Where the Wild Things Are

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

I have an eight month old Border Collie called Meg. She is far from perfect (and so am I).
Today she has been about 60/40 good. The 40 included chewing up my camera memory card which DH is sure he put safely on the mantelpiece. Every time I look down at this screen she takes a quick munch of the coffee table with her eyes on mine. This despite a 2 hour walk which included much in and out of streams.

We are boiling at home at the moment as have to keep the windows shut due to a swarm of bees in the garden. Fascinating creatures but I wish they'd chosen another garden. I can't let the dog out as he regards bees as sworn enemies.

You need my next door neighbour NCIS. He's going out most days to retrieve swarms at the moment.

He made the mistake of bringing one home and putting it in his back garden rather than taking it to where he keeps his bees last year and we had to keep everyone in for a few days until he could sort it out. He did apologise thought and it worked out quite well really, as it happened when Lurcherboy had bad SA and meant we had to be equally tolerant of each other for a while.

Pip thinks bumble bees are great fun. I keep having to dash into the garden and rescue him as he tries to play with them. Daft mutt!

It's always really cool downstairs in the front of our house as we are shadowed by an enormous ancient oak tree. I often don't realise how hot it is until I start getting ready to take the dogs out and then have to rethink my plans when I realise.

Lurcherboy has been hinting and giving me filthy looks all afternoon because we've not been out - until he just went out in the garden and game back in all droopy. Now he's flopped out in front of ds2 in the living room having a fuss instead.

Stoopid dog on the other hand is in and out the garden every five minutes giving himself heat exhaustion. Actually I think I'd better go and shut the back door for a bit before he does himself a damage.

The beekeeper has been now so only a few stragglers left, he said they should be gone by tomorrow morning so hopefully will be able to have windows open at bedtime.
DS is seriously scared of bees so will have problems getting him to open his bedroom window for days.

Forgot to say Happy Birthday Moose Hope you have a peaceful walk in the cool of the evening.

Well we're part way through Eric's first holiday, it's been a steep learning curve if I'm honest.The first night was tough, it took him until 2am to settle and he was up at 6am but he's back to his usual good nights since then.

He loves the garden and the fields where we are staying and he's a fan of the beach that the cottage looks onto. He's not so brave with the sea as it seems to take him by surprise every time a wave comes in.

He's made lots of doggy friends and has raced and chased them round the beach which is great to see and seems to have made great leaps in his manners when it comes to other dogs .

One yucky incident where he found a well decomposed large bird and carried half of it back to the cottage and wouldn't drop it for love nor money or a piece of ham. I was too squeamish to take it out of his mouth so we had a stand off and he wasn't impressed that I washed his face and beard afterwards

All in all I'd say a success and the weather has been brilliant.

Happy Birthday Moose.

Happy birthday moose!

I hope you've managed to spend your birthday money on YOU not dogs, dc or house stuff

Eek NCIS - bees!! One or two I can deal with but buzzy things en masse make me nervous

Glad the holiday's going well insanity - hope the dead bird didn't smell too bad - I still vividly remember the stench when our childhood labs rolled in a dead seal just before we drove back to London from norfolk ----not envy ...

Off to walk Fitz - here's hoping there aren't too many sunbathers still ...

Maz had a fab play with his buddies this morning and has now been deposited with the groomer. Turns out she is a BT owner too and seems lovely but I know I'll feel unsettled till I have him back. I wasn't this antsy leaving ds

Thanks Basil. Didn't manage to spend any of it in the end. Saw lot of things I like and some I need, but still managed to talk myself out of them all.

Fan, I'm sure he'll be loving all the attention. I am the same leaving my dogs. When we went to the festival recently I quite happily plonked ds2 with Mum without a second thought, then stressed the whole time about leaving the dogs in kennels.

Maz is back and looking smart but still beardy He is looking lean and lanky again but undaunted by the experience!

He looks very handsome fan.

