Any which way...
In my attempt to be marginally fitter than I am at the moment, the dogs got dragged around the woods again yesterday afternoon. The husband has invested in a lead splitter for the two of them to make my life easier. For those of you who don't have two dogs, this is a normal lead which clips onto two short bungee straps, which are then attached to each dog, in the hope that the two of them will trot side by side like a couple of well trained ponies. Well that's the plan anyway....
So I had cause to use the lead splitter yesterday afternoon. There were a couple of horses joining us on the path, and Reg, who is easily bewildered, tends to take a sideways swipe at horses, primarily in the hope that one of them might play with him. This is the technique he has perfected with Percy, and it works very well, often leading to games of tag or chewy beardy face.
But I like to play safe, so I clipped the two dogs onto the lead, and walked slowly towards the horses, and it was now that it became apparent that the lead splitter does have its faults...
1. Our dogs travel at different speeds. Percy tends to plod along quite calmly, while Reg only has one speed, and that is top. This means that Percy has to walk faster to keep up with Reg. Watching them this afternoon, I decided that this is the dog equivalent of a treadmill, in that you have to keep going until someone switches the machine off (or releases Reg).
2. Leg-cocking can be awkward. Both dogs use the same leg, so depending who is walking on the left hand side, one of them will get an early shower when the synchronised cocking occurs.
3. No prisoners are taken if one of them gets a whiff of something good. Whoever's nose is en pointe for that afternoon will drag the other one to every bush, nettle, car tyre and gatepost to leave a 'calling card'. Once again, the dragged one will end up being peed on again.
4. You can't let the dogs fall behind you. Yesterday I was nearly wiped out as they overtook me, one on each side of me, the thick elastic wrapping itself around my ankles like a vice. At one point, I felt like I was running a three legged race on my own...
Reaching the horses, Reg decided that he had never seen one before (daft dog has the memory of a goldfish) so sat down and refused to budge. Percy, on the other hand, was keen to get past the horses, as he is sensible enough to know that once past them, he would be off the lead. So with Percy pulling and me pulling, our joint effort resulted in Reg's collar coming off. This was his cue to run like hell back towards the blackberry bushes which we had been sampling. Smiling apologetically at the horsey ladies, Percy and I turned back and retraced our steps back to where Reg was snaffling about on the floor, looking for fallen fruit.
We ended up going home the way we came, as nothing I did would persuade Reg to walk towards the horses again.
Even blackberries....
So I had cause to use the lead splitter yesterday afternoon. There were a couple of horses joining us on the path, and Reg, who is easily bewildered, tends to take a sideways swipe at horses, primarily in the hope that one of them might play with him. This is the technique he has perfected with Percy, and it works very well, often leading to games of tag or chewy beardy face.
But I like to play safe, so I clipped the two dogs onto the lead, and walked slowly towards the horses, and it was now that it became apparent that the lead splitter does have its faults...
1. Our dogs travel at different speeds. Percy tends to plod along quite calmly, while Reg only has one speed, and that is top. This means that Percy has to walk faster to keep up with Reg. Watching them this afternoon, I decided that this is the dog equivalent of a treadmill, in that you have to keep going until someone switches the machine off (or releases Reg).
2. Leg-cocking can be awkward. Both dogs use the same leg, so depending who is walking on the left hand side, one of them will get an early shower when the synchronised cocking occurs.
3. No prisoners are taken if one of them gets a whiff of something good. Whoever's nose is en pointe for that afternoon will drag the other one to every bush, nettle, car tyre and gatepost to leave a 'calling card'. Once again, the dragged one will end up being peed on again.
4. You can't let the dogs fall behind you. Yesterday I was nearly wiped out as they overtook me, one on each side of me, the thick elastic wrapping itself around my ankles like a vice. At one point, I felt like I was running a three legged race on my own...
Reaching the horses, Reg decided that he had never seen one before (daft dog has the memory of a goldfish) so sat down and refused to budge. Percy, on the other hand, was keen to get past the horses, as he is sensible enough to know that once past them, he would be off the lead. So with Percy pulling and me pulling, our joint effort resulted in Reg's collar coming off. This was his cue to run like hell back towards the blackberry bushes which we had been sampling. Smiling apologetically at the horsey ladies, Percy and I turned back and retraced our steps back to where Reg was snaffling about on the floor, looking for fallen fruit.
We ended up going home the way we came, as nothing I did would persuade Reg to walk towards the horses again.
Even blackberries....
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