Scorchio! Or - Mollie meets the sea.

This weekend we both took Friday off so that we could have a long weekend, bliss! But now it's Monday evening already and I still haven't ironed any clothes for next week. We had a cunning plan this weekend - get stuff done Friday and today, and have fun in between. It worked!

Saturday morning, once we'd got ourselves ready and packed the car, we headed up to Tracy's parents in North Nottinghamshire, where we were greeted by an absolutely ridiculous amount of squeaking and wriggling on the part of their ageing black Labrador, Zoe. She and Mollie were so happy to see each other that they couldn't even say hello to start with, they just ran round each other in circles! We had a lovely afternoon and Mollie made sure Zoe's face was very clean, and she also thoroughly tested Tracy's parents' ball throwing abilities. Before tea, we headed out for a walk, up the village, through the next village, and back home down the canal. I have to say, we were hugely impressed with the local council - dotted along the canal were not only poo bins, but also poo bag dispensers full of bags! Fantastic - not only that they have done that but also that no-one's nicked all the bags and set fire to the bin...

And then yesterday. Clutching a scribbled set of instructions from Tracy's Dad, we headed East towards the coast, on the assurance that we'd find a large stretch of dog-friendly beach at Huttoft, hidden cunningly behind the golf course. Guess what? We did!! There were few amenities - just some loos and an ice-cream van, but there was a massive long stretch of sandy beach with loads of dogs running around.


Mollie was impressed. She ran around lots. Inevitably, we came away with three basic kinds of photo:

1) Mollie with the ball

2) One of us with the ball

3) Mollie waiting for the ball

In addition, there were the usual shots of Mollie's bottom.


At one point, Mollie stole someone's black lab, and the lab's ball. Despite our best efforts to retrieve Mollie, and the lab's best efforts to give her back, it took a while to separate the two who had apparently become fast friends and were happily swapping tennis balls.

During the course of the afternoon, Mollie became best friends with a number of dogs for a short time, and memorably managed to steal a big Golden Retriever and what I seem to remember as a staffie cross. Tracy bent down to pick up the ball and by the time she was upright again, she'd got three dogs and the owner of the spare two was running towards us shouting "Sorry! Sorry!".

We didn't mind. They were friendly dogs and that's two more 'breeds' for Mollie to cross off her dangerous list. In fact, I think she's now pretty much only scared of male dogs that are on leads - if their owners don't trust them, neither does she - sensible girl.

On the way home, behind her new dog guard and snuggled down on a fleecy blanket, Mollie pretty much slept the whole journey. When we stopped at a pub for a quick drink, she was so sleepy she practically fell out of the boot of the car. And today, she's spent more time asleep than awake. We took her swimming at Sence Valley this morning to wash off the salt. I think that finished her of...

The EzyDog harness, for those (Graham) who wish to know, arrived in the nick of time on Saturday morning. Mollie wore it while we were out on Saturday afternoon and also yesterday afternoon when we ventured out of the beach in search of sustenance. Even though she was covered in sand it didn't seem to chafe particularly, and whenever she's had it on so far but been off lead, she's run about as if she's not wearing it. We've not tried the seat belt attachment yet as we mostly take her out in Tracy's car which has a dog guard, but it looks nice and sturdy. So it's a thumbs up from us!

A day in the life of a doggit (nearly)

Sleeping Dog...
Well, OK, after yesterdays embarrassing foray into the murky depths of my subconscious mind, let's get back to the star of the show - Mollie dog, aka Doggit. Starting with last night. When we came to go to bed, it was occupied. Sometimes, if she's really fast asleep, we pretend she isn't there and leave her be - but with the duvet being folded back and her on top of it, that would've been a little tricky. So we whispered in her ear, "Mollie, are you going to get in your bed?" and this was her rather elegant response:


I have obviously edited the first photo slightly to preserve her modesty... for what it's worth! As you can see, she was mightily peeved by the flash on the camera! (NOT)















I eventually had to pick her up and put her in her crate...ahhhh...





This morning she was very sleepy and just wanted to go next door and get back to bed, but after a good day's ball fetching she was raring to go again. After a quick go at her Kong (you can see the video here but it's quite big, sorry), she picked up her tennis ball, dropped it at my feet, then came and sat on me. I was in a very ladylike position with one knee up and one down, she leaned on my right leg and the warmth just gradually sent her to sleep - her legs buckled under and she collapsed:
As you can see, I was utterly devastated :D

...To Swimming Dog...
We took her to Sence Valley again this evening (she did wake up, and she ran round like a headless chicken, squeaking, after we said the 'W' word!) and she led us to the swimming spot and basically begged us to throw the ball in. A few good splashes later (did you know that the terrier bounce works in water too? Quite impressive) we bimbled back to the car, where she attempted the nesting routine in spite of the harness.

