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    DIY Monday posts
Dots and Yarn
  • Home
  • Micro’s corner
    • Micro’s page
    • Dog Tuesday posts
  • Living with illness
    • Sick Wednesday posts
  • Crafts corner
    • Knitting patterns
    • DIY Monday posts
Browsing Tag
microthedog
Sick Wednesday

La vie epanouie – in pursuit of happiness

Flower arrangement
11/04/2018 by microandfriends No Comments

[su_dropcap style=”simple” size=”5″]S[/su_dropcap]o, life has been a little stressful in recent months, and if you drop by to visit us more regularly, you might have noticed the scarcity of blog posts (apologies!!)

If, like M, you live with a chronic illness, stress can easily turn life into a living hell. To escape this hell, to share some positive inspiration, and for the sheer joy of dwelling on the lovely things in life, here are some of our favourite de-stressors…

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Reading time: 3 min
Dog Tuesday•Travel with dogs

Thinking about swimming with your dog?

12/09/2017 by microandfriends No Comments

 

[su_dropcap style=”simple” size=”5″]S[/su_dropcap]urely, we don’t need a life jacket! All dogs can swim… right?! Famous last words spoken in a pet shop, and then we left with a swim vest after all.  I wasn’t really convinced we needed one, but here is why it turned out to be a very good purchase (and yes, we did buy the vest with our own money, this is not a sponsored post)

Well, yes dogs can swim. However, even those who swim can have a fit of panic and start to ‘panic paddle’ instead of swimming. Here some reasons that might lead you to consider a life vest for your four-legged friend:

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Reading time: 6 min
Dog Tuesday•Travel with dogs

Holiday with your dog – going to Spain: Micro’s story

Microthedog looking at Pierrefonds
15/08/2017 by microandfriends No Comments

[su_dropcap style=”simple” size=”5″]M[/su_dropcap]y humans like to travel – and I love to be with them. I don’t mind travelling as long as I can cuddle with my humans.  Ever since I can remember, my humans take me to far away (editor’s note: Spain) for the Summer holidays. I love the beach! No, really I loooove it. If the window is open, I try to jump out and run towards it… – but my humans don’t let me. I’ll still keep trying, though.

Last year, we had a change in programme of how to get there. The two previous years, we drove down the entire way – with a pit/hotel stop in the middle. This time, we were going to try the auto-train as my humans told me. This meant I had to go into the travel box during the night – I don’t like the travel box. I knew it was going to happen when I saw G fighting to get the stabilising rods into it. And then there was a different routine to packing – I know routines! My humans make a detailed list – even with colour coding.

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Reading time: 12 min
Dog Tuesday•Travel with dogs

Holidays with your dog – Micro’s packing list

Microthedog approaching the border
25/07/2017 by microandfriends No Comments

I have my own little holiday bag. I know it very well. It holds every good thing! Things like the emergency tennis ball, floating toys, treats… My humans are trying to teach me how to pack things, but I prefer unpacking things… especially if they haven’t closed the bag’s zipper all the way.

My humans double check to make sure all dog tags are up-to-date with all our contact details (for abroad especially mobile numbers) and that every harness/collar has one (you just never know). 

They also usually check where the next vet (animal clinic) is, just in case.

Here is a list of things that you can find in my holiday bag when we travel abroad: 

Dog folder (imperative, and usually goes in M’s handbag/backpack) with

  •  EU pet passport (to check for the up-to-date rabies vaccination and tapeworm treatment stamp, which needs to be dated and timed between 24 and 120 hours before re-entering the UK)
  • Insurance policy papers (just in case)
  • Tasso registration papers (I wear the tag on my collar in case my humans get lost)
  • My old vaccination record book (from before I had my own pet passport)

For the dog folder, M has sewn me a two-tone white and blue vegan leather bag with a velcro flap. There is a big H on it (for Hund – dog in German). The letter is made from a spare piece of fabric. A fun bag (something like this) for all your papers.

