DOG BLOG

Swimming

All this rain has its advantages… at least to dogs. Sanchez, Milo and Archie enjoyed a bit of splashing about at Chapel Common where we found a huge pond to play in.

Sanchez was most keen on the water. Each time I threw a stick in he was first to leap in after it. Once retreived he would do a mad, excited dash around in circles with Milo and Archie chasing him desperately trying to keep up.

Milo also got carried away in the moment and dived in after Sanchez. I’ve not seen him swim before!

Archie seemed less inclined to get wet. He seems to prefer his water-mud ratio to be a little higher in favour of mud. He did enjoy joining in the mad dashes outside of the pond however and joined in with a bit of shaking as Sanchez climbed out.

All a lot of fun!

An atmospheric walk at Bramshott

The mist up at Bramshott was fantastic today. Milo and I had a very peaceful and atmospheric walk amongst the trees, watching the steam rise as the sun hit the soaking ground for probably the first time in a month!

Some recent routes…

Since the weather has been so atrocious recently I’ve not felt terribly inspired to take my camera out… for fear of it drowning! Instead I thought I would record some routes on my GPS to share…

This was Tuesday mornings walk. I really like the woods at Henley Common but hadn’t properly explored any of the smaller paths. I spotted the Ironworks on the map and thought i’d take a wander in that directon. This is possibly the muddiest path in the world! Even the dogs were jumping the worst bits for fear of getting sucked in. The top part of the loop consists of that very special mud that sucks welly boots clean off your feet and is impossible to tell how deep it is. I nearly slipped over several times. Sid and Sanchez were filthy but seemed to enjoy it very much. Sid did some of his superfast running which was a little scary as he whipped past me while I was stuck in the mud, splashing muddy spray in every direction. Luckily the bottom half of this loop is very solid ground with nice ‘clean-ish’ puddles to wash off in.

For the next walk I decided a considerably drier route was in order. Bramshott is simply the best for wet weather walking…

Cross country exploring

Sid & Sanchez helped me explore a new walking spot on Tuesday at Henley Common. There are some nice wide and dry paths here which is great for the wetter months but also a lot of great cross-counrty spots to explore. We’ve been going cross country a lot recently as the dogs love jumping over obstacles and playing in the long grass.

BFF’s

Milo and Archie have been walking together recently and they are really enjoying each other’s company. Milo is a really playful all the time, he’s very pleased that he has a walk friend that actually want’s to play too! Archie has come on leaps and bounds with his social interaction. Hard to beleive he was quite nervous of other dogs a few months ago. Now, even with Milo who is very energetic and likes to play a bit of rough and tumble, he never seems even slightly nervous. Go Archie! Here is some ‘play time’ between the two of them… (Photos at Bramshott Common)

Beautiful Daisy

The lovely Daisy cat showed me around her garden again. I’m pretty sure that she wanted me to climb a tree with her. Don’t think that would go terribly well for me. Never mind Daisy, we had fun playing ‘kill the bit of grass’ instead.

Fun and Games with Milo

Here are some pictures of Milo on his walk at Bramshott Common the other week. He has been walking alone some afternoons so we have been playing a lot of games on the walk to make it fun. His favourite seems to be ‘You can’t get this stick off me’ and ‘hide and seek in the long grass’.

Speedy Sid

Welcome Sid! Sid has been joining Sanchez for a couple of morning walks each week. Here are a few pictures of him ‘in action’…

Sanchez has enjoyed his company too…

We have been taking to the woods with some cross-country walks recently. The dogs love it, lots of branches and obstacles to jump over or duck under. It’s also great to get off the paths which are becoming quite muddy now. Just need to try not to get too lost!

(Photos at Vann common Fernhurst)

Some new friends…

Meet the new puppies, Molly and Teddy. Half Spanish Water Dog, half Poodle, 100% bouncy puppy cuteness!

Lucy and I took the pups down to the river near their house for a bit of crazy running about and splashing in the water. Teddy found himself a prickly Chestnut casing and wouldn’t let Molly near it. He didn’t seem bothered by the prickles!….

We also met the beautiful Daisy cat last week. She gave us a grand tour of the grounds, including her favourite sitting spots, her favourite drinking spot and some great leaf-chasing spots!…

First Aid Tip #1

Study time! Between dog walks I am currently doing a Diploma in Canine First Aid and I thought i’d share some snippets of useful information with you all. Never know when it might come in useful!…

Pressure points: When an animal is bleeding heavily from a limb, pressure points can be used to slow the bleeding. A pressure point is where an artery passes over a bone. Pressure can be applied to ‘crush’ the artery against the bone and limit blood flow to a limb. Below is a picture showing the main pressure points on a dog…
Severe blood loss can cause death in only a few minutes so this one could potentially be a life saver!