TV People

There was allot of activity on the morning walk today. By Royal Terrace there were about 3 transit vans and lots of people walking around and shouting directions at each other. I had no idea what they were up to, and Tommy was very curious about all these people. He stopped and sniffed through the railings a few times and one man spotted us. He walked through the other entrance and stopped to talk to us.

Tommy was kind of interested in this man who was going to speak to us. He had his head down but was still looking at the man, wagging his tail. The man bent down to stroke him. Tommy started barking.
'He's not the friendliest of Terriers I'm afraid', I apologised 'he's a rescue and can be quite nervous of people, its something we're working on'. I really should have said 'I'm terrified of him biting people, which makes me nervous, which makes him nervous so between the pair of us we're a bit rubbish'. I was thinking of training - keep the lead loose, deep breath, keep calm, nothing is going to happen here.
'Oh that's ok. Look, he is sending out mixed messages!' By this time Tommy had stopped barking and was wagging his tail more and half falling over in a I want you to stroke me but I'm scared kind of way.
'Its unusual to see so many people on our morning walk, what are you up to?'
'Filming the new Ford advert. It's such a great location here' He looked over the Adventure Island and the sea knowingly. 'When we came down to choose the location we had a meal at some Italian over that way' pointing towards Westcliff 'it was lovely.'
'That was probably Mama Mia's'
'Oh, don't mention that! I still get nightmares from working on that film set' - at this point I thought your name dropping.
'Well, must get on' I said politely. '~When will the advert be airing?'
'Soon we hope'
'I'll look out for it'
'Unless you know the interior of the hotel, I'm afraid you wont see much of Southend'.
'That's a shame' I replied.

We carried on our walk. It was nice to chat to the man - I'm still not sure what his job was, but he didn't give me a card to contact him about putting Tommy in the movies! Think we missed our big TV break...

No car day

It was the air show this weekend and because of where we live, if the cars aren't parked home by 10:30, you can bet your life that you won’t be able to get a parking place within a mile for the rest of the day because of the day trippers.

The first item on the agenda was walking Tommy. We cycled to the park. It’s the first time I’ve actually cycled anywhere with him! He ran nicely alongside the bike once he realised that we weren’t going to stop and sniff every few minutes. It’s only one kilometre to the park and only cycled at his jogging pace so he was still full of beans and able to play with Duncan when we got there. I put him in my rucksack for the ride home as I didn’t want him too tired for training. I had allot of ‘oh look at that dog – how cool’ from the people we rode past. I’m not sure if Tommy thought it was cool, but he seemed unfazed when we got in – and I could ride faster!

We caught the train to training. It arrived with two minutes to spare before the start of training. Unfortunately, I left his training treats on the train and Tommy was looking at me in a ‘huh, forget it. You’re by yourself today love’ attitude. Spice’s dad spotted this and gave me some cheese. I’m forever in his debt.

I didn’t catch the train home after training. With all the trippers going into Southend, I thought it unwise, so we walked. It was nice to start, once we got off the main road. Along a path and through some fields. Once we’d crossed the busy road again, we walked by Prittle Brook. Tommy was hot so he had a drink and a swim before we carried on into Southend.

I took a wrong turn over the fields and ended up walking along the busy road again. It wasn’t really the nice walk I’d envisaged so when I spotted a lady standing at the bus stop I asked her how long until the bus was due. About 5 minutes. We waited and then caught the bus the remaining mile home. Tommy, as ever, was good on the bus. He sat for a while taking it all in, but soon laid down with his eyes half closed.

After such a busy day for a JRT he snoozed in the garden while I dead headed roses. Until the planes got too noisy that is! Then he went to his safe place, under the sideboard.

Blue Tits

We saw a blue tit on our morning walk today. When I say saw, I nearly trod on it! A baby chick had fallen out of its nest, but was still alive. Tommy sniffed and was very curious about this ‘thing’ that didn’t immediately bolt when he came near – more because it couldn’t rather than not wanting to I feel. Unsure of the protocol about blue tit chicks fallen out of their nest, I carried on my way.

On the way back through the grave yard we passed the chick again. It had died. Tommy still wanted to sniff, which I let him. He looked at me with his tail doing a half wag. I’m not sure what that meant, but I picked up the dead chick and moved it off the path onto the grass near some graves. We carried on the way home.

