In the Lake District they're called 'Fells'. I believe its from the Viking word fjell which means mountain. It's my home turf.
Thank you @Boogie for telling me about Oak, how tragic that his puppy walker died suddenly. No wonder he looked a somewhat sad, his little life turned upside down (though I am sure his new puppy is excellent) and then being poorly.
I absolutely love the photos of all the GD's. What a sad story about Oak, but also a fantastic moment when he recognised the puppy walker.
As Mags mentioned, he's actually 2.5 years old and is now a successful working guide dog - so even more remarkable that the woman he was overjoyed to see was someone he remembered from two years ago when he was only five months old.
It was a bit of a quiet day for the Labratour, mainly working in the lobby of a Holiday Inn and driving down from north of Birmingham to Somerset. With that in mind, today's post is a bit of a blast from the past: a doggie tour of Cornwall! On my last day of holiday in Cornwall - which seems a VERY long time ago - I visited Padstow and Port Isaac. Padstow was the doggiest place I've ever been. I can't even express how doggie it was - they were literally everywhere. I could have happily just sat on a bench and taken photos of dogs all day long. It's definitely now on my bucket list marked "Places I Need to Go Back To".
Port Isaac is most well known outside of Cornwall as the filming location for Doc Martin plus Saving Grace and the original BBC Poldark. I was a bit disgruntled by the high parking fees for a car park that was a 20 minute walk from the centre of town...but once I got into town and saw how tiny it was (and how many tourists there were, even on a grey and drizzly day in late September), I totally understood. If I lived there, I'd probably vote for the tourist car park to be even FURTHER away from town. It was a really lovely and interesting little place, with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Not so many dogs compared to Padstow, but a respectable canine representation nonetheless.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!! Where’s the “Love” link? Just loved reading about your past few days. My mom and I did a binge-watch on Sunday of Doc Martin she’d asked me to record for her. And now I’m seeing your pics! Ironically the episodes we watched all included the Doc throwing the dog out of the house at every opportunity. Is that tank of a puppy two months or two weeks old? I wish you had a film crew with you. Have you considered pitching the Labratour as a TV show, I know I’d be glued to my seat.
Oh my...i’ve Missed this thread for about a week and getting caught up has been so fun! Love having virtual Forum visits with you, Emily. Thanks for sharing all the ups and downs. You have a lot to process but you are making progress! If you ever want to do a Labratour in the wilds of Western Canada, I’m your gal....
Big day for the Labratour - pub with Pongo and @Rosie ! Really just two weeks old. They did look like little tanks - those were some very well-fed little pups! I'd need someone to play me, then, because I do not do front of camera. I work with video crews as part of my job (my REAL job, not Labratouring) and I'm always "kiss-the-ground-grateful" that I can sit comfortably BEHIND the camera to conduct interviews. Maybe the solution is to continue the Labratour post puppy pickup...then the PUPPY can be the star? I always said that Brogan was like George Clooney (well, before he became all staid and domesticated) and I was just his personal assistant, happy to stay back behind the scenes while he basked in the daily public adoration. Hey, you never know. We've already established that an Australian Labratour is required, why not Canada? But can I maybe wait until it thaws out? Brrrr!!!
They are big for two weeks - not little grubs! (In your original post I thought I read two months!) If you ever change your mind about a Labratour doccie, I’ll be the first to watch it!!
