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The online diary
started life as a blog of my strange 'other life' with the dog. I
wanted to record some of the experiences that I had as a first-time dog
owner. To access the archive, click on the appropriate month.
The most recent articles are listed
separately.
You are most
welcome to send comments about any of the articles. Record your
comments via the Contact Me page.
BEATTIE IS TWO YEARS OLD
Mon 02 Jun 2008
Now
that I am back from another week in the Lake District, it’s about
time I updated the diary. Beattie was two years old on 16 May when
I was away with her in the caravan. That day, I dispensed with the
usual celebrations of cards and presents and took her for a walk
instead. By a happy coincidence, I had a long-standing arrangement
with
John Burland to climb Scafell Pike. This is the highest
mountain in England at 3210’ (977m). It has long been an ambition
of mine to add this summit to my collection and John had planned an
ascent by the Corridor Route starting from Seathwaite in Borrowdale.
Seathwaite has the dubious distinction of being the wettest
inhabited place in England. There are many fell walks that begin
and end at this farm and it is with excited anticipation that one
drives the long mile from Seatoller up the valley at the beginning
of the day. Of course, the first object is to secure a parking
place and an early start is essential.
We met
up at 8.20 on a rather dull morning, the highest tops being wreathed
in cloud. The forecast was for a dry day - I just hoped that the
cloud would lift off the tops to give us the views. As far as
Beattie was concerned, this was just another fell walk. She enjoys
them all, especially the rocky climbs. It’s a lot easier when she
decided she is going to lead the way, rather than me having a
trailing lead with dog in tow. In those circumstances, I am rather
too concerned with looking behind – not a good practice for safe fellwalking!
And
what a superb way up on to Scafell Pike. Although rough in places,
the Corridor Route gives exciting views, especially of Piers Gill on
the flanks of Lingmell. There are no really hard climbs, but all
the while you make steady upward progress towards the objective.
On the
final climb from Lingmell Col we met a party of five young people
walking 24 of the highest Wainwrights in 24 hours for a
Cancer
charity. They would have to go some to complete the challenge.
Their aim is to raise £30k and they are well on the way towards
their target.
And
then I could see the summit cairn and a further few minutes walking
brought us to the roof of England, the highest point. It was a very
satisfying moment. It was soon our turn to step up to the cairn and
stand on the topmost inches before settling down to eat our
sandwiches. Beattie, of course, had really earned her cheese
today!! (Beattie usually shares my cheese sandwiches. I have the
bread – she has the cheese)!
There
is no escaping the boulder field on the return route. This approach
seems to be the most popular, but I cannot see the attraction.
Great care is required and quite a difficult proposition when you
only have short legs and small feet (I am talking about the dog)!!!
But she managed very well and after forty minutes or so reached the
summit of Great End, which, on a clear day, gives superlative views
down Borrowdale all the way to Skiddaw. Today was not one of those
days, although the clouds had lifted off the summits by the time we
had climbed up to the top.
From
Esk Hause, there is a long, uncomfortable descent via Grains Gill
back to Seathwaite. John was on a time limit as he had to be in
Keswick for a presentation by 4.30. But we made it back to the cars
with twenty minutes to spare.
What a
day! And what a birthday present. Somehow, I do not think that
Beattie really appreciated her achievement. She just curled up on
the sofa and went to sleep! (Photos)
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Comment from
sablonneuse
Belated Happy Birthday to Beattie. What a
great way to spend her birthday. Why didn't you carry her over the
boulders?
I had enough trouble negotiating the boulder field myself
without Beattie in my arms! derek
THE OPPORTUNIST
Thu 05 Jun 2008
Do
dogs have a long memory? AT has told
me that there is a lot of research, which may indicate that dogs are
capable of remembering for considerable periods of time. But what
about one year? For it was one year ago that
Beattie nearly had her first taste of
live chicken! (See
Whitsun Holiday Part I The Thrill of the Chase).
On
that particular occasion, she was on her extender lead when she
spotted the unfortunate chicken lurking in the undergrowth, quietly
minding its own business when it was attacked by the Hound of Hell
(aka Beattie) and narrowly missed
losing all its tail feathers completely, and a lot more besides!!
Did
the memory of that failed assault stick in
Beattie’s mind? And had she been plotting how to finish the job
properly this time?
