Snow Showers

Yesterday like most areas of the UK we got our fair share of snow showers and towards sunset when I was taking Zoe for her afternoon walk it was snowing on and off throughout the walk. This was taken between snow showers when there was a patch of late sunlight catching the top of the clouds and turning them yellow.

Zoe, you will see, was sporting her brand new red winter coat. For a gun dog with webbed feet she is surprisingly unhappy when she is wet and there is nothing she hates more than going out in the rain when it is also cold. So hopefully her new coat will make this a less traumatic experience. Sometimes when she is really cold she will just sit down and shiver. She has another green terry towelling jacket which she puts on after a walk to warm up if she is in the car which we jokingly call her smoking jacket.

She tends to avoid going into the water unless it is very shallow and will bark on the bank at the dogs which like to play in the river. She is also wary of going into the sea which is a shame as many of our walks are along the beaches of East Lothian. Even when we pick up the watering can she will run off to avoid getting splashed.

There is one positive side to her dislike of water, it works very effectively as a disciplinary tool. She has a spray water collar to which she responds very readily. This has been important for us as she has always had a dicky tummy with a tendency to diarrhoea which is exacerbated by her tendency to eat dog poo. No amount of yelling at her will stop her seeking out these tasty morsels and the water collar has been the only way in which we can restrict this behaviour. I apologise to those of you of a tender disposition for giving too much information here !!