I just took my two out intending to pootle under the shade of all the hedgerows and trees, so had both on lead. Another dog walker appeared, incidentally with the most gorgeous dog that looks like an enormous version of my Lurcherboy, but blonde. I have admired him before and even stopped his owner to compliment him when she walked past us on the school run one time.

So, she entered the park, let him off-lead and proceeded to walk down the path to one side, while he, stuck his tail straight up in the air and charged towards my two. I started click-treating Pip for being quiet, but the dog kept coming and stopped a few feet away, tail straight up staring at them. He looked friendly enough, but his staring really unnerved Pip and he started to wuff, then bark, then growl - all this time the owner carried on walking along the path on the other side of the park and made no attempt to recall her dog. There was nowhere for us to go, so I put my two in a down and tried to get a break in Pips barking to get in a 'quiet' plus clicktreat, but the damn dog kept creeping towards us. By this time his owner was quite a distance, looked over occasionally, but again, didn't call him back. Eventually he must have decided approaching would be a bad idea and turned tail and ran back across the park (still not to his owner though). Of course this could potentially suggest to Pip that if he barks at other dogs they'll go away.

I was so p'd off with his owner. As I watched he then ran straight up to a guy who was minding his own business practising his golf swing. As it happens the guy was ok about it, but this is a BIG dog, taller than Pip and probably Wolfhound cross, as he's really solidly built. He may be friendly, but letting him just run up to everyone and everything in the park is just not on. Ignoring the fact he spooked Pip, what if the golfer had been scared of dogs? Totally irresponsible dog walking.

Anyhoo, rant over. Big dog's owner walked through the park path once and out the other end, so they were gone quickly. We had our pootle, then a wander down some shady lanes and on the way back I stopped to cross the road, not noticing that right behind us was a golden retriever with it's head through a 5-bar gate staring at my two. I was gobsmacked that, although Pip couldn't/wouldn't take his eyes off him he didn't react at all, just stood calmly watching it watching him. I have never stuffed so many treats down a dog's neck so quickly in my life!

So, the rest of the walk was all good and the dogs are knackered despite not getting overheated - so all's well that ends well.

I shall be avoiding Big Dog in future though, not because of him - he seems lovely - but because his owner apparently doesn't have the slightest idea about responsible dog ownership.

Thats not good. Maz would do the same...which is exactly why I am so careful about letting him off. We have been fairly successful lately as I have been able to let him off to play with his friends and clip as and when distractions appear with good success. I try not to get complacent though!

Slightly better than the dogs that don't stop and jump all over him, like the ones that caused his nervousness in the first place, but still not great from Pip's point of view.

I don't tend to mind if the owners make an attempt to call the dog back and it gives them the proverbial two-fingers, we've all been there at some point. It was the fact that this woman literally sauntered slowly through the park completely ignoring her enormous dog running up to everyone and everything - even when it was clearly causing a problem.

From her perspective he's friendly, won't get into a fight and will come back to her when he's ready - apparently she is unable to see it from anyone else's perspective though or she wouldn't be so inconsiderate.

Even if it hadn't been hot today I wouldn't/couldn't have let my two off, because there were students sunbathing on the field and the guy playing golf - none of which would have appreciated being Lurchered and I didn't fancy a law suit if any of them sustained broken bones from being hit by a speeding pup that has no brakes. We all have to make judgement calls about when we can and can't let our dogs off and sometimes we get it wrong - that's ok - but she didn't even look in the park, just got to the gate, let him off and walked off in the other direction without calling him once.

Anyway, I'm going to let it go now, because the rest of the walk was lovely and Pip did really well not barking at the dog with it's head through the gate, so I shouldn't let it spoil our day.

Ooh Maz looks v handsome!

Daytime walks are a nightmare at the moment - the common where we usually go is wall-to-wall picnickers until about 7:30 at night - grrr

I was getting v grumpy yesterday - I've got so used to being one of the hardy few that I'm staring to resent all these interlopers

Me too Basil, I was walking along muttering about how out of the whole park they had to sit right in the middle of the field, so there's nowhere for anyone to let their dogs off - and if someone did and they got trampled on they'd probably be furious. There are picnic tables and benches, plus to areas away from where dogs are usually off-lead where they could sit and sunbathe etc, but they choose to do it right in the middle of the dog-walking area.