South Downs Way

Is the first holiday that Tommy has come on with us – it’s also b/f and I first totally walking holiday. We headed out early Monday morning, driving first to Brighton to drop off one car and then onto Buriton, the start of our walk.

The idea was to walk from Buriton to Brighton, staying at B&Bs as we went. We hadn’t booked anywhere, we knew roughly how far to walk every day, there definitely wasn’t any agenda. The main thing was to keep it easy, and to not get lazy.

It was an excellent time. Tommy woke every morning stretching, play bowing and excited about the day’s walk. We managed to find accommodation every night bar one when we slept in our bivy bags under the stars (unfortunately, this was also the day that Tommy discovered that rolling in cow poo is the best thing ever, and he was sleeping in my sleeping bag!).

We saw deer, some lizards, even an adder which Tommy really wanted to follow but we managed to dissuade him. He was very excited at the cows and sheep (who were lambing!). By the end of the week, he knew that he wasn’t allowed to show too much interest and would walk in-between b/f and I.

When we got to Brighton, Tommy went to day-care and b/f and I went clubbing. It was a completely enjoyable and relaxing experience and I can’t wait to do it next year!

That's just great!

Tommy and I had been out for around 3/4 of an hour the other evening before we headed back. We walked down the alley and Tommy finally decided it was time to squat. Right at our neighbours gate. Not to one side, not for this dog. Right in the middle. That's just great I thought to myself and rolled my eyes. As I did, a man started walking up the alley. Yes, you've guessed it. My neighbour! 'Oh I'm so sorry, I've got my bag to clean up with'. 'That's ok' said the man not half as grumpy as I would have been if I'd caught a dog crapping on my path and having to STEP OVER the afore mentioned dog to get to my front door...oh the shame...

Duncan

Tommy and I normally go to Southchurch Park on a Sunday before training, mainly so he can get rid of some of his excess 'terrier energy' and hopefully concentrate for more than two minutes. We meet up with other dogs and he plays. Not always nicely, but he’s know over there now. I’m also a lot more observant of other people and put him back on lead if other dog owners send out that ‘vibe’. He often plays with an American Bull dog called Lulu. She is big, muscular and only 10 months old! But not a bad bone in her body.
This week, Lulu was already playing with a JRT called Duncan. Duncan’s owner was the typical apologetic owner. She had extending lead in one hand, and muzzle in the other. I let Tommy join in the fun for a while but continued round the park when poor Lulu was stuck in between the two JRTs just barking at her!
Whilst going over the field, throwing Tommy’s tennis ball, Duncan came running over at full speed and beat Tommy to his ball. They started playing in that typical JRT style. All teeth, growls and play bows. It was lovely to see. Duncan’s owner walked with me round the park and started saying how Duncan is a little b*****d. Always trying to bite, dominate etc. Watching Duncan play with Tommy, I didn’t really see this. I saw two JRTs playing bitey face, me on top/you on top and other general dog games, albeit very vocal. I'm not saying Duncan isn't a little b*****d, maybe he just clicked with Tommy, either way, I was quite happy to let them play.
She also said she has been told off many a time by other dog owners. She has now learnt to keep Duncan close, always apologise for his behaviour and move on. I know exactly how she felt. She said several times ‘its lovely to see Duncan play so well with another dog, oh, look at them play’.
As we got closer to the gate, the dogs still playing as dogs do, I said we’re often over here on Sunday morning so if you like we can meet and let the dogs play. She was thrilled, and I’m sure she was close to tears.
So Tommy has a new friend, whether he likes it or not!

More Nudes in Colour, Southend

I kid you not!

Whilst walking Tommy Monday morning I was confronted by these pieces of art. It did make me smile. I wonder how long before they are covered in graffiti? It’s nice to know other people have as much mis-placed faith in the area as me.

They will be there until April, which means I get a smile not only from walking Tommy every morning, but from looking at bums too!

Busy morning!

For once... Normally when we go out for the morning walk the streets are deserted apart from a few people going to work. We sometimes see a man walking his staffie and schnauzer but otherwise nothing. Maybe that's why I like the morning walks!