Last
week A and I went shopping in Penrith
leaving Beattie in the van. She is
now quite trustworthy and no longer tries to eat her way through the
furniture! On our return, I was unpacking the car of the bags of
shopping and, momentarily, left the van door open to retrieve the
last bag.
Unbeknown to me, Beattie had spotted a
slim chance of escape and, gleefully she took it. The first I was
aware of the escape was when there was an eruption of noise –
excited barking (Beattie), plaintive
squawking (hens) and high-pitched squeaking from
A, ‘Beattie’s
out! Beattie’s escaped!’
It
didn’t take me long to size up the situation.
Beattie was only after one thing – a
live chicken! Did the wrong thing, of course – I chased after her.
AT’s first rule NEVER CHASE THE DOG!
I yelled at her, ‘DOWN’, but either she hasn’t seen those videos
where the owner manages to down the dog using distance control
commands or, more likely, she just ignored me! Red mist, and all
that (another AT truism)!
By
now, all the hens had scattered to the myriad points of the compass
leaving Beattie a bit puzzled what to
do next. She ran off towards the car and, trying a different tack,
commanded her to WAIT (in no uncertain terms). This time, she did
obey the command and I was able to grab her, pick her up and
transport her to the safety of the caravan.
It had
been a close-run thing!
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Comment from
AT
Why don't you invest in a caravan garden?
Well, that would solve that particular problem!
derek
VISITORS
Mon
08 Jun 2008
We had
unexpected visitors a few days ago. SH
knocked on the door clutching a photo of a Bedlington terrier, which she
said was one of R’s puppies from her first
litter. What a handsome dog it was, with its ‘show cut’ (not that I am very
keen on it myself and would never have Beattie
clipped in this way). The lady that bought the dog is very keen on showing
her dogs and told SH that this little
Bedlington had done very well and had won a number of classes. They only
have to win one more to be automatically eligible for
Crufts – a great honour!
SH was obviously very proud of
R producing a show winner and I was
delighted as well.
Meanwhile,
Beattie had sensed that
P and R
were in the vicinity and went to the back gate trying very hard to look
underneath, without any success. She gave one of her high-pitched barks of
excitement, or is it frustration that she cannot get what she wants?
A told SH
to bring her dogs in for a while. Beattie
was so pleased to see her ‘mum’ again and the two greeted each other
affectionately. R is due to drop another
litter in about two weeks time, so was kept on her lead.
SH is hoping for four pups this time
around.
Beattie doesn’t know it yet but she is
booked in at the vet to be spayed on 1st July. No prize-winning
puppies for her, I am afraid!
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Comment from
sablonneuse
Hope it all goes
well. With our cats we've had very different reactions. For example,
the twins were running up and down the curtains as soon as the
anaesthetic wore off but poor Parsley suffered great pain for a good
24 hours. It was then that I learned you mustn't give painkillers to
cats. They're toxic.
BARLEY
Tue 09 Jun 2008
I love walking
through a field of barley in the late spring. Especially on those
deliciously sunny days; when the barley beards shimmer ever so delicately in
the breeze. I love the subtle changes of colour and texture – the delicate
pastel green so different to the harder, darker green of the wheat field.
Yesterday,
Beattie and I were enjoying a walk across
the fields at the back of our bungalow.
Beattie disappeared into the barley at the very limit of her extender
lead. I followed her progress only by the disturbed barley heads, trembling
as she passed. Then, suddenly, she leapt up, over the top of the barley for
a better view and continued in this way like a demented swimmer doing the
butterfly stroke! It looked very comical!
Reaching the
outskirts of the village, I let her off the lead to wander at will. By now,
we were in another field of barley, but a different strain – an earlier
planting and therefore taller and sturdier. She was forced to keep to the
path beaten diagonally across this field every planting time by the stoical
dog walkers.
This is one of
our regular summer walks when the ground is hard – wet Suffolk clay can be
very sticky and unpleasant! Beattie knows
the way now and leads me in a convoluted circle back to our starting point.
It’s a
pleasant ramble of about an hour and we both feel better for the walk –
especially when there is barley to enjoy!
