Yesterday my family had to say goodbye to a much loved pet: our collie, Rosie, who had been ill for some time. It is always difficult to lose such a clever and affectionate member of the family, but it is comforting to know that she is no longer in pain, or struggling with a rare doggy disorder (an extraordinary dog like Rosie wouldn't settle for a common-or-garden illness).
I'm sending extra hugs to Sees Through the Eyes of Children and The Artist to whom she 'officially' belonged, although really Rosie was always in charge.
Rosie taught my Little Dog a lot of things - some good habits, some bad. And we will all miss her very much indeed.
Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts
Friday, 24 October 2008
Friday, 22 August 2008
Lessons in Dog Walking 2.
"WAIT!" bellowed a woman somewhere round the corner from where I was walking with the Little Dog.
"Well, you hurry up down on your side to match then!" yelled back a small boy, who suddenly appeared at the edge of the curb.
After a period of time, not very long, but obviously too long for an energetic young boy to wait, the woman of the previous bellow appeared level with him, but on the other side of the main road. She said, "OK, NOW you can cross" and as he ran across the side road I was walking down, she walked the same distance, much more slowly on the pavement on the opposite side of the main road, simultaneously shouting, "Don't run... Don't go any further... Stop!"
(Boy climbs on low wall at the park)
"Don't climb on the wall!"
"Yeah, DON'T! Get Down! Stop It!" shrieks a smaller child I hadn't noticed until now, standing with the woman.
It strikes me that there is an awful lot of unnecessary yelling going on here.
"Why not?" shouts the boy.
I try to pretend I'm not seeing / hearing any of this. The Little Dog is distracted by it, but with a few quiet words and a click of my fingers by her ear to get her attention, we safely and calmly cross the road with the Little Dog walking at heel, sometimes looking over her shoulder to see what all the commotion is about.
"Because I said you can't", shouts the woman, beginning to cross the main road so that she will be on the same side as the boy, "and quite frankly, I've had more than enough of you not doing what you are told! See, that poor little dog is better behaved than you are!"
Well, yes. But I'm not sure I'd call her a poor little dog. She is not the one being yelled at. And I suppose the Little Dog is at this point, slightly better behaved. BUT, I give her clear and calm instructions when to do / when not to do things, and she's not usually far enough away from me in the street that I have to yell these instructions. And I have her on her lead on main roads, so that even if she does want to run across a dangerous road, she can't.
Now, I'm not suggesting that keeping children on leads is a good idea. Actually it isn't. But giving them calm and sensible instructions before they do something is a good idea. And keeping them near you (holding their hand, perhaps?) on a main road seems like a good plan to me.
I wouldn't usually use the good behaviour of my Little Dog as a means to discuss good parenting. It really isn't a very sensible comparison in many ways. But this didn't start as my comparison; the yelling mother made it. And if she thinks it a valid comparison by which to teach her child something, then maybe it's sufficiently valid to teach her something too.
"Well, you hurry up down on your side to match then!" yelled back a small boy, who suddenly appeared at the edge of the curb.
After a period of time, not very long, but obviously too long for an energetic young boy to wait, the woman of the previous bellow appeared level with him, but on the other side of the main road. She said, "OK, NOW you can cross" and as he ran across the side road I was walking down, she walked the same distance, much more slowly on the pavement on the opposite side of the main road, simultaneously shouting, "Don't run... Don't go any further... Stop!"
(Boy climbs on low wall at the park)
"Don't climb on the wall!"
"Yeah, DON'T! Get Down! Stop It!" shrieks a smaller child I hadn't noticed until now, standing with the woman.
It strikes me that there is an awful lot of unnecessary yelling going on here.
"Why not?" shouts the boy.
I try to pretend I'm not seeing / hearing any of this. The Little Dog is distracted by it, but with a few quiet words and a click of my fingers by her ear to get her attention, we safely and calmly cross the road with the Little Dog walking at heel, sometimes looking over her shoulder to see what all the commotion is about.
"Because I said you can't", shouts the woman, beginning to cross the main road so that she will be on the same side as the boy, "and quite frankly, I've had more than enough of you not doing what you are told! See, that poor little dog is better behaved than you are!"
Well, yes. But I'm not sure I'd call her a poor little dog. She is not the one being yelled at. And I suppose the Little Dog is at this point, slightly better behaved. BUT, I give her clear and calm instructions when to do / when not to do things, and she's not usually far enough away from me in the street that I have to yell these instructions. And I have her on her lead on main roads, so that even if she does want to run across a dangerous road, she can't.
Now, I'm not suggesting that keeping children on leads is a good idea. Actually it isn't. But giving them calm and sensible instructions before they do something is a good idea. And keeping them near you (holding their hand, perhaps?) on a main road seems like a good plan to me.
I wouldn't usually use the good behaviour of my Little Dog as a means to discuss good parenting. It really isn't a very sensible comparison in many ways. But this didn't start as my comparison; the yelling mother made it. And if she thinks it a valid comparison by which to teach her child something, then maybe it's sufficiently valid to teach her something too.
Monday, 12 May 2008
Lessons in Dog Walking
Since teaching finished, the Little Dog has been spending more time with me. I can now get home at a reasonable hour to walk her, and I don't have to be in the office five days a week. As the weather has got better, I thought we might go exploring to see if we could find some different or longer walks to go on (I like a circular walk, so we don't have to stop and go back on ourselves). So, on Friday we crossed the bridge.
I've seen other dog walkers cross it, and thought it looked semi-promising as a dog walking route. I had decided to work at home, so I wasn't in a hurry to get into the office, it was a sunny day, and Little Dog and I like to be outside, so I thought Friday morning was as good a time as any to go exploring. So we explored.