This morning was a different matter. I noticed straight away that the mornings are getting a bit brighter, which makes the whole thing a lot less depressing. We turned the corner to go along the dual carriage way and saw a fox. Dead, but the sight / smell was enough to get Tommy dancing on the end of his lead. When the fox didn't run off, he approached very cautiously. I let him sniff the carcase a bit and we carried on our walk.

There was a rough sleeper on the top of the Cliffs, proves how mild its getting - first one I've seen this year.

On the way back we met a lady walking her staffie and her cross breed. Both of us shortened our leads with a bright cheery 'morning' to each other. Her staffie moaned at Tommy, for once, he stayed quiet.

We then met the man with the Maltese Terrier. We called this morning to each other - Tommy had a grumble.

Then the lady with the greyhound. Now, I know the greyhound goes nuts at Tommy, but I couldn't cross the road at this stage. 'Woof woof woof' says the greyhound. Tommy just walked straight on.

As we came up to the traffic lights, I could see a man holding back with his staffie. When the crossing turned green, we walked on, the man carried on walking, his dog being well behaved. This was an unprecedented amount of dogs!

When we walked passed the green, there was the man with his staffie and schnauzer. It made the set complete. I hope it's not this busy every morning!

Holiday walking

We went out for a couple of long walks during the holidays. I love to get out of the house at this time of year! Tommy was well behaved for most of them! We had two incidents of barking at people, but these were called to a halt very quickly (one of them was well deserved though – why do people find it necessary to act in an aggressive manner?!).

We saw ‘Daisy May’, a terrier that is in our training group over the woods one day. She came bounding over to say hello, seemed to recognise Tommy and they had a dash about. I didn’t see her owner anywhere, although I could hear her calling Daisy back. I can imagine Daisy running back saying ‘Mom, Tommy’s over here! You know, Tommy from training, come on! Lets go play’ and Daisy’s mom just wondering what was so exciting over there, through the woods.

Tommy was also on the receiving end of dogs being protective too. We were walking along a path in Ashingdon on our way to Hockley Woods. The surrounding fields had horses grazing so we kept Tommy on lead. The muddy path turned to tarmac and as we were approaching houses, Tommy stayed on lead. Two dogs were coming towards us and were ‘skulking’. They were not happy that they had intruders on their path and went for Tommy! It was scary and Tommy screamed. They were called back by their owner, but they were much more interested in getting this bold (but small) dog away from their den. How dare he continue coming towards them! They circled and skulked while their owner called them again. One went back, the other was slower to retreat. She didn’t put them on lead, or even issue us an apology. I understand that Boris and Max were protecting their house, but I feel more control from the owner wouldn’t have gone a miss. B/f said it was because they have money – don’t admit to anything then it’s not your fault. It’s a shame because it spoilt what would have been a lovely day.

Lastly, I'd like to wish all my readers a happy 2011. Enjoy your walks!

Snow - FTM...

Forgot to mention... Monday mornings walk it was extremely icy. Mainly due to the snow thawing a bit before the temperature dropping and turning it to sheet ice. I slipped over heavy on my left knee, ripping my best jeans (I know, I shouldn't be wearing my best jeans to walk Tommy). To add insult to injury, Tommy jumped on me very excitedly as he thought it was a game 'great! Moms on all fours too - that never happens!'.

Snow time!

Life, in general, is very exciting when you are a JRT. Life becomes ‘fit to burst’ exciting when there is snow on the ground! Yes, the snow came and now that it’s nearly all gone, here is the JRT highlights…

The snow started last Monday night, in time for last walk. Tommy wasn’t that impressed with the wetness of the snow on his nose as he left the warmth of the flat, but was soon distracted by the white stuff that flies everywhere if you play bow it. From my perspective, it was a really nice change to see the street covered in white with the moons reflection making the night walk an almost summer affair because it was so light out. The bitter cold had also turned into something warmer.

By the morning, the roads were impassable and we had 6 inches of snow on the pavement. Tommy loved his (much shorter) morning walk and play was on the cards! He loves to chase the snow to try to catch it and seems bemused that it just disappears further into the blanket. The smells of chicken bones were covered so the sniffing was less and the walk enjoyable. By the time we got back, b/f needed to inspect the main roads to see if he could get into work. Definitely not, but Tommy loved the extra 5 minute walk to get up the road. B/f worked from home, and took Tommy round the block lunchtime. He was running around b/f on the end of his extender lead, we now call this ‘doing the helicopter’. It warms the heart to watch.