I know it's a public park and they're just as entitled to use it as me, but I don't see any of them claiming that right when it's pouring with rain - or snowing.

Oh gosh I suffer from over entitlement syndrome when it comes to the park too

We are used to our daily woodland walk being packed with people and their dogs to the extent that on a wet day when it's quiet I feel totally spooked and scared!

Moose that sounds "challenging". Why do people think it ok to leave a big dog to approach anyone without asking first? It makes me really cross and I suspect my DH might be slightly inclined this way despite my constant nagging advice.

Where we are walking towards a bend in the path, I won't let minty go round the bend without me as I can't see him once he's gone so how can I be responsible and in control of him? So I'll be calling him back before the bend, treating him, holding his collar if necessary, with DH exasperated with me because he thinks we should relax, let him potter on ahead and it will all be fine. You can see why walks on my own are calmer!

DH had a bit of a realisation on a recent walk as minty bounded up and over the brow of a hill ahead of us - by the time we reached the top he was charging down the hill towards a toddler who was rolling on the grass with her dad. I think my comment was "oh shit we've got no chance of getting him back". DH charged down the hill to reach minty AFTER he had collided into the toddler. It could have been awful. The reason it wasn't was the dad was so cool and was laughing, stroking minty, saying what a lovely dog he was, and reassuring us that his daughter was just fine about it all. Daughter was clinging onto her dad, not looking fine to me but I suppose her dad was trying to teach her to be confident with dogs. Really nice guy and we had quite a chat while getting minty onto lead, apologising etc.

I am much happier though when I have minty in my sight at all times.

Maz is soo lovely!

I am the same Mint, I never let the dogs go around corners or too far ahead of us, I call them back to heel and let them go again once I've checked it's clear up ahead.

My dh is also more laid back about it, but not to the extent that this woman in the park was today, he wouldn't let them approach anyone uninvited and would apologise and call them back immediately if it happened accidentally because he's not as observant as I am.

I was very pleased to hear that, during a four hour massive thunder storm, Finn remained monumentally uninterested. One less thing to think about.

That's good news NCIS. Pip isn't fussed by thunder storms either. The kennel staff were gobsmacked when they had a huge storm while we were away and neither of our two got worked up about it. Apparently lots of the other dogs wet and messed in their beds etc and she said she usually expects sighthounds to be more nervous and therefore worse with loud noises etc.

We've been for a long walk at the Lickey Hills today, as we had to drop ds1 off at his school to help out on Open Day. Had a really nice relaxed time, met a few dogs, both on and off-lead (mine stayed on-lead as I don't know the area) with no problems at all and met only considerate dog walkers that called their off-lead dogs back when they saw ours were leashed. (The off-lead dogs were fine with ours, as the owner called them to heel and then let them say hello individually once he'd checked with us.) It makes such a difference if everyone is considerate.

Both dogs are now spark out with happy looks on their faces.

Sounds a great walk Moose.

Are everyone's dogs panting like mad today? Minty is flopping out or pacing the house panting away. I'd be worried but my old dog used to do this in hot weather. It's be reassuring to know that it is normal though! I've told everyone in the house to be vigilant about water because minty can drink a pint each time.

Well we're home Eric traveled the three and a half hours faultlessly, we didn't even stop for a toilet break. Mind you he was on his best behaviour after pooing in the entrance to an arcade on the sea front Dh had him and didn't have the forethought to move him on when he started to squat

Walk sounds lovely Moose.
Maz hasn't been too panty today Minty. Dh took him on his main walk this morning and it threw it down so they were cool enough.

I took him on a trot round our local park at about half 7 and there was a wedding in full swing. Maz managed to make puppy eyes at a couple who were then feeding him cheese off of pizza at his blatant begging as he just threw himself at their feet! They were stood in the gateway or else I would have given them a wider berth. Cheeky mutt though.

