WEATHER-wise, haven’t we had a glorious few weeks of late? I must say that I personally love the sunshine, but for many dogs, especially those such as Jennifer my oldest Cavalier, this is not always the case.

Aged 12 years and seven months, with a significant heart murmur, it is imperative that she keeps cool and so this year, for the first time ever, I have fully clipped both Jennifer and Brigadier.

Admittedly, not the most stylish haircuts and I am sure that a professional dog groomer wouldn’t be overly impressed, but the object of the exercise was welfare as opposed to fashion and now both dogs are so much happier.

As a volunteer with the RSPCA I have recently been involved with their current dogs die in hot cars campaign, giving out leaflets and speaking to members if the public but sadly, even amidst all the hype and publicity, we are still talking to owners under the mistaken impression that it is okay to leave a dog in a car, on a warm day, if the windows are left open or if they are parked in the shade, but in actual fact, this is still a very dangerous situation for the dog.

A car can become like an oven very quickly, even when it doesn’t feel that warm outside. For example, when it is 22 degrees, in a car an unbearable 47 degrees can be reached within the hour.

Older dogs, overweight animals, dogs with health issues and breeds with short noses are all at greater risk in hot weather, but it’s not only in a stationary car that a dog can over heat.

Unlike us, dogs can only sweat through their paws and they also eliminate heat by panting. Heat stroke occurs when the body can’t deal with the excess heat, and their temperature rises above normal levels. The dog is then no longer able to self-regulate his temperature.

In my neck of the woods, I am still seeing folk throwing balls repeatedly for their dogs to chase and sometimes, this is during the hottest part of the day. If you have a dog who enjoys a good game of throw and fetch, they will run and chase until they can physically run no more and by then, it might be too late.

In that way, I suppose I am quite lucky in that my dogs are of the ilk that if I throw something away, then I can jolly well go fetch it myself.

The cats, on the other hand, adore the sunshine but even they have been searching for shady places of late, with the rose bush being a favourite spot for Teddi.

But, as I have mentioned before, Sam the tortoise really does come into her own when the sun shines, developing a fairly insatiable appetite to boot. With Sam it is not a case of make hay while the sun shines, it is more a case of eat as much as you can, and then a bit more besides.

Last week, I had my granddaughters stay for a few days and Maisie brought with her baby Jack, complete with dolls pram. On the last day of their visit, baby Jack was placed in the pram, for his mid-morning nap, while we girls painted our nails.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the doll’s pram was moving slowly across the room seemingly, of its own volition. Not quite knowing what to expect, I slowly rose to my feet, only to find that Sam the tortoise was actually in the sitting room and trying to walk beneath the pram.

Unfortunately, as her shell didn’t quite fit underneath the back axle, the pram was moving with her as she trundled across the room.

To reach this stage, Sam had successfully negotiated a step up from the garden.

She had then made her way across the conservatory, through the kitchen and made a right turn into the room in order to find us.

Fortunately, baby Jack remained undisturbed throughout the episode and Sam was rewarded with a strawberry, in recognition of her sheer ingenuity and determination.