Getting Tommy out of the flat whilst the snow got thicker was still not a problem. Even when, by Friday, the snow was up to his shoulder he was still bounding along the pavements. Tommy’s eyes have been so bright and his tail held so high! We saw other dogs (obviously) out and about during our evening walks, and the owners, although through gritted teeth because of the cold, all commented on how much the dogs loved the snow! There were bounding, happy dogs all over the place. All excited by the strange white stuff on the pavements.

One night, whilst walking Tommy, I went through the underpass. Coming up the other way, there was a man with his SBT, scrabbling up on the ice, desperately holding onto the rail with one hand and his pulling dog on the other. His SBT was a growler. What is a girl to do in this situation? You know what we done! Carried on walking, telling Tommy to ‘leave it’ (which he did, thank goodness!) whilst the man looked on enviously at the well behaved JRT walking to heel and confident lady with very grippy soles on her shows out in the snow!

The garden had about 10-11 inches at its deepest. Watching Tommy bound his way around made standing out there more bearable. We have discovered that Tommy does the same route every time he gets let out (why we hadn’t realised this before, I don’t know!). Up to the summer house, sniff the shed, round the back of the summer house, sometimes a bark, across the garden to the bamboo, along the back fence to the summer house, round the back of the summer house again, maybe another bark just to be sure and along the path to the back door.

On Friday, I didn’t fancy the drive to Stambridge for Waggy Walkers, so brought Tommy into work. We walked, not because I couldn’t get my car out, but because it would do us both good to get some ‘proper’ exercise. It took 50 minutes to get in, but it was well worth it. We both came in with grins on our faces and I had rosy cheeks. Why had I not thought of walking to work before? He had a good day with lots of fuss and only barked at one delivery driver! Luckily he also has a JRT and ‘know what their like’. He stayed in the office for a few minutes till Tommy calmed down enough to stroke and then I gave him some garlic beef to give him (the delivery driver to Tommy, not the other way around). They are now firm friends.

The walk home was chilly, and something really spooked Tommy enroute. He screamed, like the time he was picked up by the head. I checked his paws but nothing there. I’m not sure what is was but we carried on.

By Saturday morning, the snow was typically melting big time. Tommy and I went to the park, but with only 2 inches of snow on the ground it wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped.

We’re now left with solid ice on a lot of the pavements. It makes for tricky walking, and the temperatures have dropped. The only thing that’s fun now is watching Tommy bemused as to why he cant get the chicken bone that’s frozen solid in the clear ice, but that’s nowhere near as much fun.

Rain does not stop play

As our boiler is now very spasmodic in its working (thanks b/f) I decided to take Tommy out on a long one last Thursday evening. There was no point staying in, as it was as cold in the house as it was out. It was only slightly raining, but nowhere near enough to keep me in.

I had been meaning to go down the seafront to have a look at how ‘City Beach’ is developing – I saw some pictures in the paper about the Lighting masts and I wanted to see how they have changed the feel of the seafront. So that’s where we went.

Five minutes into the walk and the rain started to get heavier. The wind also decided to show its colours and was thrashing the rain into my face. Tommy was still very much nose to the ground, more smells, maybe food and I’m out the house – hurrah!

We got to the seafront and the rain got heavier. I moved up a gear and Tommy didn’t seem to mind the faster pace. The masts weren’t obvious to see, with my hood up, face down against the rain with a bit of a march on. The pavement seemed to be more broken and cut up the further we walked (all I could see with my head down!), which was a bit depressing… and then I came to a barrier. And then I saw my first Lighting mast. They are big. Very big. And if the ‘Better Southend’ web site is to be believed will definitely be ‘a centrepiece of the project, helping to extend the day into the evening’. How long till they are vandalised is another question. And how I had walked past two of them makes me believe that they will not stand out too much against the rest of the seafront.