Pongo's Big Day Out This is Pongo, a kind and gentle Labrador. One day, Pongo's humans said to him, "Today, Pongo, you are going to a pub'. You've never been to a pub before, but they have food there and you will really like it. But first we're going for a walk, because then maybe you'll be better in the pub." Well, all Pongo had to hear was "walk" and he was dancing around the house. He just couldn't wait! Yay! Yay! A walk! And then a pub! Whatever that was! So Pongo's humans and and this other human who liked to pat his head and smelled liked LOTS AND LOTS of dogs (and who was therefore strangely appealing) all piled into the car. Pongo's daddy human squished into the back seat of the car with Pongo, which Pongo thought was very humorous and convenient as it made it much easier than normal for Pongo to drool on him. Once in the woods, it was drizzly and cold, which made the humans say, "Grumble, grumble, grumble". Humans do that a lot about weather when what they should really be doing is trying to find a big puddle to jump in. "Silly humans", thought Pongo. The walk didn't last too long due to all the grumbling, but it was just fine for Pongo until daddy human decided to wash Pongo down with a bottle of water and a towel - right there in public. "Argh! How embarrassing!" thought Pongo. "You can't go into the pub looking all muddy, Pongo," said daddy human. "But now I don't wanna go anymore if I have to get all clean," thought Pongo. Even though it was a short walk, he was proud of his mud. And now daddy human was ruining it! This made Pongo very sad. All back in the car! And to the pub! "Well, I've earned this pub thing now, haven't I?" thought Pongo. But wait? The car stopped on the road and daddy human got out. It wasn't even at home, but all the way across the field. "No, no, noooooo!" cried Pongo. "You can't leave daddy here in the middle of no where! I can't go to the pub without daddy! I'm so sad, soooooooo sad!!!!! Aaaahhhhooooooo!" "Poor Pongo," said smelly dog lady. "Poor Pongo" said mum human. "Poor Pongo," thought Pongo. But then the three arrived at the mysterious "pub". What would it be? Would they have biscuits? Would there be other dogs? Would there be puddles to jump in? Just like that, Pongo forgot about daddy human. (Sorry daddy human). Pongo's mum human, smelly dog lady and Pongo headed into the pub. Pongo wasn't all that impressed. It just kind of looked like home though not nearly as nice. "Dogs in the bar?" asked human mum. "Yes" answered a stranger lady. Through the door and into the "bar" was the magical land. Another dog was there having lunch with his humans. Pongo wanted to play but mum human said, "No Pongo, not now". Smelly dog lady even tried to arrange the chairs so that Pongo couldn't see the other dog. Now, that was just rude. "Ruuuuude, rooooooode, rooooo!" said Pongo. "Hush", said mum human. "Gosh, he's shouty", said smelly dog lady (whom Pongo was starting to feel less fond of). But suddenly there was stranger lady and she had COOKIES. "Oooh, I like this stranger lady. This kind of makes up for smelly dog lady turning all critical of my bar skills". And so he ate the cookies. And tried to pull his human mum behind the bar. He almost succeeded, being the size of small pony and all, but human mum is pretty smart. She got him to play games that made him forget about the stranger lady. "Don't touch that until I say so, Pongo", said human mum. "I'm hypnotised by the sight of cookies on my big glorious feet," said Pongo. Human mum and smelly dog lady got lunch. Pongo may have never been in a pub before, but he knew all about lunch. Feeling more in his element, he settled right down and waited for the fish and chips (and the occasional pea) to come his way. "Mum ALWAYS shares her food with me," thought Pongo. And so human mum shared her food. Even smelly dog lady shared her food (a little). "This pub life is pretty good," thought Pongo. "You're being really good for your very first pub trip," said smelly dog lady. "He sure is," agreed human mum, as she gave Pongo another chip. And when all was left was peas (which no one ever really wants anyway), the three headed back to the car and back to the house and back to human daddy, who hadn't gotten lost walking back home after all. And Pongo was tired. And life was good. The End.
A huge "thank you" to @Rosie , her OH and glorious Pongo for a great day out. Pongo who, after the past month of looking at field labs, does indeed now look as big as a pony to me. I really appreciated the friendly ear, the excellent advice and the wonderful company. "Hasta luego"!
Fantastic story! And so great to see you again, @Emily_BabbelHund. Pongo is terribly proud to be part of the Labratour. Have a great final few days of Labratouring, then enjoy all the "going through notes and deciding what to do next" stage. Big hugs from Pongo and his humans!