Travel bag (2017 summer edition)

  • Cooling jacket (before, it was a cooling bandana)
  • Float coat/life vest  (read robinventures blog for detailed reviews of dog gear)
  • Collar
  • Food and water bowls (+ collapsible bowl, which always in the car)
  • Poop bags (though you can get them in every pet shop, not a drama if you’re running low in supplies)
  • Spare lead (always in the car)
  • Towels
  • 10m non-retractable lead in highly visible neon yellow (Editor’s note: in case monsieur Micro has a moment of “I don’t want to leave here” or dogs do need to be on a lead because of cliffs, wildlife, etc.)
  • Water bottle
  • Blanket
  • Baby wipes (you never know)
  • Baby shampoo
  • Toys this year:
  • Ruffwear turnup (my most favourite ball in the whole world)
  • Tennis balls (for playing in the river – they can get lost, although I get upset when they do…)
  • Safe stick (in small)
  • Kong Aqua – which survived longer than the Wet Wubba although I still managed to dismantle it within 48 hours
  • Ronnie the Rhino (which is in better shape than Piggie, also known as cochonet)
  • Deer antlers and a buffalo horn (or what’s left of if)

Emergency kit

  • Silver spray (Editor’s note: the Lila Loves It emergency kit it’s great, if you need to buy a full set)
  • Paw care
  • Solution to clear the ears (standard, from the vet)
  • Tick twister
  • Furminator (less for grooming, more to check for ticks after walks in the woods)
  • Kong Zoom Groom Brush
  • Nail clipper (standard from the vet)
  • Kinesiotape (also for my humans, because – you never know)
  • Some pain medication (see vet) – just in case

Our human emergency kit has a lot that doubles up for the me (gauze, bandage, medical disinfectant strips), We generally don’t take any medication – unless I’m currently on them – and prefer to see the vet where we are, if something goes wrong (to be honest, I prefer NOT to see the vet, wherever we are!!!). They know best about illness in the area.

My humans say that I will also wear a Scalibor collar (just not in when swimming), starting a week before we go. This is against mosquitoes, and was vet recommended and by people from the dog park going to affected areas. Leishmaniasis is a possibility, even though they actually haven’t seen the sandflies where we are going to go for a few years now. It’s not a dog only disease, humans (if you’re squeamish, skip this link – slightly graphic pictures) can catch it as well, it just easier to treat in humans than in dogs.

Our human emergency kit has a lot that doubles up for the me (gauze, bandage, medical disinfectant strips), We generally don’t take any medication – unless I’m currently on them – and prefer to see the vet where we are, if something goes wrong (to be honest, I prefer NOT to see the vet, wherever we are!!!). They know best about illness in the area.

My humans say that I will also wear a Scalibor collar (just not in when swimming), starting a week before we go. This is against mosquitoes, and was vet recommended and by people from the dog park going to affected areas. Leishmaniasis is a possibility, even though they actually haven’t seen the sandflies where we are going to go for a few years now. It’s not a dog only disease, humans (if you’re squeamish, skip this link – slightly graphic pictures) can catch it as well, it just easier to treat in humans than in dogs.

Also, different bags for easier travel:

  • Food
  • A couple of puppy pads (for the overnight train only, just in case)
  • My bed
  • A little dog paddling pool (which technically would fit into my bag, but it’s already packed with different gear.

Plus the new backpack for Micro – as a replacement for my old red travel bag. It carries up to 12kg so I should be way within weight limit. I’m just not very found of enclosed spaces!!! My humans say ‘let’s see how it goes’. Hmmpff. So far, I don’t hate it, but I don’t like to be kept in enclosed spaces…

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Meet the gang

 

Hello, we’re two expat friends (aka Tournesol and Tigerduck) and a dog (Micro-the-Dog, aka “the boss”). After living in London for 18 and 16 years respectively (or 5 years in the case of Micro), we’ve just made a leap of faith back across the channel and are building a new life in Munich. Thank you for reading our musings about the world, life, living with CFIDS/ME, music, crafts, dogs and other observations.

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