We crossed the road and carried on past the arcades. Tommy constantly sniffing for a dropped chip, or if hes lucky, a bit of saveloy. The seafront was pretty much deserted, but Tommy still enjoyed nosing through the windows at the arcades. The noises coming from them, as well as the lights, bring out his curious side.

The rain started to ease off as we carried on up Pier Hill. Tommy looked completely surprised when we came to the Royals. He looked at me as if to say ‘we’re here! But this is morning walk. Can we go straight home…I’m very wet’. No Tommy. We’re off up the High Street as I need to get milk. Past the Royals and we were just about to turn off when Tommy spotted a balloon. I was going to tell him to leave it so we could carry on but then I thought, the rain has almost stopped. Why not play! I picked the balloon up and for about 10 minutes, Tommy and I were playing with the balloon, in the high street, outside Costa. A few of the customers were looking out very amused, especially when the rain started to come down harder again. Rain did not stop play. The balloon must have been made from some super strength rubber because even with Tommy trying to kill it, me picking it up (and maybe squeezing it a little too hard), being bounced off benches and posts, the thing didn’t burst. Most of the people walking past looked at me like I was mad, some of them smiled, a couple even kicked the balloon back towards the center of the High Street. Still it would not burst and the rain continued to come down.

It was at least another 15 minutes before the balloon burst. I had to pick it up to move it away from the road. When I put it down, it burst. A couple of the people in Costa looked sad that the balloon had gone. It must have broke their day up seeing a happy JRT, playing with a balloon in the rain, in the High Street. It certainly cheered my day up!

Firework time again

Tommy has had a while to get used to the fireworks this year. Adventure Island has had displays for the last 4 or 5 Saturdays, when X-Factor is on. No worries for us as we’ll subtly turn the TV up so we cannot hear them. A couple of times Tommy has got spooked, but not too often.

Walking in the evenings hasn’t been too bad either. Strangely, we haven’t had as many fireworks where we live now as what they were over the other side of town. This has been a blessing! I managed to get out every night last week without hearing a single firework. Friday was quite bad, we heard a lot but after an hour or so of cowering under the sideboard, Tommy came out and fell asleep in his bed quite happily.

Saturday could have been a lot worse! I took him out in the afternoon for about 2 hours. We walked to Southend Leisure and Tennis where he played with a couple of Labrador crosses and a Bichon Frise before catching the bus back home. This seemed to do the trick! I settled down at about 7 to watch the rubbish but good TV and as the fireworks started, the TV was turned up. On a few occasions, when a particularly loud rocket went off, he would go under the sideboard, but otherwise he was curled up in his bed most of the night. Bless.

5 4 3 2 1

Is a song by Manfred Man. It’s also a technique we use when walking Tommy. If he gets stuck on a smell when on lead, we sing ‘5 4 3 2 walk on’. It gives Tommy the chance to wee on the smell if needs be, but also some notice that we are walking on and to hurry up! This was b/f idea that I wasn’t even aware of till I moaned one evening about Tommy’s sniffing. It kinda works. But it has to be sung, saying it doesn't work. Singing ‘5432walk on’ also proves to the locals that although we work, we are also complete nutters!

New Walks

Tommy and I have finally sorted our morning walk. It took a while after the easiness of the graves, but now we have found (and appreciate) our morning walk. His 'off lead' time has diminished, but the walk itself is about 10 minutes longer.

We go down the dual carriageway, where Tommy sniffs, wees and poos. We then go through the graveyard and along to Royal Terrace. This is right in the heart of Southend, we see the Pier and the river every morning. He will go off lead here most mornings, as long as there is no rough sleepers or someone taking in the morning air (for some reason he's so suspicious of people sitting on benches). He often sees squirrels or foxes to chase. Then there is the random fish pond for me to look into. I just find it a bit wierd that there is a fish pond in this part of Southend. The pond often has old beer cans, chip wrappers and condoms floating in it, but the fish seem to survive.

We then go up the stairs, back towards the High Street. Tommy goes back on lead here, but to make the walk back home more interesting, we play catch with the tennis ball (this also stops him sniffing so much!). Five minuutes from home, I let him keep the tennis ball which he carries quite happily all the way back.

I love this area of Southend - I fall in love with it again every morning.

Play? or aggression??

