Today was all about the dogs and Melek in particular.

First we were woken at 6 am by the sound of Mable trying to be sick! Sarah took her out and she continued to retch but produced nothing. It is probably due to her incessant scavenging on the beach, but we will have to keep an eye on her.

After that disruption we slept in longer than usual. The sun has emerged again, so after breakfast we went for a walk on the beach. Sarah spotted some men fishing, who have been in the same spot every day. They bring their cars, some plastic chairs and rods down to the beach and sit there all day fishing. We’ve not seen them catch anything. We do not even know what they are aiming to catch. This is one of the problems with travelling without knowledge of the local language: you can’t converse with most of the inhabitants and so have to make assumptions or even guesses, which may well be inaccurate.

Just Fishing

On our return from the beach I spotted a huge tick lodged behind Melek’s ear. The dogs have had the odd tick in England but this was a whopper: about half the size of a British one pence. Perhaps 5mm by 5mm. Sarah quickly located our tick extractors and with a swift lift and twist it was out and waving it’s eight legs on the ground. A quick squash with a stone and the tick was no more, but Melek’s blood was all over the floor!

Then, when Sarah examined the bite site on Melek’s ear, she saw another much smaller tick. The smaller tick extractors were found and the procedure repeated. Such was my excitement I forgot to take a picture, but next time out will come my macro lens.

Both dogs have had their regular anti flea and tick treatment, but we knew that travelling in Southern Europe stronger prevention methods would be required. Our vet had provided us with Scalibor collars for addition protection agains ticks, but also Sand Flies which can harbour diseases in this part of Europe. Out they came and on they went. Better late than never.

Melek models his Scalibor collar

With the heat now beginning to build, Melek’s fur, which was cut short before we left home, was becoming a bit long, so I decided to try to give him a trim. We’ve tried this at home but with limited success. I got out our dog clippers and quickly decided I was not going to get very far with them. Then I thought I would give it a go with the new human hair clippers Sarah had used so successfully on my luxuriant locks! With a number two blade in place, they were much better and I had soon finished his back and sides to an almost professional standard. Unfortunately by bending down in an awkward position I slightly tweaked my back.

Melek assumes the position in the barber’s chair for a no.2 all over. (He won’t be requiring anything for the weekend!)

Sarah finished off the much more difficult legs and underside after lunch and we now have a much cooler Melek. Melek is incredibly well behaved when anything is being done to him. You just put him in a position, including on his back, and he just stays still, like his in a trance. Mabel, on the other hand, hates having any procedure carried out on her and she took up a position under Basil to watch all the goings on with suspicion!

Melek – newly shorn

Tomorrow we are going to leave Camping Mimosa and travel north. I have a camper stop in mind, but whether we will be able to find it, after our shenanigans a few days ago, only time will tell.