Skip to main content

Wild and Free!

 


Today, we decided to let Nell off her lead when we took her for her walk, and to let her run loose! I know!! Scary or what??? Time to test her recall, to see if she would stay within our sight-line or run for the hills, never to be seen again. 

There is a lovely country park about half an hour’s drive from us, which is actually the site of an old colliery. It is well furnished with a variety of paths and routes, full of wild life and varying terrains, and it is also well away from any roads. The perfect testing ground. It’s not too busy, either; mostly other dog walkers and horse riders. 

At the park, we walked up a hill and took off Nell’s lead. She trotted alongside us for a while, sniffing and rootling in the undergrowth, then stopped and did a poo. As we walked along, I think she began to realise that she was off-lead and she began to explore further, and when we reached the top of the hill she went absolutely berserk, running in circles and enjoying the wind in her fur! 

We walked for an hour, and every time we called (or in Andy’s case, whistled) Nell came flying back. Sometimes she got a treat of a bit of dog biscuit or nubbin of cheese, and sometimes she got verbal praise. Not once did she snatch the treat and run. But she’s not a food snatcher - she is very gentle when taking food. And if she was ahead of us and we changed direction, she noticed immediately and came after us. 

She also got herself plastered in mud, so had a bath when we got home and now she is fluffy, scented and exhausted! All in all, a successful outing. Nell being off lead makes a much more pleasant walking experience for us all.

(P.S Andy apologises for the quality of the video only he was juggling a phone, dog treats and a bag of poo all at the same time.)





Comments

Anonymous said…
Brilliant! Well done. Your hard work is paying off
KJ
20 February 2024 at 05:33
Denise said…
I was genuinely chuffed, KJ, at how good she was! And she loved it - the area is such an interesting and varied one for dogs to explore.
20 February 2024 at 07:11
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Frosted Dawn Enigma

The decorators are in at the moment. Stairs and landing. Given my previous history of 'Hoo Ha Occurring on Stairs ' - reference the Trapped Under the Sofa Incident and the Foot Wedged Between Bookcase and Stair Rise Debacle - I thought it wise to pay for professionals to decorate the stairs and landing rather than get myself in a mix with ladder and plank combinations and achieve the Magic Three of staircase accidents. The decorators are a father and son combo who go by the  names of Craig and David. This automatically causes me entertainment. 'Came in on a Monday, prepped, filled and undercoated, back on Thursday, first top coating, by Friday finishing touches...' Okay, not as frisky or well-scanned as the original song, but you get where I'm coming from. Anyway, before they started the job Craig asked what colour I wanted for the walls. 'Same colour as the downstairs walls, please,' said I. 'Dulux Frosted Dawn.' And then white for ...
2 comments
Read more

Day 1 - Decisions Are Made Beyond the Author's Control.

‘Well,’ I say, looking at the expectant faces gathered around the huge table in the Great Dining Hall of Much Malarkey Manor, ‘I didn’t think it was going to happen this year, but it is!’ There is a sharp intake of breath as everyone wonders of what I speak. I’ve been muttering about all sorts recently, and I’m not talking liquorice here either.   ‘The Much Malarkey Manor Annual and Traditional Christmas Story!’ I say, and wait for the expulsed air of relief to settle before I continue. ‘I thought we had done it all. I thought we had covered every Christmas story there was. I’ve been wracking my brains for a full two months now, trying to come up with something we haven’t done before and then it hit me! We haven’t done a version of one of the Great Christmas Films of Yore!’ ‘Your what?’ says Mrs Slocombe, who is more interested in the selection of pastries I have brought to this breakfast meeting, because that is what one does, isn’t it? Eat pastries at breakfast...
8 comments
Read more

Sun Puddles

A few weeks ago, I met up with a dear friend for a meditation and healing afternoon, both of us being light workers on the spirit pathway. It did me good to re-engage in a bit of focused energy channelling (because I have let my practice slip somewhat) and during the afternoon the words ‘sun puddles’ popped into my head.  Now, I know this wasn’t my human brain thinking these words because I have never heard the phrase before; when I arrived home, I looked it up and said to myself, ‘Aaah, you mean sun spots!’ This is a sun puddle... ...there! That thing that Flora is lying on. No, not the sofa - the warm patch of sunshine on the sofa. Here are Flora and Bambino sharing a sun puddle... This proves that no matter how much they scrap with each other and try to denude each other of fur all over my rugs, they secretly share a mutual and fond admiration. I think. And here is Bambino on a sun puddle that has come to rest on my legs... It’s his casual, ‘I’m so cool’ pose. Metaphorically coo...
3 comments
Read more