A busy day

Once I was washed and dressed Rodders wanted out in to the garden so I went with him to poop scoop. We then played with his ball launcher for a while. He still hasn't got the hang of bringing the ball back but does usually drop it somewhere near me. While he was running about with the ball in his mouth Pat next door came out to hang out her washing and Rodders was giving a very muffled bark which made me laugh!

Pat stopped to say hello and says that they hardly hear Rodders when I am out at work, he does give the occasional bark if he can hear them in the passage though.

We played for a little bit longer and then I left him out there while I went to the bin at the front door and got ready to go out. When he came in he wasn't happy that I was going out without him and it took me 10 minutes to entice him in to his crate with some kibble and some treats but he did eventually walk in there by himself.

When we came home yesterday I had to park out the back so I left by the back door this time. Rodders wasn't happy about that at all and did not stop barking until I was outside the back gate. I was out shopping for about 2 hours and Rodders was very happy to see me when I got back. He had a quick fuss and then wanted out in to the garden. That gave me time to swap coats and when I called him back in he came straight away and started dancing about. I managed to get his lead and my wellies on although he was leaping all over them and trying to bite them.

We set off towards the Nicky Line and then down towards Keens Fields. Rodders was having a lovely time sniffing and running about. I did make him sit and wait  for me to catch him up a couple of times and I also called him to come to me a few times and gave him a treat if he came and sat at my feet. By the end if the walk he was almost sitting by himself without being asked to.

When we got to Keens Fields we stopped to talk to a lady at the bottom of the steps, she seemed quite knowledgable about dogs and recognised Rodders as a young Miniature Schnauzer. Once she had caught her breath we left her and carried on our walk. We did an extra loop to the walk we have done previously which involved climbing a bit of a hill. It was a bit slippy and Rodders waited for me at the top. We then walked along the top, by the houses, and down in to another bit of the park where I think we spotted a green woodpecker hopping from tree to tree.

We only saw a few other dogs on the field today and Rodders only got to play with one, Eddie, a little terrier cross. As we started climbing the steps back to the Nicky Line a man followed us up and re-assured me that he wasn't an axe murderer! It hadn't even crossed my mind until he said it. He was looking up the path to see where his wife and dogs were, once they were I'm sight he whistled and the two dogs came flying towards us from a long way away. I made Rodders sit as I thought he may get mown down. He was fine until they came past us and then he wanted to run with them.  Once they had greeted their master they were happy to come back and say hello to Rodders until the mans wife caught us up. We talked about the dogs and then parted.

On the way back Rodders kept sitting down so I kept calling him to me, sometimes he got a treat if he came and sat in front of me, other times he ran straight past and got nothing. He has started to show more interest in the squirrels and was barking at them at one point. He also seems to be able to follow a scent by the way he will change direction when he is sniffing.

I thought I may have worn him out as we were out for well over an hour, but as soon as we got home he was running about chasing his toys and then once he calmed down a bit he wanted out in to the garden and was out there for a while. I made myself some lunch and he wanted back out again while I was eating. When he eventually came back in he came straight in to the kitchen to bark for his lunch. He must have been starving as he ate most of it in one go.

After he had eaten he had a short play and then settled down on his bed pad.