In the morning K and I went with Benny to the Farmer's Market which is a twenty minute drive from our house. It is the same market where I did fund raising work for the Oxfam walk.
From the car park you walk along a lovely track. On the right is a drop down to the foreshore and a great view across the bay. I love this little track. It makes me feel as though the suburbs are miles away.
We meandered around the market for an hour. Benny met up with other dogs and thought it was terrific. He is still looking like a soft and fluffy puppy so he was the recipient of many pats. Enjoy your youth Benny, as you get older the random pats drop off (speaking from experience here).
After the market we took him to the dog beach where he could run off lead.
I am so glad I wore my nice black pants and boots - not. Lots of wet dogs around and sandy paws. You just should not be wearing good clothes when you get there. Some dog is going to jump on you at one point.
On the whole, most people who go this beach are thoughtful dog owners who watch their what their dog is doing around other dogs.
For example, if someone has a puppy they make sure their dog does not overwhelm or dominate the puppy. And they put their dog back on lead when it misbehaves. However, now and then there is going to be one jerk who does not give a shit what their dog does.
Benny was having a good time running around when another dog came up to play with him. It was a Rhodesian Ridge Back and quite big. Initially the play was fun and then the other dog started to intimidate Benny. I stepped in to grab Benny and this other dog just kept trying to mouth at Benny and myself. The owner just stood nearby and I asked him to call his dog back.
He took his time doing it and did not put it on lead to allow me time to get Benny away which meant his dog kept coming back and also started hassling me because he could smell treats in my bag. So here I am trying to get Benny on his lead and calm him down and I have this big dog pushing its big wet body against me and sticking its nose in my bag and hand and his jerk owner is just doing nothing.
Eventually the owner moves off and his dog follows. I should have known the guy was a sap because unlike the average dog owner who has a leather or nylon lead for the dog he had a heavy gauge chain as a lead. It was the sort of chain we use at work to lock up the gates on a work site.
But Benny had fun and was it was a grubby dog that sat in the back seat of the car on the way home.
Later in the afternoon I went for a walk with a friend. We did the same last week. I walk faster than I can run these days. Seriously. The two of us can cover 10km's in 1.20 hours. It helps that we both have long legs. It is great walking with someone who keeps the same pace as it gives me a chance to really stretch my legs.
I also spent the afternoon loading music onto my computer. I still like the feel of cd's. Downloading music from the Internet is okay but I tend to only download transient music that way. Any music that I really love has to be on cd. It is the same with books.
So, that is my Saturday post.
Ciao
LC
Your story illustrates that dog training is almost more about the OWNER than the dog itself. That man sounds like he needed major training!
ReplyDeleteLike with his big chain wrapped around his neck...
What a jerk that guy was! And I'm sure he's not very nice to his dog, sounds like he doesn't care what his dog does! It's amazing how protective we get of our dogs, like mothers taking our babies to kindergarten for the first time. I'm glad sweet Benny had fun though. We have a dog beach here, and I'm going to bring Pippa, but have been holding off because of the reasons you wrote about here. As I've stated before, Pippa is a rescue, and virtually untrainable. she's come very far in the time I've had her, though, and continues to make progress. When she's excited, though, she can't be contained, so I'm trying to time her beach visits for when there aren't a lot of other bad owners around. By the way, I'm loving your hair in its natural state. Very becoming.
ReplyDeleteCameron: You know, he also had a tattoo on his neck. Just because I have a tattoo, I do make judgements of other peoples tattoos. Neck tattoos - boo.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to train him I would whack him with the chain.
Karen: It is so nice that you have a rescue dog. She must feel so much happier being in the care of someone who is treating her nicely.
My hair is working out - but you know with grey hair you don't want a bad hair day as it makes me look like a crazy lady.