Walking back to happiness

What a fabulous time we had yesterday! At first we couldn’t work out what was going on – we didn’t go for a morning walk. And then, just after lunch we were bundled into the car. When we stopped I was a bit worried – I thought we had to see the vet, especially when Mum & Dad took us inside. But when we got inside there were quite a few other dogs, and over the next 10 minutes more kept arriving. I thought I’d died and gone to doggie heaven!

Anyway, it turns out that we were all there to go for a walk together. Mum said it was in aid of a pets charity. What a great idea! We loved it! There were 24 of us dogs!!!! And we ranged from 12 weeks to 12 years. We had a really long walk – it took all afternoon. We went along the river, so there was lots to see and do. There was the river itself, and lots of fields to run around in, and cows, and cow poo! When we got to the where we were going we all sat around in a pub garden while our owners had a drink and a chat. I got to play with some of the other dogs, especially a really nice young Irish Setter called Scooby. Then we all walked back again.

So here are some photos Mum and Dad took on the walk.


















Now, the more observant among you may be wondering why Dad hadn’t got any shoes & socks on at the pub. And that’s because Max went too far out into the current in the river and nearly drownded! Dad had to wade in after him – so his socks, shoes and trousers were soaking. Mind you, it was Dad’s fault – he was the one who threw the stick that Max went after.

But we had a really great time, and were gone all afternoon. All of us dogs got on really well together (although one was a bit nervous) and did lots of running around. Refreshments were available: beer & chips for the humans, or river water & cow poo for us dogs. I was a bit surprised that I was the only one who ran off to say Hello to the cows though – no one else seemed interested. And at the end everyone was talking about doing it again some day. I really hope so!

These boots are made for walking

And so, onto the subject of walks. I really enjoy walks. What I don’t enjoy is having to have a lead on! So when it’s time for a walk I skulk and hide. If I’m not careful though Mum/Dad go without me – well, I think they’re only pretending, but I’m not usually brave enough to risk it, so have to give in after a while. What I want to know though, is how come Max gets to get in and out of the car without having his lead on? Ok, I have a habit of running off down the street to investigate other gardens, and that really nice little alley I’ve found down there. But it’s not as though I go miles! And there aren’t many cars down our road. But no, I have to have my lead on to stop me running away.

On walks I’ve got wise to when we’re getting near the end and the lead is going back on again – so I stay well away, or at least far enough away so that Mum and Dad can’t get hold of me. They’re sneaky though. Sometimes they wait until I’m playing with other dogs, or saying hello to people – and then they get them to grab hold of me (the people, not the dogs, that is). While Max’s foot was getting better Mum decided I needed some more training, so she only took me out on my lead – I didn’t get let off at all. And that wasn’t much fun, I can tell you – although she did make up for it with lots of tasty treats.

Anyway, the weather has been much better, so Mum has been taking the camera out on our walks. There are lots of photos, but so that I don’t bore you I’ve chosen the best of them. This first lot are from the Roman Road and over the Heath.







Then these are from Wareham Forest. First, before Max’s operation.









And then after, when Dad was with us as well.

Dad and Max…



Then Max showing off







Then we move onto ME!




(Oops, bit of an ear malfunction there!)

Look at me – I’m almost swimming!



Sometimes Max has just no sense. I had to give him a very wide berth or risk getting stabbed with a long pointy stick!



Then there’s me & Dad…





Well, that’s it – hope you like them.

Oh, and one last thing. Dad – stop moaning about the typos. Those keys on Mum’s laptop are a bit small for a little dog’s paws!

I caught you out there in the fray

Oh no! Where did the time go? Mum forgot to remind me to update my blog and it’s been ages. And things have been happening. We’ve had two very nice men come round the house a lot. They’ve been doing work in the bathroom and kitchen. But they’re both very fond of dogs (well, I can’t really understand these people who aren’t) and so Max & I have enjoyed having them around. I got the impression that Max’s idea of helping them wasn’t their idea of helping though, so most of the time Mum tried to keep up out of the way.

I seem to have got lots of photos to share with you from our walks, which is strange really as Max wasn’t allowed out on walks for 2 weeks as he had to go to the vet for an operation to remove a lump from his foot. Which has been a real pain cos he’s had to wear one of those stupid Buster collars. I tried to tell him that he should have been like me and just left him stitches alone, then he wouldn’t have to wear it, but would he listen? So he’s spent 2 weeks bashing into me with the stupid thing. AND, it’s made it very difficult playing with him. First of all, it gave him an unfair advantage if he ran off with a toy, as I couldn’t grab it from the side any more. Then I couldn’t catch hold of his cheeks and ears when we play. In the end I devised a new strategy – I’d jump on him from behind and catch hold of the scruff of his neck and put my paws round his chest. That seemed to work quite well. Anyway, if you want to see how stupid he looked in that collar thing, here’s a couple of photos.





I think most of what I say has to do with walks, so I’ll leave that for a later post. In the meantime, we went over to see Pat and Eric a couple of weeks ago, which made me really happy. Here’s a photo of me in their living room.



And one of me with Pat.



And I’ll leave you of a few of Max & I with Mum on our walk round the duck ponds that afternoon.