..And Back Again...
All in all a very tiring day, for a little doggit. Night night!

Water Baby

On Tuesday, we went to Sence Valley Forest Park again - and this time we took a camera. It was warm out and it's a 2 mile drive, so by the time we got there Mollie was starting to overheat slightly. We threw the ball as we walked (off and on - when produced from a pocket and squeaked it provides an excellent distraction from other dogs) and by the time we got to the first bridge, Mollie was panting hard. I walk down to the 'stream' to see if I could persuade her to have a drink, but she decided that was enough and flung herself in. We spent a few minutes chucking the ball from one bank to the other, with Mollie swimming across the current, then walked further down to where the path slopes down towards the water, and Trace threw the ball - and off went Mollie. As you can see, she really enjoys swimming now!! When we took her to Bosworth Water Park in April, it took several attempt to get her in the water and she wasn't very confident at all. Since then she's really toned up and got stronger and generally more confident and that obviously helps with the swimming as well.

There are some more photos here, in a slide show. The white gravel in some of the photos shows where the paths were eroded by the flood, and the straw across the path shows where the water was up to at the weekend.

Back in the car, Mollie (with the aid of her wet fur) managed to slip her harness and escape onto the parcel shelf. She then spent almost the entire trip from Ibstock to Loughborough (we went to visit some friends) drying herself and nesting. Here she is drying her muddy face on the shelf - her tail was wagging so hard that it's just a blur!!

The rear windscreen is now a bit filthy... and the harness is going to be adjusted somewhat before it's used again - it was new so I didn't quite tighten it enough...

Where'd that bridge go?

Well, yesterday we pootled off in the drizzle to Sence Valley Forest Park again. There was an open day so we thought we'd do the walk round the lakes then have a look at the open day, then head over to Ashby Farmer's Market.
The walk started OK, Mollie was soooo excited to be out and about, she does love it there. When we got to the first bridge - the one just by where she slipped and fell in the other day - the water was up to the top of the arch and had actually eroded some of the path. The path was underwater on the other side, but it was only an inch or so deep so we risked it and carried on walking. When we got to the next bridge, however (there are several streams which run into and between the lakes, and the path crosses them), there was no way to continue without waders. The path was under at least a foot of water. Mollie was all for carrying on as long as the ball went in that direction, but we turned back. The park was full of dog walkers getting just that far then turning round.
We walked back and headed for the open day stalls - but the rangers had given in to the weather and were heading home - the lake had already got to within a few feet of the big tent and was still rising in the persistant drizzle, and the only people at the park had either come to walk the dog or take photos - on which note, I have to apologise as neither of us even had a (working) cameraphone with us, so no pics I'm afraid!

Back seat nesting

This evening we took Mollie to Sence Valley Forest Park near Ibstock. She loves it there: she can run around off lead, there's a gravel path so you don't have to get muddy, and there's a lake (it used to be an open cast coal mine). The trees aren't very tall yet but it'll be even more lovely when they've grown; they've done a really good job of prettifying it and there are ample dog bins... there are lots of paths that head off into the countryside so we need to go back with provisions and an O/S map one weekend - when it's not raining!!

We bimbled along the path around the lake, met a few dogs (she got chatted up by a 6 month old staffy called Dino, a brindle and white waggy boy - she seems to love staffies and I can't say I blame her! Sorry Prince...), threw the ball a bit... at one point was clearly overheating so we led her to a stream but she slipped and fell in!! Up to her neck, but still wagging. By the time we got back to the car, she was shattered, and when she's tired she nests, so on the way to the friend that we visited this evening all Tracy could see in the rear view mirror was a waggy tail as some frantic nesting went on. What had started out as a fairly tidy fleece blanket ended up very, very crinkled up and messy. We were both in stitches as she kind of got her head underneath the edge of the blanket and tossed it, then picked it up in her teeth, then went round and round, then sat and had a breather for a second and surveyed her work. And all this while wearing a harness clipped onto the seat belt!! Unfortunately, just as she'd got her nest just right, we arrived at our friends' house, but at least that meant it was ready for the trip home...