Friday 31 July 2009

Roman Has Fleas!!

Roman has been scratching at his bum over the last couple of days and biting at it so I decided to do the “flea test” – you get a wet piece of paper and get him to sit right by it and then scratch him so that some hair falls off onto the piece of paper. If the dog has fleas they are easy to spot on the wet piece of paper. Unfortunately, Roman does indeed have fleas – I’m sure the cat has brought them in as he doesn’t have much contact with other dogs and the dogs he does are always clean.

My brother, Rich, popped to the vets for me to pick up a treatment for both Roman and Macy which I applied this afternoon. As a result, Macy has been kept in all night and I have not taken Roman out. By tomorrow it will have had time to work his magic so I will be able to take Roman running on the field with no problems.

Roman’s paw is a lot better now and the cream seems to be doing the trick. As soon as I have the boots for him I will start the intensive walking again. There is not long to go now before we set off so we need to be doing as much exercise as possible in the coming weeks. I’m positive that he will be more than capable of it from past experience though.

Gemma from the vet messaged me this afternoon on Facebook to say that she had managed to speak with someone at Royal Canin and they would be sending a free bag of food to the vets for me to get us started when we set off. It’s taken a while to sort it all out but I am really happy with the result – Roman’s dog food is pretty expensive, bearing in mind how much a 9 stone Rottweiler eats, so this will be a big help to us.

I have been looking for a trolley or cart for most of the day to be able to transport all of our stuff on when we are walking. If I have a full bag of dog food (12kg) and all of our equipment and water then the load would be well over 20kg and I think this might be a little much for me to carry 20 miles each day! As my friend told me he didn’t think he would be coming I thought it only prudent that I look for something.

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find something suitable – I have tried all different combinations of keywords on Google and just can’t seem to find what I am looking for. The nearest I have got is a gardening trolley but I can’t find anything suitably built that I could push, they all seem to be pull trolleys. I am planning on attaching Roman’s lead around my waist so that I have my hands free when I am walking to push something along.

I called a couple of companies up as I couldn’t really find much suitable. I was hoping that they may be able to point me in the right direction but the search proved fruitless. I will try again tomorrow but I just don’t know where I will find one! It’s not something you really think about but I have no idea where the best place to get something like that would be!

I have heard nothing back about Roman’s dog boots but a friend said they would buy some for him as sponsorship so I think I may have to take them up on that offer. It’s a shame that companies seem to be so unwilling to help with things like this. I would have thought that the publicity would be a good thing. The thing that really annoys me is that the majority don’t even have the decency to reply – a “no” is so much easier to take if someone takes the time to read what you have written.

I have been trying again to persuade my friend to come with me – I know he said no but I’m not the type to take no for an answer! Plus the fact, it really is a fantastic opportunity for him – I know if I had been offered this kind of thing at his age I would have snapped it up with both hands immediately. One of the things I regret most about my adolescence is not travelling and experiencing life for all that it is. Life is about more than work, I’m just glad I have the chance to do something like this now.

As it is, he seems to be waning on the subject. I reckon if I keep on at him then he might change his mind. When I started asking him he just kept saying no, then he started refusing to answer the question before moving onto a maybe. Tonight he seemed a lot more accepting of the offer and he has agreed to take my advice and speak with his parents to see what their thoughts are. I know any parents don’t like to see their kids move on to another country but I am sure they will see the opportunity here for him and encourage him – if things don’t work out he can always come back.

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/store/carp/barrows-and-trolleys

    take a peek at this mate

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  3. Hi Steve

    Thanks for the tip, I have just been looking on there. Unfortunately, nothing there seems to be suitable. The sort of thing I am looking for really needs to have sides, if you get me. I suppose it would look like a contained box on wheels really. I would ideally like something that has proper tyres (4 preferably for stability) and it would be best if it was something I could push rather than pull or pick up handles to push.

    Matt

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  4. Just make one then!

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  5. To be honest, I'm not very good at making things so I hope I don't have to!! My brother and his wife have actually recommended something to me so I will be checking that out over the next couple of days. It only costs about £60 too so it's not too expensive....

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