Maybe we should have stayed at home, but all in all, I'm glad we didn't. Not a walk we'll forget in a hurry, but maybe not necessarily for the right reasons. Joining bits of the Carmel route together we managed to form another circuit which included lead walking, free running and a little road walking, yeah I liked that circuit too, maybe if we try it again it may be more successful.
I opted for a mix and match combination of dogs today, taking Meerah with Ross and Beti instead of with Sammi and Zeus. Initially, I regretted my decision, as Meerah was more "loud and annoying" than her brown counterpart, but she did settle and was well behaved.
As soon as we got off the road and onto the footpath, we let Ross off the lead. I jumped as I heard a vehicle reversing behind us, but Ross was still on the path and the postie was reversing up on the track behind us. In my confusion, I went into the nettles .. well not a great start. Then the girls got tangled, very tangled and it took some effort to untangle them. Within minutes we saw someone coming towards us on the footpath, first time ever I think, but we moved to the side and exchanged pleasantries with the walker.
The next huge knot happened at the kissing gate. I think Meerah went round Beti, that took some sorting, but Ross and Linda left me to it! We then went across the fields and to the next gate, we saw the boys, but OMG a Spaniel came flying up towards the fence, thank god for the fence! My last three "run-ins" have been with Spaniels, this one was a Springer! The owner soon followed on a quad bike, a really pleasant guy who introduced himself, his dog and his alpaca. How predictable that I only remember the dog was called Meg and the alpaca are Darwin, Duncan and Dave. (Now I know) As we chatted we suddenly realised Ross had gone under the wire and was in the field. I called out "He's really nice, honestly," to which the man replied "I wish she was!" There was no hassle and Ross came out the way he went in. Silly old sod!
We continued with our walk, the track now narrow and overgrown. I could hear Linda wittering behind me, she couldn't unlock Meerah's lead and Beti and Ross were going further ahead. The next thing I saw Meerah and her lead fly past me, I looked back and Linda was in a heap on the floor. I turned back, but Linda managed to get to her feet by herself and swears it wasn't all Meerah's fault, it was a combination of uneven path, a locked lead and Meerah trying to get to Beti. Thankfully, there was no harm done, and we were soon off the narrow track and onto a single track road ... but no Linda, you can't have a dog! lol
With the stunning view, I decided to get one more photo ... but there was no chance of getting the troops to look my way .. "We can hear chickens," and someone talking to her chickens, ah well still a nice photo. We carried on down towards the road, but it was recycling day and Beti and I went opposite sides of a trolley .. OMG the thing went flying, Beti went flying, and I got pulled like I didn't need to today. Thankfully, Beti is confident and didn't hold a grudge against "Willy Wheel's brother." (Don't ask!) We replaced everything and got back onto the road. A few cars went by, good training for Meerah as she doesn't like them much, but she did well. We were almost back at the van when Linda announced, "I've lost my bag and phone!" Now I could never say anything, because if anyone has lost anything it's usually me! We got to the van, just one more slight hiccup as Meerah got her lead trapped around the wheels of the van ... but we soon jumped in and drove back up the single track lane to find the bag and phone in the reeds where the last photo was taken!
I got home ready to tell Steve all about it, but as soon as I got in he said "I fucked -up, I let Zeus into the yard with Orin in the pen." Some rather unpleasant words exchanged between the brothers, but thank god for the screen which had kept the hairy twat away from my pride and joy, or as Steve said, "thank god for the screen it kept my lovely boy away from your knob head dog!" LOL. We love them both, honest ... but obviously I'm team Orin, and he's team Zeus!!!!
