We have two dogs… an insane black Labrador called Snoopy (a.k.a. Stupid), and an old Australian Blue Heeler (Cattle dog) called Kit. Snoopy is only a few years old… 4 I think… can’t be sure as he was huge when we got him. Kit on the other hand is nearly 12 years old… or in ‘dog years’… around 84 years old. We’ve had her since she was a few weeks old.
Because she’s been with us so long she’s got used to getting her own way. Yes she’ll come if she’s called… but only if she wants to. And if she doesn’t want to come… well she just doesn’t! 🙂
This morning as is becoming usual I staggered down to the bus stop with the wife to see her of to work. The kids have long since stopped coming along, preferring to lie in bed of a morning quietly festering away. However… the dogs have little choice so come along too.
Snoopy is all for walking… he never gets enough… Kit on the other hand has become less inclined towards exercise as the years have drifted by, preferring to lie around in bed like the kids. Still… with some persuasion, she comes.
This morning … as usual… the wife said ‘bye’ got on the bus and disappeared around the corner. I said “ok dogs let’s go”.. and set off down the path towards the area we know as ‘the dog park’… but when I looked around… Kit was ambling resolutely off towards the house ignoring me totally. Oi Kit… shouts I… and she stops and looks at me… “Let’s go!” I say…. and she turns… and continues to walk back towards the house 🙂
“Oi madam”… I call… “Walk time… this way please!!” Kit gaves me what I can only call an ‘old fashioned look’ and finally made up her mind to come along too… though on her terms… wandering off into the bushes and lagging behind just to show she wasn’t that keen on it 🙂
Kit by the way is always off the lead… she is pretty safe to be left to her own devices. On the other hand, she *does* have this thing about bicycles… maybe she thinks they are are skinny cows… who knows.
Anyway, Snoopy on the other hand has a halter around his face and the lead is connected under his chin so that if he bolts… as he is wont to do, he’ll cause himself some pain when the lead tightens and pulls his head around sharply. This may sound cruel, but in the past… when the lead was attached to his collar, he’s been able to take the strain against his chest… and the leads have just broken! He’s a big dog.
The walk first thing in the morning is quite nice in parts… as long as it’s dry. There are *very* few other people around and no other dogs. On the way we walk past a bush regeneration area and have counted up to ten rabbits sitting up as we approach then bouncing off into the scrub. In the old days, Kit would have chased them… now she pays them no attention whatever.
I continue around to the dog park and walk it two and a half times. Each circuit is 350 paces more or less and my stride is around 85 cms which means I walk… err… ok you do the math. In total the walk morning around the estate is about 3,500 paces… which I think is roughly two and a half kilometres… and takes around 30 mins o so.
It’s a good start to the day… especially with a couple of friends to keep me company. Having said that… I can understand Kit’s point of view… on a cold morning it *would* be nice to stay in bed that little bit longer 😀
The Eclectic Interweb 