Tommy came into the office with me yesterday and spent most of the day chasing flies and laying in the sun. At home time, I decided to take him to Victory Park – its normally one of my favourite walks…

When we got there, there were four other dogs in the middle being walked by three ladies and a girl. One dog was hastily picked up by one of the ladies, who was there with the girl and walked off. They called a Westie along and walked out of the park. I’m not sure what happened, but Tommy and I carried on round the outside of the park for a while and then I decided to cross over the middle of the park (something I never do!) to let Tommy play with the remaining two dogs.

Tommy saw the dogs and ran over to them, greeting a (what looked like) beagle JRT x, (intact male I’ll add here) with bounds of energy and a ‘chase me’ stance. From where I was standing, about 90 mtrs away, they looked like they were playing and having fun. A bit of chase, some boxing, and rolling around on the floor, but the owners body language told me otherwise. I sped up my walk across the park. ‘Is he being mouthy?’ I said. ‘He’s aggressive and shouldn’t be allowed off lead’. Humm, I thought. I called Tommy to me, he was having fun and not really interested (the other dog didn’t look too bothered either if truth be told!). The dogs were running round; both play biting, and bumping shoulders. I called Tommy but he was having way too much fun to notice I was even there. I launched myself at Tommy when he was on a return run, slipped on the wet grass, which made Tommy look. I called him again, with my finger in the ‘wait’ position, which he did. Lead goes back on. The other dog then starts circling Tommy, running off, coming back and play bowing. ‘I’ve owned dogs all my life and your dog is just nasty, if I see him off lead again I’m going to report him’. She was trying to get her dog back, so she ‘could look for bite marks’. I said ‘can you call him back then please, I’m not leaving this park until I know your dog is ok’ (I knew he would be!). The dog was having a whale of a time playing tease with her, not wanting to come back. He came several times back to Tommy though! I was making sure Tommy wasn’t looking at the dog, and I held Tommy’s muzzle. There was no way I was going to let Tommy sniff this dog again. The lady walking the other dog said ‘I don’t know what’s up with him today, it must be the weather’. I decided silence was golden; besides, I was fighting back the tears.

After the lady had caught her dog and said ‘no he’s fine’ I said ‘that’s good’ and carried on walking Tommy, on lead towards the other end of the park. Walking along the fence was the old lady with her aged collie and cocker spaniel bitch. I walked along with them. Tommy being excellent on lead and not even pulling towards the bitch. I felt so sad, but I managed to get home before I burst into tears.

Emma of Waggy Walkers fame asked how the move was today. I said good, flat is lovely but it took Tommy until Wednesday to really settle in’. ‘He’s such a sensitive soul’ said Emma. ‘Well, yesterday I got told he’s really aggressive and if he’s ever seen off lead again in this park he’s going to be reported’. ‘Really, what park?’ said Emma. ‘Victory, near Sutton Road’. ‘Oh I don’t go to that one' 'The other dog didn’t seem that bothered though’. ‘The dogs never are. It’s a more common thing this reporting to the authorities. (sigh) Next time you should say ‘he's goes to a behavourist every week. Talk to her about dog behavour’. We talked a bit more about how hated the dog world now is and went our separate ways. It made me feel a bit better (or maybe justified) talking to Emma, but I still feel sad about Tommy not being able to go to Victory off lead anymore.

Moving date (at last)

We have our moving date at last! It has been a struggle but on the 3rd September we shall pick up our keys!

Tommy has taken to living around boxes no problem. The only time he took any notice was when I packed some of his toys, his treats and his coat. He laid by the box in the small room for a very long time then!

I wish I wasn't so stressed about it all. He is going to Waggy Walkers for an extra day on Thursday so I can get on with packing and not worry about his walk. Emma can't take him on moving day as she is going to Burley horse Trails... It may work out better in the end as he can see all the 'stuff' being moved into the new place. I hope he settles.

On the move...

We are moving flats soon – hurrah!

When we viewed this new place, there was a park about three minutes walk away, which would have been excellent for Tommy’s morning walk. Since then, this park has closed for ‘redesign’ work. They are building a café in the middle. I’m not happy.

