Yes the dog days of summer are upon us and finally the temperatures have gone up into the 90's where they belong. I just love the hot and humid weather and have only recently put AC in our bedroom for sleeping when it gets above the 90 degree mark. The rest of the house stays pretty comfortable because of all shade trees that surround our home. Poor Otis in his summer fur coat doesn't really like the heat and humidity and so he gets really lazy during the day. He can't sweat by panting like a dog, doesn't like to drink water our of a bowl (if there is anything but food in his little glass bowl he gets mad, and will pick it up with his teeth and hurl it across the room in protest and so he just sulks. He really is a bit of curmudgeon! I give him plenty of lettuce so he gets enough hydration, but sometimes he seems so hot and grumpy that I have to take extraordinary measures... like putting an ice-cube on his little head. The first time Gerry did that I thought it was funny but kinda cruel. Otis's eyes got real big and he got that panicky rabbit look on his face. It seemed that he was too scared to move, so he just sat there until the ice started melting down his face and then he shook his head, shivered and then did the happy bunny jump. After that he started hopping around the kitchen doing his little rabbit maneuvers (jumps and spins) and then seemed a little happier. Now when I see him looking hot and hang dog, I place an ice cube on his head and I think he really likes it. It must be refreshing, and then when it melts he shakes it off and then attempts to bite it with his teeth (a sneaky way to get him to sip some water. Afterwards he gets a little more active and then when he finally settles down he seems contented. The top picture shows him just after the ice cooling looking all snugly in his hay box (he has a separate one for his litter as he doesn't like laying in his own poo.) Isn't he the vision of contentment as he munches on a blade of timothy grass? His paws are held in front of him as if he was praying... probably for some cooler weather!
