In which I take a photo every day that I'm 50, and post it here on this blog, with a bit of related blurb.

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Day 312 - Zig and Zag

sit-stay

After the tail end of ex-Hurricane Gonzalo had passed overnight, today we awoke to a lovely sunny morning...

I wasn't at work today, so walked Robin a little later than usual, around 9.30 - and was pleasantly surprised by the calm, cool morning...bright sunshine lit the valley in a soft haze, and the BigDog (an emerging nickname) was in reasonable form.

He had a burst of energy as we entered the field and I let him loose...he rushed around in large circles for a minute, flashing by me and tempting me to chase him.

In order to both manage his exuberance and test his self control, I showed him that I had a small biscuit for him, and told him sit-stay whilst I walked off up the field. 

When I was around 50m away I called him and he charged up to me, skidding to a halt straight into the sitting position, his nose nudging my closed hand looking for the treat he knew was there. 

We repeated this a few times until his charge became less urgent, then zigged and zagged across the field.

Robin likes to run ahead (primarily because we humans are just so frustratingly slow)...every time he ran past me, I changed direction and started walking away from him again.

Within seconds he'd notice, run back to me, and rush past me again...and once more I'd turn away.  

This might sound mean, but really it's just reinforcing the idea that he needs to pay attention to me when we're out...it also disabuses him of any notion he may have that he's leading the way - we're going where I say, not where he says!

So we made our way to the top of the orchard (where we first met Frankie - of whom there's no sign, and we fear the most likely explanation after all this time is that he succumbed to the laminitis...).

At the top of the field (although still some way from the top of the ridge that forms the northern flank of the valley), I stopped to try to capture some of the cool peacefulness of the day...


valley of the morning sun

This is a lovely field to give Robin a run in - it's bordered only by other fields or woods, it's nowhere near the road, there are no livestock in it at the moment, and the grass is long enough to make running around slightly harder work, thus consuming a little more of his energy. 

It was a nice walk, and he's been well-behaved all day. 

Loz has been making a point of sitting near to him, much like she used to with Jazz.  Her energy has been lovely, and she really seems to be sending him the message that she's neither afraid of him, nor anything that he should be afraid of. 

I'm not sure he's quite got the message yet - he's still a little anxious in her presence...

But on a day like today it's easy to believe that he will get over himself to the point where they can happily coexist without our constant management.

Come on Robin, you're a smart dog...no need to worry about that cat...

;-)

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