Today I had hydrotherapy, but because it was together with Shunka, we decided to take a walk before swimming.
We went to Doomkerke which is about 20 minutes from hydro. It was a very beautiful walk. Sometimes you had the feeling that you were walking in private property because the environment was kept very beautifully and there wasn’t a lot of people around.
At some places there were little water puddles that Shunka and I used to cool down a bit, because it was hot outside. We walked by farms with cows and horses and at one of those places a Jack Russel Terrier suddenly emerged to protect his property. But we didn’t let that bother us and just left him alone.
At a certain moment, Shunka was gone and she wouldn’t come back. But then we found her. She was searching for ducks in some stinky water and after that we were constantly harassed by flies T-T
At hydro, I didn’t had to go in the spa, due to my hay fever. Shunka went in the spa and the water turned almost black. And we didn’t know why ^_^
Hydro was a great way to cool down after the walk, but sometimes I had to defend myself against Shunka. She was swimming over my butt.

It’s almost two weeks ago that I went on a little trip with Katinka and Shunka and yesterday was no exception. I went together with them to the Sahara in Lommel.
There I met a new dog, a female bearded collie named Zohra and I was in love. Don’t get me wrong. I still love Shunka, but I can’t help it loving all the females ^_^ and besides, Shunka also looks at other males.
Because I wanted to inspect her fully I got over enthusiastic and I had to be put back on the leash until I was calmed down. But luckely I got the message after a while and decided to not irritate her to much after that.
When we got at the little lake I was happy and I went directly in the water. Shunka was playing ‘it’s my toy’ with Zohra while I was relaxing a bit further.
In the afternoon, we caught up with a large group of people and other dogs (mostly Australian Shephards). One of those males shephards was even more interested in Zohra and I decided that couldn’t be. Zohra was mine and only mine. So I stepped in and defended her. Katinka corrected me a couple of times, but suddenly she didn’t notice it and that dog was again harassing Zohra in the bushes. And that put me over the edge. I walked to them and told him to let her be. He didn’t agree and that was the last straw.
As every other keeshond, I started to fight. My front legs went in the air and he followed me there. So we were fighting standing on our back legs. Katinka heard our growls and came running to us. She tried to seperate us and got bitten in the proces. The owner of the shepard finally came and we were both put on the leash. And that was the end of the walk. Katinka had to go to a doctor to check her bite marks and get a shot.
But I have to tell you, I’m proud of myself and I have the (little) battle scars to prove how strong I was.

Today I had to wake up early so that I could go to ‘t Zoute, a nature park in Knokke, with Katinka, Shunka and Jessica. Even though this isn’t that for from Ostend, it still took an hour to get there. But once we were there, it was fun all around.
The first thing I saw were lots of rows with trees. How I love that! All those trees to pee against. After that, you have woods on each side, but most of it is closed off for the public, because they are breeding areas for birds. During this road, we were followed by some people of the park to check if Shunka and I were always on our leash.
After those woods, dunes emerged. Instead of walking the human road, we took the horse road. That was hard, but there were all such pretty flowers by the side. Shunka and I saw lots of bunnies, but they hid very quickly behind the fences.
After walking the horse road, we went directly in the dunes. Those are a lot bigger than in Ostend and this means lots of running around to do. When we were almost at the border with the Netherlands, we turned back by the beach.
After we returned to the car, we went to the shopping center of Knokke and went to Tom & Co. And by surprise, a photographer was present, so Shunka and I got a quick brush and were of to get some pictures taken.

This weekend I went on my first trip to La Roche and it will probably be my last for that area.
It all started good. Friday afternoon, Katinka and Shunka came after her father and me for a 2.5 days camping trip in La Roche. Because it could become very hot, Shunka and I got brand new special collars to cool down. After we arrived there, we went for an late afternoon and evening walk. No problems there, but the real trouble began the following day.
While walking mountains up and down (beware, they aren’t that large) and playing in the little water streams to cool down, I noticed that my skin was feeling more and more itchy. When Katinka noticed it, she took a look at my skin and noticed the reddish color. But because of the weather, she was warned by Jessica that it could happen because of my allergies and hay fever. So she wasn’t all that alarmed. In the afternoon, Katinka’s father decided to stay with me at the camping location to rest while Katinka took another long walk.
When Katinka returned, doomsday was there. I was laying under the car because that was the coolest place and when Katinka called me, I crawled from under the car. I could hardly walk. My four feets were hurting like hell. When Katinka and her father inspected my skin again, they saw that is was as red as blood. And one of the spots on my right back leg was feeling wet. I couldn’t take all the itching anymore and was constantly licking everything so that the itch would lessen. Katinka and her father couldn’t stand my being so troubled and decided to return home. Around 9 o’clock in the evening, they called Jessica and told her everything and asked if she had anything for me.
Because she didn’t had anything that would immediatly work, she called the vet and he luckily picked up the phone (remember, this is on a saturday and it is late in the evening). He had some spray for me and she could go pick it up right away (no that what’s a call an amazing vet who loves his job).
After we finally got home, Jessica was shocked by the state I was in and started cleaning all the skin that was possible with cool, clean water. The itching lessened a lot with that. After that she treated the worst spots with antibiotics and used the spray on me. When she was done with treating me, she gave me a biscuit because I behaved very well during all that and decided to sleep in the living room so she could check up on me to see if I wasn’t to much in pain.
Sunday morning Jessica could take a better look at my skin and the redness had faded on my tummy and the wet spot was less wet, but still wet. So she repeated the treatment from Saturday evening again. And I think that will go on for a couple of days.

Today is a sad day. We had to say our goodbye to Sammy.
He was a proud dog and very pack oriented. He was the boss and Shunka and I had to listen. When he started getting older and wasn’t able to do his leader role, Shunka started taking over. She barked when something was wrong so that Sammy was notified.
If I was getting to wild, both of them would tell me. I’ve learned a lot from Sammy. I learned that I should be proud and stand up for myself. But eventhough I was physically stronger than Sammy in the last couple of years, I would never try to get a higher ranking position, because I had so much respect for him.
He also taught me how to pose for photo’s and protect Shunka.
Yesterday, I said my goodbyes without knowing that it would be the last time that I would see him. Katinka had carried Sammy outside, so that he could do his ‘business’ and while he was laying there, I licked his face all over. Lately I did that a lot more, because that made him more aware of his surroundings. But those were actually the last licks I would give him.
I always loved Sammy and I hope he’s running like he loved to do when he was younger in a better place and enjoying his eternal life in the afterlife.