On our excursions I have noticed one or two things, not just about Cover, but about all of our pooches.
Clover is an easily excitable girl and will begin a playful bounce around the park as soon as she realises that Sym is ready to chase his ball. It starts simply with her legs nice and straight and she gradually, after a second or two of tip-toeing, begins to bounce! Then she will tear after Sym in the following fashion:
| 1. | Front legs in 'gallop' mode |
| 2. | Back legs splayed (claws too) as if braking |
| 3. | Tail gyrating clockwise like a propeller |
| 4. | Tongue out as far as is possible |
It looks funny, but it's obvious that she is now enjoying her outings and maybe it's time to introduce her to new area's (she coped well with Barry Island).
Sym has a mean streak when it comes to Clover and Sox ... he waits for them to sniff a clump of grass and then tries to pee on their heads.
In accordance with his collie nature he ...
| 1 | does everything at break-neck speeds |
| 2 | will not stop for water, mud or ice |
| 3 | eat's his tennis balls |
| 4 | jumps in the river where it's at it's dirtiest |
| 5 | loves meeting other dogs |
| 6 | loves putting other dogs in their place |
| 7 | will not tolerate another dog pinching his ball |
Sox on the other hand, as I have told you many times already, just ignores us and does her own thing unless I get the cheese bag out then she comes at the gallop (a dainty gallop as befits her lady-like status).
How she knows that the cheese bag has left my pocket is and absolute mystery. She is quite often over two hundred yards away when I pull it out (cheese bag again), but she still seems to know. She's an old girl and her hearing and sight isn't what it used to be.
A few days ago (on Monday I think) we were in the park on the waste (conservation?) area and all was well ... until Clover got a whiff of something in the grass that made her tail disappear between her legs and she started to shake.
I had a look but I couldn't see anything there that would worry her. Just grass, grass and more grass!
She ignored all my efforts to comfort her and refused to move from that spot.
Sym, being a nosey bugger, barged his way past her and also had a look. Within a few seconds of quite literally sticking his nose in, he'd decided that the best course of action was to pee over the spot and then get back to some serious ball chasing.
The change in Clover was immediate!
She stopped shaking, her tail began to wag and she took off after Sym in a clingy "my hero" sort of way.
For some reason she adores Sym. She'll follow him everywhere, except into the river, and tries so hard to keep up with him so, I suppose, Sym peeing on that spot was, to Clover at least, the doggy equivalent of Detective John McClane rescuing his wife from the hands of evil terrorists in the Nakatomi Plaza.
Anyway ...
... the rest of the walk was uneventful except that there was a pair of heron's perched on a log in the river drying their wings and I had no camera ... again!
if only the human ladies would flock adoringly to a man who peed on the things that scared her. then i'd bet it would be more than the cheese bag you'd be pulling out.
ReplyDelete