When I take Rick for his walks around the local lanes I have to keep him on a lead. I would love to let him loose and I’m sure he would trot along nicely next to me. But if he sees a car, a tractor or a bike he will charge off like a loon and give chase, he has zero re-call. He therefore has to wear his harness but his leash is long and if all is quiet I let it out fully so that he can wander fairly freely and investigate all those interesting smells in the hedgerows.
This morning Rick took full advantage of his long leash. I looked round and he had disappeared completely through the hedge and was very unwilling to come back.
I think he had discovered some young rabbits playing in the field and couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t follow him through the hedge. I had quite a tug-of-war getting him back.
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| back home with his toy bunny |
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| waiting for papa to come home from the shops (he's not actually allowed on the furniture) |
I am glad to hear you are a responsible dog owner and keep him on his leash.
ReplyDeleteIt would be too risky to do otherwise.
DeleteTigger sends sympathy to Rick for the unreasonable and senseless furniture rule - has never been able to understand why some things, easily accessible, are out of bounds (when the humans are around to see).
ReplyDeleteRick doesn't obey the rules anyway!
DeleteTess and our sheepdog would spend hours with their noses under the barn door watching the rabbits inside. I think there is a picture of them doing this on my sidebar somewhere
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of difficulty getting him back through the hedge, he can be very strong and obstinate.
DeleteIt took me a while to realise that you were referring to Rick when you chose the blogpost title "Hedgehog". I guess I must be a bit thick.
ReplyDeleteRick doesn't have any prickly spines.
DeleteRick is always so human and cute in the pictures.
ReplyDeleteHe is cute, most of the time!
DeleteI also have a strong willed, misbehaving dog and he sits on a couch that he is not supposed to be on. It is a good thing these dogs are cute...otherwise they'd be in trouble all the time.
ReplyDeleteI just can't resist those big, brown eyes.
DeleteBilly used to bark at, and chase after, cars. But I think he must have been hit by one, and is now very wary of them. When he hears one coming he sits down immediately as far from the road as possible. I am NOT suggesting this as a solution.
ReplyDeleteRick has absolutely no sense of danger when he lunges at cars.
DeleteThe more I read about Rick and his antics, the more I'm reminded of our third dog, Duke. The only one who wasn't a yellow Labrador! He was a rescue, unpredictable, and looked like a cross between a miniature Golden Retriever and a Spaniel - whenever he went to the groomers he came back clipped like a Spaniel. He was like Rick, I couldn't let him off his lead - he would chase anything that moved - and some things that didn't either! We had to be miles away from "civilisation" before I could do that, and fortunately I managed to find some suitable places for him to run free. On a normal day, when I took him for a walk with our other dogs, I'd be hanging onto his lead for grim death, while our two Labs nonchalantly strolled along behind us at their own pace, off the lead.
ReplyDeleteHe was a trial, but I still miss the little devil!
Luckily our garden is big enough for Rick to race about. Before Covid we were going to take him to a local doggy adventure park but that's not an option at the moment. He walks very well on the lead until he sees something he wants to chase.
DeleteI too read the title as hedgehog first and had to do a second take to see hedgdog. Rick is always so cute!
ReplyDeleteA bit of a play on words.
DeleteThat is an adorable final photo, Rick is thinking back about his time as a hedgedog, earlier in the day.
ReplyDeleteHe loves looking out of that window, waiting to terrorise the postman.
DeleteHaving to get Ted out of the undergrowth and hedge makes me smile about the unkempt state of my 'looking like being pulled out of a hedge backwards'. The big problem is when the dog and the lead go around a thick bit of stem and a direct pull/reverse just doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteYup, that's exactly what happened with Rick. I thought I was going to have to crawl in after him.
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