I have a pretty good sense of direction, so I wasn't too worried about setting off on an adventure, and if we did get a little lost we could always turn around and go back. I was a pleasant walk alongside fields full of sheep - one of them eyed the Little Dog with great suspicion, although she was oblivious to this - then through some trees, along the railway line and then we arrived at a main road. I shortened the lead and we followed it in the right general direction. I was just starting to worry that we might soon end up in a different town when I saw a building I recognised, and thought I was on track for home. Then as we walked further it all seemed a little less familiar. We'd been walking for 40 minutes, and I was just about to stop and turn round when I saw a sign for a cycle path to the City Centre via the Canal and thought that was promising, so we turned off the main road and I slackened the lead so that Little Dog could scamper around if she wanted to, which she often does. We followed the lovely canal-side walk, looking at the moored canal barges and the ponies in the fields, meeting several other people out cycling, or walking (with or without dogs) and I let Little Dog off her lead to play with another dog we bumped into, and I chatted with her owner as they ran up and down between us. We then said goodbye, and carried on walking in opposite directions until Little Dog and I ended up back beneath the bridge we had crossed. A full, if large, circle.
All in all the walk takes around 1hour and 15minutes - although it depends on how much sniffing and playing the Little Dog wants to do - and we have done it every morning since Friday. I figure we might as well make the most of the lovely weather and the available walk.
I'm so glad we found the path, and didn't just turn back when I first started to doubt my direction. The last section of the walk down the canal path is so beautiful and peaceful, particularly early in the morning; it would have been a real shame to have missed out on it because I didn't go just that little bit further.
Maybe there's a lesson in that....
I've seen other dog walkers cross it, and thought it looked semi-promising as a dog walking route. I had decided to work at home, so I wasn't in a hurry to get into the office, it was a sunny day, and Little Dog and I like to be outside, so I thought Friday morning was as good a time as any to go exploring. So we explored.
I have a pretty good sense of direction, so I wasn't too worried about setting off on an adventure, and if we did get a little lost we could always turn around and go back. I was a pleasant walk alongside fields full of sheep - one of them eyed the Little Dog with great suspicion, although she was oblivious to this - then through some trees, along the railway line and then we arrived at a main road. I shortened the lead and we followed it in the right general direction. I was just starting to worry that we might soon end up in a different town when I saw a building I recognised, and thought I was on track for home. Then as we walked further it all seemed a little less familiar. We'd been walking for 40 minutes, and I was just about to stop and turn round when I saw a sign for a cycle path to the City Centre via the Canal and thought that was promising, so we turned off the main road and I slackened the lead so that Little Dog could scamper around if she wanted to, which she often does. We followed the lovely canal-side walk, looking at the moored canal barges and the ponies in the fields, meeting several other people out cycling, or walking (with or without dogs) and I let Little Dog off her lead to play with another dog we bumped into, and I chatted with her owner as they ran up and down between us. We then said goodbye, and carried on walking in opposite directions until Little Dog and I ended up back beneath the bridge we had crossed. A full, if large, circle.
All in all the walk takes around 1hour and 15minutes - although it depends on how much sniffing and playing the Little Dog wants to do - and we have done it every morning since Friday. I figure we might as well make the most of the lovely weather and the available walk.
I'm so glad we found the path, and didn't just turn back when I first started to doubt my direction. The last section of the walk down the canal path is so beautiful and peaceful, particularly early in the morning; it would have been a real shame to have missed out on it because I didn't go just that little bit further.
Maybe there's a lesson in that....
Friday, 14 March 2008
Little Dogs
It's hard to check your email with a dog on your knee.
And I'm discovering that it's even harder to write a blog post.
You see, at the moment my Little Dog spends most of the week at Supermum's house and usually the weekend at mine, although I haven't had her for a while what with reunion dinners and interviews down South. And when she's with me, she likes to be with me. She likes me to sit in the same spot so that she can comfortably go to sleep without fear of me not being there when she wakes up. And she likes to sit on my lap at all available opportunities. Usually, this would be on the floor - she likes to curl up on my legs if I sit crossed legged. I don't allow her on the bed or on the sofa - not that she takes any notice of this rule when I am not in the flat (or indeed in the room). But it seems today I'm not allowed to sit at my desk without company either. She has done this before when she was much smaller, and actually clicked send on an email I hadn't finished writing. Luckily, my employer to whom I was writing had cats and understood the problem when I sent the second part of the email with explanation.
You do have to understand though, when I say my Little Dog, she is not a lap dog. She's a mixed breed border collie sized dog. She was little when I got her and she still thinks she is. Hence, I'm typing a post with the (not so) Little Dog sitting on my knee...
And I'm discovering that it's even harder to write a blog post.
You see, at the moment my Little Dog spends most of the week at Supermum's house and usually the weekend at mine, although I haven't had her for a while what with reunion dinners and interviews down South. And when she's with me, she likes to be with me. She likes me to sit in the same spot so that she can comfortably go to sleep without fear of me not being there when she wakes up. And she likes to sit on my lap at all available opportunities. Usually, this would be on the floor - she likes to curl up on my legs if I sit crossed legged. I don't allow her on the bed or on the sofa - not that she takes any notice of this rule when I am not in the flat (or indeed in the room). But it seems today I'm not allowed to sit at my desk without company either. She has done this before when she was much smaller, and actually clicked send on an email I hadn't finished writing. Luckily, my employer to whom I was writing had cats and understood the problem when I sent the second part of the email with explanation.
You do have to understand though, when I say my Little Dog, she is not a lap dog. She's a mixed breed border collie sized dog. She was little when I got her and she still thinks she is. Hence, I'm typing a post with the (not so) Little Dog sitting on my knee...
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