I went out for a walk with Alfie at around 8.20 this morning. Carol was asleep up until then and if I'd taken him earlier he would have woken her up with his barking and noise. As we came out of the walk-way down to the park where I usually let him off his lead I could see the lady who has a disabled chair with her alsatian moving along one of the paths in the distance. I didn't immediately let Alfie off as I wasn't sure the alsatian might attack Alfie or at least bark at him or even go for him by picking him up in it's mouth. I'm not going to risk his safety so we walked in the opposite direction around the path, along past the houses and on towards the Redway which crosses Eaglestone Park and then up towards the shops and we came across the lady with the two small chihuahuas. One named Poppy, whom we have met on several occasions. Poppy, the black one which carries around a yellow rubber ball in her mouth, wasn't keen to relinquish the ball or to play with Alfie. The lady (who's name I don't know.) told me that her dog didn't want to play because she is obsessed by the ball although Alfie just runs around in circles and just wants to be friendly. He doesn't meet many other dogs so it's good for him to socialise like this. The lady told me that the woman in her disabled chair with the alsatian doesn't control her dog. She says it's a wonder the alsatian doesn't pull her chair over as it's quite big and I said I didn't want it near Alfie as I didn't trust it to not attack Alfie. She said the woman doesn't control her dog as she ought to.
It's currently much more overcast this morning which means it is so much cooler. Nevertheless, I insist on continuing to wear my shorts as it is so much more pleasant.
Carol's into crafting and wanted some ink pads so we drove to The Range as they have a good range of crafting materials. We also wanted a rake to help to clear up the grass on the lawn at the front of the house. The grass trimmer does a good job but you are left with lots of cut grass which then needs collecting up. We found what we needed in the gardening section of the store. When we got to the till to pay we saw crisps and drinks which we added to what Carol had already picked up as we intended going for a walk with Alfie at the Ouzel Valley Park which we'd visited yesterday.
Once we got back home we organised ourselves so that we could go out with Alfie to the Ouzel Valley Park. We didn't put the cage in the back of the car, instead Carol drove and I held Alfie on my knee. It saved time and effort, but even so he made a lot of fuss and noise. It's not far to drive and we parked in the carpark at the park. We also took the food and drink items we'd purchased in The Range. We started off with Alfie on his lead, but once we went through the gate into the meadow we let him off. There was no livestock in the field and if there had been, Alfie would have ignored anything such as sheep or cattle. He doesn't run far and always comes back when you call him. We walked on and went through another gate and then walked besides the river, The Ouzel, where Alfie was quite happy to trot along beside us, occasionally running ahead of us.
If we'd had Poppy with us she would have been tempted to jump in the river and swim, but Alfie isn't interested, but on one or two occasions I was concerned that he might get too close and fall in. He did one end up in water when we went to walk along the banks of the Grand Union Canal and Alfie jumped over a low wall and found himself in the canal and had to be extricated by myself. I think he got something of a shock when he got wet and has never tried that game again, and who can blame him. Looking back it was quite funny, but at the time it was concerning that he might drown. He looked thoroughly miserable as a result.
We walked on, under one of the concrete bridges which carries Chaffron Way over the river and onward towards Woolstone, where we walked past the remains of the Medieval fishponds. There is a map on an information board which describes the landscape and the significance of the fishponds. We went through several kissing gates and eventually came to a wooden bridge and crossed over to the opposite side of the river and walked back towards the car. We met several people with dogs, at one point a couple with two West Highland Terriers. Poppy was a schitsu/Westie cross. She is greatly missed since she died. Both these little dogs barked when they encountered Alfie, butwe kept him tightly under control on his lead. He just wants to be friendly, but these dogs were determined to be somewhat aggressive towards him. We walked on and actually found we'd walked too far along the patch once we'd crossed another wooden bridge and had to walk back, eventually walking back across the open meadow which lead us back to the carpark and our car.
We sat at one of the conveniently placed picnic tables and ate our pasties and crisps. Alfie ate most of Carol's. I'm not surprised he was so hungry, because of how far we'd walked. He can be a picky little dog when you feed him scraps. He quite often turns his nose up if you offer him left-overs when you're having a meal, but on this occasion he ate it as fast as he could.
It was becoming quite windy and it took us all our time to keep the crisp packets from blowing away and the put the remains in a litter bin and drove home.
Carol's into crafting and wanted some ink pads so we drove to The Range as they have a good range of crafting materials. We also wanted a rake to help to clear up the grass on the lawn at the front of the house. The grass trimmer does a good job but you are left with lots of cut grass which then needs collecting up. We found what we needed in the gardening section of the store. When we got to the till to pay we saw crisps and drinks which we added to what Carol had already picked up as we intended going for a walk with Alfie at the Ouzel Valley Park which we'd visited yesterday.
Once we got back home we organised ourselves so that we could go out with Alfie to the Ouzel Valley Park. We didn't put the cage in the back of the car, instead Carol drove and I held Alfie on my knee. It saved time and effort, but even so he made a lot of fuss and noise. It's not far to drive and we parked in the carpark at the park. We also took the food and drink items we'd purchased in The Range. We started off with Alfie on his lead, but once we went through the gate into the meadow we let him off. There was no livestock in the field and if there had been, Alfie would have ignored anything such as sheep or cattle. He doesn't run far and always comes back when you call him. We walked on and went through another gate and then walked besides the river, The Ouzel, where Alfie was quite happy to trot along beside us, occasionally running ahead of us.
If we'd had Poppy with us she would have been tempted to jump in the river and swim, but Alfie isn't interested, but on one or two occasions I was concerned that he might get too close and fall in. He did one end up in water when we went to walk along the banks of the Grand Union Canal and Alfie jumped over a low wall and found himself in the canal and had to be extricated by myself. I think he got something of a shock when he got wet and has never tried that game again, and who can blame him. Looking back it was quite funny, but at the time it was concerning that he might drown. He looked thoroughly miserable as a result.
We walked on, under one of the concrete bridges which carries Chaffron Way over the river and onward towards Woolstone, where we walked past the remains of the Medieval fishponds. There is a map on an information board which describes the landscape and the significance of the fishponds. We went through several kissing gates and eventually came to a wooden bridge and crossed over to the opposite side of the river and walked back towards the car. We met several people with dogs, at one point a couple with two West Highland Terriers. Poppy was a schitsu/Westie cross. She is greatly missed since she died. Both these little dogs barked when they encountered Alfie, butwe kept him tightly under control on his lead. He just wants to be friendly, but these dogs were determined to be somewhat aggressive towards him. We walked on and actually found we'd walked too far along the patch once we'd crossed another wooden bridge and had to walk back, eventually walking back across the open meadow which lead us back to the carpark and our car.
We sat at one of the conveniently placed picnic tables and ate our pasties and crisps. Alfie ate most of Carol's. I'm not surprised he was so hungry, because of how far we'd walked. He can be a picky little dog when you feed him scraps. He quite often turns his nose up if you offer him left-overs when you're having a meal, but on this occasion he ate it as fast as he could.
It was becoming quite windy and it took us all our time to keep the crisp packets from blowing away and the put the remains in a litter bin and drove home.
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