So after a short absence while we took a little holiday, we are back, and apart from a weekend in the New Forest, we have no more holidays now until Christmas. I wrote a separate blog about Dog-friendly holidays, but needless to say we had a fantastic week in the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley. Out of all the places we've visited with the Hounds, this certainly wins the dog-friendliness award.
Anyway, as we now enter the last quarter of the year, it doesn't seem possible, but we do need to start turning our thoughts to the Festive Season. In all seriousness, my diary is already filling up for December, and it will be here before we know it. So if you want a pristine pooch for Christmas, book it up now. 
The weekend before we went on holiday, our Mr Buddy-Love Basset was involved in a kitchen accident. He has an incredibly bad habit of lying underneath the oven whenever anything is being cooked. To be honest, it's a miracle that an accident like this hasn't happened before seeing as he's done this since a puppy, and he's now nine. Anyway, I suspect that it is because of the five second rule (or in our house it's two seconds, five is far too long!). I was preparing the Sunday roast, and having pulled the chicken out of the oven, I was emptying the hot fat and juices into a jug for the gravy. The jug fell over on top of the worktop, and then onto the floor, or in fact, onto the Basset Hound that was lying directly underneath it. Initially I thought we'd got away with it, but then the screams from Bud were blood-curdling as the hot fat had obviously seeped through his fur to the skin. I went instantly into panic mode and threw a large jug of cold water over him (and Mr Furry!). He seemed fine in himself, and as I said, we thought we'd got away with it. I gave him some painkillers that I had leftover in the dog first aid kit and all seemed ok. Then we went away on holiday and he showed absolutely no ill effect from it. In fact he continued to lie directly underneath the hot oven while we were in our holiday cottage - talk about not learning from his own lesson! All would have been fine, until the Wednesday morning when through bleary eyes I noticed that his back was soaking wet. He had clearly spent the whole night licking the affected area. We assumed that a blister had formed and then burst, and it was itching him. His incessant licking had made the area wet and weepy, s
o the first aid kit came out again (I never go anywhere without a first aid kit). I continued to bathe the area in salty water and applied some cream to relieve the itching, but unfortunately by the time we got home, he had been licking at it so badly it looked rather nasty and I suspected it was infected. So our first day back home from holiday and the cone of shame is deployed and I clipped off the fur around the area avoiding pulling the scab so that the air could get to it. Off to the vets we go and £95 later we leave with a week's worth of painkillers, antibiotics and cream. So if anyone has seen us out and about this week and wonders what old scabby back has done, that's what it is. I'm loathed to take them on holiday again; it's an expensive business as we normally always end up at the vets when we get home with one of them, although this time of course the injury was caused before we actually left! So now all hounds are banished from the kitchen area while any form of cooking is going on; oh how I love the invention of baby gates!
Aside from all of this we are back to normal, although a couple of our regular walkers are now on their holidays, so we have a somewhat depleted gang this week and next. Grooming appointments are very scarce at the moment with my diary full up until the middle of November, hence my warning above about pre-booking for December.
This weekend sees Peach and I take on our Muddy Dog Charity Challenge at Hever Castle. 
We are all set and have our lovely bright t-shirt and bandana at the ready. I really really hate wearing anything orange, so I am going to try my hardest to get that as muddy as I can! Keep all your fingers and paws crossed for us that we both get through it without any injuries or damage, as I do not relish the thought of visiting our lovely vet again, or Worthing A&E! Mr Furry, Daisy and Buddy-Love will be cheering us on from the sidelines, and I hope to post a few pictures of the action afterwards. A HUGE thank you again to all of you that have kindly donated towards our sponsorship.
Enjoy your weekend whatever you're up to.
Much love
Sally xx
