Soldiering on

A lot of people have one major problem when it comes to owning a dog - and that is the issue of dog poo.  G is very fond of his garden, as are the boys - although whereas he prefers to potter about trimming hedges and pruning flower beds, they are more interested in perfecting the moves of Monty Panesar with a cricket ball or hoofing a football into a makeshift goal.  Either way, the garden does not really lend itself to squelchy little landmines, and so we have had to compromise, and Muttley takes himself off quite happily to a selected corner of the lawn which I then clear at a regular basis.  This,on the whole, all works amazingly well, and with the odd exception we have had relatively few accidents when it comes to house training.   On reading several websites  I have discovered that if you have set words for set functions and lots of praise you can actually get the dog to perform in his special place on command - or so the theory goes.  And so he has learnt that Wee Wee and Poopie gets treats and cuddles.  That's the theory...

In practice it is working a little too well, and now that I am taking him on slightly longer walks, I am finding that he is straining at the lead to get home so that he can go to the loo...  So on a strategic rethink I have taken to stopping at various points near doggie bins etc and giving him a command, to which he normally looks as if I am barking (excuse the pun) mad, but on the odd occasion he gives in.

Our walks are getting a little more adventurous, being blessed in our area with an abundance of parks and woodland, and it was thus that I decided to go to our local ranges - which are woodlands dedicated to the public, but with several zones in which the British Army train, Cub Scouts camp, Girl Guides learn survival skills and little boys design marvellous mountain bike ramps out of the hills, rocks and sand that nature provides.  Against the far away sound of rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire in the protected zones where civilians are not allowed, the birds sing and the occasional deer will peek out at what you're doing in his wood.  Dogs and their owners splash happily in the puddles left by tanks on exercise and on the whole civvies and soldiers rub along quite well. Indications of past training exercises are apparent on every tree which is emblazoned with a blue cross here, a red circle there, and occasionally a tatty temporary sign with a grid reference unintelligible to all but those in the know.

So there we were, it had been a rainy and blustery night and the ground was sodden, but the crisp air was full of good smells for a little dog and even I was glad to get out and clear my head of a particular work project that I had hanging over me.  We had been going for a good 20 minutes or so,  a larger crowd of dog walkers in the horizon, and others passing by ('Lovely dog - how old?' '5 months') and both puppy and I were walking companionably side by side, with the retractable lead behaving itself and all was well.

We chanced upon a small clearing, with a bivouac sitting just below a small incline. For those of you who don't know what a bivouac is, it is essentially a small manmade shelter made of small branches, twigs and leaves and can be knocked up by any hardy Cub Scout.  There was evidence of an abandoned camp fire, but not much else, and I wondered if during the night the campers had simply given in to the weather and gone home. At that moment Muttley, who was straining at the leash, decided of his own volition to relieve himself on a small bush to the side of the bivouac.

'Good boy!' I shrieked in delight 'Wee Wee!'  just as the bush moved upwards and a small muddy face peered from underneath the camouflaged helmet.  Muttley leapt back and started a frantic barking in alarm as all the other bushes began to giggle and shake in mirth and a whole host of muddy faces popped into view.

Amid profuse apologies we made a hasty exit before the 'enemy' approached... and both of us will make a mental note to check all foliage in future...

Have a great weekend everyone!!