Sorry it’s a bit of a belated report but I had another great day’s walking at Wiccaweys on Sunday just gone. If you haven’t been following along, Wiccaweys is the border collie rescue centre where I do voluntary dog walking, generally on Sundays. When I arrived this week it looked like it was going to be pretty ideal walking conditions. The sun was kind of poking out, it was a little chilly but not too bad temperature wise, not much wind and given the amount of rain recently a little wet underfoot. I had barely arrived and got myself turned around when I met Vallie, one of a pair of collies learning to be a little bit independent of each other. Vallie is a gorgeous scamp of a dog who pulled me along for the ride on a pleasant walk to set the day up right. An hour later I was in for a change of dog and Sarah gave me Ollie. So Ollie and I spent the rest of my walking day together, having a great time. I am convinced Ollie remembered me from last week, because we immediately settled in to enjoy the day. Ollie’s just great to walk and has a huge skill so many collies lack, which is when he tangles himself up in the lead he can, without assistance, get himself out of the predicament. What a smart cookie!!! He enjoys his walks, but he definitely walks with you. Yes, he sniffs his way around some of the time and occasionally asks you to give him a minute while he susses out some particularly delicious scent he’s found. He also decides when he’s ready to be fed a treat, coming back to you, tail wagging and giving you “the look”. If that doesn’t persuade you then directly trying to stick his nose in your treat pocket is the signal. He’s exceptionally good with other dogs he meets on the walk. He’s usually more interested in the humans and whether they might be carrying sausage than he is in getting into argy bargy with another dog.
We came in for a break after about an hour and a half so that I could grab a bite to eat. Ollie was a lot of fun as we did this, putting his front paws on my thigh to see what was going on and to find out how much of my lunch he was going to get a share in. What was very sweet was as lunch progressed Ollie put his head down on my thigh and turned his face to mine almost like a child might and gave me such a loving look, he took a little bit of my heart right there and then. I think I was asked three times over the course of the day when I was planning to take Ollie home with me. The honest answer is that I can’t. I could be utterly selfish and take a dog home with me but it would be so unfair on him (or her). Take today – I have to set off by 5:30 am and may not be back until well after 7pm tonight. It’s just not right to leave a dog alone for that amount of time. So I have to settle for what I can at present and meeting dogs like Ollie is truly what I get out of volunteering. If circumstances were different I’d snatch up Oliie in a heartbeat.
After lunch the rains came. But I was ready in my new waterproof jacket, which worked perfectly. I got one of the Berghaus jobs with an inner fleece that keeps you warm and a Gore Tex outer layer that keeps the rain and wind out. It worked perfectly and I stayed warm & dry for the rest of the afternoon. It rained on and off for the rest of the day but frankly it wasn’t a patch on the more torrential downpours of the previous Sunday. I’d had such a busy but wonderful weekend that I was flagging by 3 o’clock so I called it a day, happily tired and having thoroughly enjoyed once again my time with Ollie.
Here is a new photo of the collie gorgeousness called Ollie...
...and again...
...and one last one...