The other reservation I’ve got is we back onto the railway line. What if Tommy decides that the big black thing going along the bottom of the garden is the enemy and needs to defend his garden? The train will reward him every time as it trundles on its tracks… I hope the neighbours don’t mind barking dogs.

Westerham

Today we went down to Westerham to meet up the Jack Russell Terrier forum for a walk and (more importantly??) a pub lunch.

We drove down to Kent with no problems really – Tommy has always travelled well – but being held up on the M25 meant I was 25 minutes late. I called ahead and was told ‘its ok, we’re just quieting the dogs down at the moment, they’re quite excited’ – they’re jacks, they've have had a long drive and they're somewhere else.. of course they’re excited! Westerham is a very pretty village but I was too late for the market. We went for a walk round some woods and through some fields. The dogs were all very well behaved which was nice to see. George and Arnie didn’t go off lead but Whiskey was. When Whiskey was off, so was Tommy, well, most of the time! Lyn let George off when we were heading back to the village. Tommy was so excited and really wanted to play bitey face with George, but Lyn decided that George should really go back on lead…I put Tommy on instead as George had been on lead for most of the walk – he still wanted to play with his new friends though!

When we got back to the village, we went to the pub for food. George and Arnie were put back in the car whilst Whiskey and Tommy came to the pub. Whiskey was very well behaved, but Tommy was more interested in a stray tennis ball to lie down nicely. And then he nearly knocked the vase over….

We stayed in the pub for a couple of hours, chatting about the dogs and their characteristics (or should that be problems??!!) and another short walk before sitting on the common.

On the common, a short distance away was an English Bull Terrier with its male owner and his daughter. The EBT was very interested in our four, which made us slightly nervous. The last thing we needed was 4 defensive Jack Russell’s going for one EBT! Of course, the girl dropped the dogs’ lead who came running up to us at full speed! Tommy was the only one who managed to get a growl in before the EBT was lead away... We headed home shortly afterwards.

It was a really relaxing day meeting other JRT owners and sharing a common interest. I’m looking forward to the next meet.

Roll call - Tommy, Whiskey, George and Arnie.

Arsenal staffies

On the morning walk today, Tommy was very naughty. We left at our normal time and I told him to ‘leave it’ and ‘nothing to do with you’ to the three or four people that were walking towards us and all was fine. He gave them a side wards glance, but carried on, with his ears back. We got to the graves and the lady with the stroppy Alsatian was over there. I kept Tommy on lead and exchanged pleasantries then continued on our way round. Once she’d left I let Tommy off.
Over the other side of the graves was the man with the Arsenal staffies. Now, Tommy normally loves playing with these two. They have a good game of bitey face and ‘I’m on my back, no I’m on my back’ with some charging around. This morning was very different. The black staff came running towards me looking for Tommy who had run ahead and was hidden behind a gravestone. The black staff then ran back to her owner and then back to me. You could tell she was looking for Tommy. Tommy, on the other hand, had spotted their owner and seemed most put out that he was over the graves and started to bark at him. His nervous bark, half play bowing and tail wagging but with a definite ‘keep away from me and my mom’ tone. The man looked at him and looked at me ‘what’s up with him today?’ ‘I’m not sure to be honest, he’s been fine for ages’. ‘Maybe its because I’m not wearing my hat’. I carried on walking and Tommy carried on barking and playing up, albeit about 6-10 feet away from him. The staffies were just running around being happy. The black staff tried to get Tommy to chase her (normally his favourite game) but he wasn’t having any of it. The man half bent down but this just made Tommy worse. After about a minute, the white staff had had enough. She ran at Tommy and pushed him out the way with her shoulder. No malice at all but it was a ‘leave my dad alone’ kind of thing. Tommy yelped like a girl but wasn’t even knocked off his feet so I said ‘serves you right’. The man told his dog to ‘leave it out’ and called her straight to him, which she did, annoyingly. We all carried on walking our separate ways.
When I got in and told b/f about it he said that Tommy was probably jealous that I was talking too long with the man. I said we didn’t even get to exchange pleasantries. B/f then said he has often seen Arsenal Staffie man without a hat.
I hope Tommy hasn’t decided that he doesn’t like Arsenal staffies man and his dogs. The dogs are great and it would be a shame for all that to go – for whatever crazy reason.