I went to my parents place for the weekend with Otis, just seven miles from me on the coast. I decided to take Oatsy on a long walk from sussex beach to Bracklesham bay, anyway, we were going down a track to the beach and Otis off lead got into a field of cows, mad daft pupster decided he wanted to play with the cows, he danced around them for about five minutes, very dangerous, got him on the lead after shouts of treat Oaty ! Now have to be aware of fields of cows, must keep im on a lead. Lovely walk along the beach. Last night he was a greedy oppertunistic lab, I made a lovely rhubarb and apple crumble, my dad and i had some, I left it on the side, he counter surfed his way through it, my brother who came in late, got none, he was most annoyed ! Today we walked from Chichester marina along chichester canal to home. Met some nice people, but one woman was really off, she had a small snappy dog who Otis ran to and danced around wanting to play, she swept him up and said, to me , he should be on a lead meaning Otis, and I said, he is only trying to play, and she snapped , some people dont like that ! I tried to ignor her, but it got to me a bit, he didnt need to be on a lead, he was having fun. We are home now, and so tired, going to give Oatsy a bath tommorow, his coats a bit dandruffy and hes moulting, hes been in the sea paddling and canal. He dosent seem to have the confidence to swim, and I dont want to push it and frighten him, he likes water though, and Im sure he will. Hope everyone else has had a good weekend, what did you all get upto ? Maggie XX
Re: weekend with Otis Hi Maggie, sounds like an eventful weekend but with some lovely bits too. Are you still waiting for the explosion after the crumble? With regard to the dog owner, if she had her dog on lead it may have been because it's a snappy dog so it might be wise to put Otis on lead then he won't get into any trouble even though he was having fun another dog might be nervous, aggressive or there could be lots of reasons why some dogs are on lead, best to be safe than sorry . Have you tried giving Otis Cod Liver Oil for his coat, it helped Charlie's dandruff and he doesn't get it any more and I never bath him and he's 3 1/2 years old . Not a bad weekend here thanks, just bits around the house and some lovely walks, just nice to relax xx
Re: weekend with Otis Hi Maggie, sounds like a mixed weekend indeed! Lilly has only ever been barked at by little terrier like dogs - I think they seem to be quite territorial (excuse the pun!). I must admit I tend to rein Lilly in if there is one on our walks. Never tried her around cows. Think I would be giving them a wide berth - scary beasts. I remember ending up in the same field as some and I have to say I was scared enough to jump a fence to get away.
Re: weekend with Otis Sounds like a very eventful weekend - hope you got to relax a little bit! Livestock are always a tricky call. We have cattle grazing free on the heathland we walk on- lovely steady animals, but huge, and some have long horns! A few more have been added since this article was written: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-19528491 Sometimes we come round a corner and they're just there, and once in the autumn on an early walk when dawn was breaking we stumbled right through the middle of them, all lying down asleep The good thing is we're both pretty used to them now, and Merla treats them respectfully but calmly. Not true for all the other dogs I've seen though. What really makes me nervous is sheep (for their sake, not ours, particularly this time of year) as they do tend to run, and the situation can easily get out of hand. Here we are trying to C&T calm watching at a safe distance at our local agricultural college: Although you can't tell, they have a fence and a kind of natural moat in the form of a channelled stream keeping them safe from visiting dogs.
Re: weekend with Otis Gosh Maggie you had some adventures......we talk hypothetically about getting a base in the UK that we could use for the Summer.....if we were back for a 2-3 months we would bring Dexter....of course!( I type that as if I'm calm about the whole idea ,but I'm not,I'm freaking out ;D) anyway as much as I dream about Dexter having beautiful ,green ,sometimes muddy country walks.....I am perplexed about how a mature working lab who's met one rabbit in his life would cope with the livestock and wild critters he would meet! ;D can you imagine! Fenton's escapade wouldn't even come close! Oh blimey,can you imagine my advice seeking posts :-[ :-\ ;D x