Mine only get panty when I take them out - or Pip has one of his mad ones around the garden, but it's really cool in our house and they're mostly laid out on the kitchen tiles keeping cool.

No rain here - in fact it's horribly muggy. I just said to dh we need it to rain to freshen the air a little.

Great that Eric travels so well insanity, I've only ever had one poor traveller and it was a nightmare as we were living a long way from family and travelling home - a 3-4 hour journey every couple of weeks, so a puky dog really wasn't conducive to our lifestyle at the time. Fortunately she grew out of it, with a little bit of help from behavioural work/counter conditioning.

Argh! I give up. I finally braved walking the fields on my own this morning after yet again, the same dog (not the one from Friday another one) came hurtling across the park when my two were on lead.

This dog has done it several time, the owner always saunters up, saying 'oh you're so naughty, she deserves a telling off .... etc' as her dog leaps around and repeatedly charges at my two, winding them up in the process.

I have spoken to the owner at length, explained about Pip's history, that he's nervous of other dogs and may bolt out of the park if her dog chased him and also that my two are far too big and fast to run with her dog, that Lurchers have a unique way of chasing and playing that other dogs (and owners) often don't like as it's pretty rough and predatory looking sometimes, so I tend not to let them off to run unless I've asked the owner and I think the other dog can cope.

I've explained that I'd be worried about her getting accidentally injured - actually she squealed this morning as Lurcherboy managed to squish her, accidentally, just because she ran underneath him when he was wound up and boingy after her repeatedly rushing up to him.

She never puts her on a lead, even though she knows my two will stay on lead until we're well away from her and that I deliberately stay a good distance away. Her dog is teeny and could easily be badly injured if she let it join in when my two were chasing about at full speed, hence me not letting them do it unless the park is empty.

It's starting to feel like we only ever have bad experiences in that park these days, so I'm going to have to be brave and start walking the fields on my own instead.

It was lovely actually, there were birds of prey circling above the long grass, the track was newly mown and we had the place to ourselves. Unfortunately Pip managed to injure both his offside legs charging about in the garden at the weekend (haven't a clue how, as he didn't yell or even come in for a fuss). He has a bruised knee with a graze on it and a big cut on the inside of his elbow - how on earth did he manage that? As soon as I let him off to free-run in the field he went lame, so had to go straight back on-lead. He walked it off and wasn't limping by the time we got home, so I assume he's just a bit stiff with the bruise being on his knee (same place as his Christmas injury - just the other leg). Still, lead walks for a few days I think.

The wood pigeons in our garden are having a ball teasing Pip at the moment. Poor lad, they wore him out, taxing his tiny little brain yesterday by hiding under the trampoline then flying out and sitting on next door's shed roof watching him. He spent ages up the garden just standing there looking confused and circling the trampoline whilst peering anxiously underneath - after they'd gone! He just can't understand why they are never under there when he's there, but when he's by the house, at the other end of the garden, he can see them under there!

Poor Pip, he does go through the wars doesn't her moose? Grr to the dog owner not being more responsible.

Think we have had this discussion before but I walk all over the place on my own, I only ever meet other dog walkers and have never had a bad experience. We live pretty rurally I suppose, I wonder if that influences my thinking but I do feel safe and kind of 'refuse' not to iyswim?

My two dogs are still lovely, taught Hector the fastest spin you ever did see, which is causing much hilarity. Harry is no where near as fast but will do a mean 'catch', whereas Hector is utter c**p at this trick

He's hopeless needa.

I think the walking thing is just because I am generally quite an anxious person and - as you may have noticed, tend to overthink things. It started when I lived in Lancashire in a beautiful, but not safe to walk in area - I'd never really thought about it until then. I really enjoyed this mornings walk though, so will definitely make myself do it more often.

Love it when dogs do the 'spin' trick. My Wheaten girl used to love doing that one to show off. I am about to teach Pip the 'on your mat' thing in the hope of using it to help him settle when I'm out. Need to buy a new mat first though!