(Photos)
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A DISTURBED NIGHT
Fri 13 Jun 2008
It’s rare for
Beattie to have a disturbed night, but she
did last night – and so did we! It began at 2 a.m.
A was woken up by
Beattie scratching her crate door. Almost
certainly she wanted to go outside, so I was unceremoniously woken up to
take the dog out. (Why should I be allowed to sleep through?) I threw on
my dressing gown and took her to the end of the driveway, where she found a
space at the field edge to do a wee.
Thankfully, I
sank back into bed hoping that was the end of her nocturnal wandering … but,
no … At 5 a.m. there was another rattle on the crate door, not that I heard
anything, of course. Again, in a trance, I reached for my dressing gown and
slippers and opened the crate. Beattie
seemed very eager to get outside – she must be desperate, I decided. I
clipped on her lead as quickly as possible and opened the door. I was
nearly pulled off my feet by the sudden acceleration as
Beattie sped up the drive as far as the
gates, and, once through she was off again tugging at the lead. She was
very excited by something, her tail was standing straight up in the air, a
sure sign there is something about! She barked once. I could do without
that! I led her some way away from our next-door neighbour’s bungalow to
perform. Even after this she was still very agitated. Something was
exciting her, but what?
I took her
indoors and let her stay on the bed as it was soon time to get up, but I
could have another half-hour, surely? Certainly not!
Beattie just would not settle and kept
jumping off the bed to sit by the back door. I was not taking her out
again! At 5.30, I gave in, dressed and took her for a circular walk. All
the way she was pulling at the lead, nose down and, occasionally, giving
excited little barks and growls.
I just could
not fathom out this behaviour. I did not try to go back to bed, but watched
some early television whilst Beattie kept
leaping on the conservatory furniture and scanning the back garden for this
invisible adversary. A wondered if
Billy had tried to get in the cat flap as
he had once before? Whatever it was, Beattie
did not settle until after 7.00, and then it was to curl up on our bed and
go to sleep. What a cheek!!
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Comment from
sablonneuse
It must be
frustrating not knowing what caused Beattie's behaviour. Hope she
doesn't give you too many sleepless nights.
Comment from Tracey
Lilly
Sounds just
like a baby. Give in and show attention and they have you up
all night. Still better than having to clear up toilet mess in
the morning and at least it is light at 5.30am - won't be in Dec
though!
STUNG!
Thu 26 Jun 2008
Beattie had a nasty
shock on one of our fell walks last week. We have just returned from a week
in the Lakes, the object being to make further progress towards the target
of completing the 214 ‘Wainwrights’. Last week I added four to my total and
Beattie eight new fells.
Beattie has now topped 102 fells, nearly
halfway to the target! Not bad, considering she only started properly in
Easter 2007!
Last Friday,
we drove over the Hard Knott pass into lovely Eskdale to climb two more new
fells – Hard Knott and Harter Fell. The climb to Hard Knott is achieved by
parking the car at the top of the pass and walking up the fell side to the
summit; a simple climb of about 500’.
The sheep up
here are ‘hefted’, that is, they know their own particular fell and never
stray. This ability is passed on from generation to generation.
Unfortunately, in the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001, the flock on these
fells was replaced and three-strand electric fences had to be erected to
ensure that the new sheep did not stray until they, too, had been ‘hefted’.
These fences, called ‘heaf’ fences are very effective in containing the
sheep. On the way down to the car, we were walking alongside one of these
fences and I stopped for a moment to admire the view down the Duddon
valley. Without warning, there was a terrified yelping from
Beattie as she discovered for herself the
purpose of a heaf fence!
It was
obviously a painful experience as she tucked her tail right between her legs
and looked most unhappy as she gazed around in bewilderment for the creature
that had ‘stung’ her! I made soothing, sorrowful noises at her and led her
down the fell to the car. She regarded the fence with the utmost suspicion
and leapt into her crate as soon as I opened the back door. At least she
was safe in there from the nasty stinging creature!
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Comment from Tracey
Lilly
Poor Beattie.
Hope it won't put her off hill walking - she has an excellent
memory!
Comment from Lizzie
Beattie,
tell me who stung you and i'll bite 'em for you!
Lizzie!
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Photographs taken with a Fuji MX-2900
Zoom or a Canon EOS 20D
Copyright © 2008 Derek Cockell All Rights
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