graze livestock. Yet when my dad built a shelter for his animals, he was ordered by the planning authority to demolish it. He applied for planning permission and appealed when it was denied, even inviting the planning officer to come to the site to discuss options. All denied. In the end he got rid of the livestock, thinking it was unfair to keep animals up there with no shelter.

When I took the land over I was going to dividing one section into two with a new native, mixed hedgerow. I didn't think I'd need planning permission for a new hedgerow. I was wrong. Its in there in the planning guidelines and in the advice to the public. You need planning permission for a new hedgerow, in case there are certain birds in the area, and in case it is a precursor to the land being sold to developers, and if you see a new hedgerow being planted, you are asked to tell the planning authority so they can check if it is allowed.

Every planning authority is different. They are each trusted by central government to make their own rules, as long as they are within the central government's guidelines, so some will presumably have more sense than others.

 

Bloody-mindedness at it's best there!

 

Regarding dogs in hot weather.
Ever looked under the coat after they have been swimming?
With dogs that have undercoat it's usually bone dry.

No amount of spraying is going to cool a dog like that, in fact the coat actually stops the heat penetrating to the skin.

 

It's also worth giving our garden wildlife a thought in this weather and put bowls of water out for them.

 

I'm so, so interested in your post, Pete: my dog has a double coat and, even though his undercoat is dry, he is clearly more lethargic in this heat. But then, aren't we all

I have, in the past hour, taken Victoria's advice and put a dampened towel on his back, and he does seem to have perked up a tad (or, maybe that is me seeing something I want to see? ) especially with a fan on in the room too.

I had heard that, in some breeds, the double coat can prevent heat penetrating the skin; but, I'm also aware of the counter argument which claims that the double coated breeds come from climates which are not exposed to the extremes of temperature that we have? So, while it may prevent their skin from sunburn, it would not (necessarily) prevent exposure to heat stroke?

I welcome any confirmation on this, one way or the other: I am concerned about the sun/heat/temperature threshold of my animals and wish to do the best by them at all times; I will bow to greater wisdom/experience

 

Indeed. Wife saw a bird having a bath in our new pond the other day, and I saw some honey bees flying low over the pond looking for somewhere to land where they could reach the water. In both cases I guessed the pond is too risky for them, so I came up with a cunning plan. I have two large saucer things of water just beside the pond, figuring the creatures will detect the pond easily, and then find the safer landing area of the saucers to stop for a drink.

 

I dont profess to be an expert M.
I only speak as I find, many dogs originate from areas of extreme cold in winter and extreme heat in summer, they do shed the undercoat to some extent.

But wetting the undercoat is not easy without detergent.

What keeps the heat in, also keeps the heat out.

But sensible things like laying in the shade, which should always be available, must be taken into consideration, along with not getting over excited.


But a good wallow in a stream in hot weather is great for most dogs.

 

Thank you, Pete

He does find shade (my garden is North facing) and we do our daily woodland walks at the crack of dawn so he isn't exposed to baking heat when it comes to walks. Plenty of fresh water is always available. Today, when I was applying the hose to the garden, he took huge delight in 'mouthing' the flow of water (not sure how much he ingested though, I think it was more a fun and frolics than actual thirst).

Like all things in life, I suppose: it's a question of balance and common sense? I try my best

 

Don't dogs from cold climates shed most of their fur in summer? I know huskies look right funny in the summer (or have they had a hair cut?). We used to have a border collie that was like a big fluffy teddy bear in winter, then in summer was an embarrassing almost bald weird looking thing.

 

Not noticed that C1, they do moult and I think central heating messes them up a bit, but I've never noticed much difference between summer and winter coats on any of my dogs.
Dont know much about Huskies.

They look similar in summer to winter, but maybe lose some of the under coat, which is almost like wool.

 

My 3 dogs have all been fine so far, keep them in the shade and have plenty of large fans on indoors. Worth mentioning rabbits also, so many people forget about them!!

Val

 

Saw a shelter for sheep made from an old garage door today, wasn't there last week. Thinking about getting these guys to sponsor it

http://www.murraygaragedoors.com/

 

I know that man ... well, not in the Biblical sense ...