Two dogs, one stick

From a lovely sunny day, to a wet night. We had clouds scuddering all day but generally the sky was bright and happy. Not so Carmen. She was fine early on. I put the lead on them to go for a walk and they bounced and carried on as usual. There was a bit of confusion when the phone rang, just as we were on our way out the door and I answered it to chat to Mirinda. It was lead off, collars back on and a wait for them both. They were very confused…to say the least.

Anyway, after the false start, we headed out for a second time. We stood at the beginning of the Avenue of Trees for the unleashing and they waited obediently for me to say “relax”, before racing off into the little wood, where they always race off.

Generally speaking, Carmen comes dashing out first and I have to call Day-z but not today. Day-z came bounding out but Carmen was dawdling behind, sort of limping on a back leg. She does this sometimes, obviously trodden on a thorn or some such. I gave her foot the once over and everything seemed fine but it didn’t stop her sort of limping.

I say sort of because it wasn’t a pronounced limp, just a sort of favouring of one side. Then the oddest thing happened. She walked slowly the rest of the walk. Slower than me. It was like walking with a very old dog with very old dog things wrong with her. She didn’t look too cheerful either although her tail was up – generally a very good indicator of her mood.

We stopped on a bench for bit to give her a rest in case she’d just sprained something. This seemed to work and she was fine for the final trot back. Day-z, I should stress, was her usual self.

Back at home Carmen did nothing. Even when I went outside to work up near the shed she stayed inside – unheard of. Her nose is warm and she looks decidedly morose. Maybe she ate something that has disagreed with her. Hopefully she’ll be fine in the morning. Day-z continues unconcerned.

While walking we did see something quite funny which the girls avoided. Two women, one pushing a pram and two dogs, one of which was holding a big stick in it’s mouth.

They were both small dogs – one a terrier the other a Jack Russell. The terrier had the stick and was teasing the Jack Russell, who wanted it…BADLY! The Jack Russell was yapping and bouncing and trying to take the stick but the terrier just wandered around, avoiding the snapping jaws and generally annoying the Jack Russell. It was very funny and the two women were in fits.

It’s funny how dogs get so obsessed. I mean the park is full of sticks but the Jack Russell just had to have the one the terrier had.

Here’s a photo of Carmen looking quite cheeky on the bench where we rested.

My thoughts are with you tonight, Claire. xxx