Rocky the Otterhound: So Many New Creatures!

Rocky has had a couple of fun outings this week. We have had some glorious sunshine (bitter cold winds though) and he has spent a good deal of time out of doors. Some of his usual walks have lasted longer and he has helped us enjoy our good weather.

He has also found a new way of sitting comfortably (?). He is not fully grown yet but can perform this apparent feat of hilarity already. I know I am not a dog but I fail to see how this is comfortable, especially as he tends to droop forward and downwards as his little puppy eyes close and sleep comes over him! It always ends up waking him with a start, then he kind of slides inelegantly off the sofa and sleeps on the floor with a huge sigh!

Inevitably, after sleeping on the floor for a short while he awakes (barely) and looks around for the sofa with the most room (and cushions) on and staggers up onto it for a more comfortable snooze.

There is a garden centre close by which allows (well behaved) dogs to accompany their owners for a tour round the facilities to choose what they want to buy. So of course we took Rocky! It is a very exciting place for a young Otterhound and the focus of the first of Rocky’s outings this week.

There is the chance to meet new friends …………….

There are so many marvels to investigate like …………….
Bunnies!!! These funny fluffy moving about things had Rocky routed to the spot, he thought they were great!!!
He wanted to hug them and squeeze them and love them ………….. but settled for a good long quizzical look!!

Then there was this strange zoomy creature (apparently called a lizard?) Rocky couldn’t quite work out if he wanted to hug it and squeeze it or just run away. He wasn’t exactly scared of it, nor was he keen to catch it ………. He was more perturbed by the fact that as soon as he started to look away it moved (quite fast). This inevitably caught his eye and we were back to a standoff between Rocky and the lizard. Fortunately for us (or we could have been there all day!) something else caught his eye and we were able to move off.

Well, I said caught his eye ……….. I think I should have said caught his ears! There were aviaries close by and for some reason (and all of a sudden) there was a cacophony of sound emanating from that direction!!

We just had to go and have a look at what was causing this sound. Rocky was very eager to get there and spent quite a while sat in front of the cages with his head leaning from one side to the other.

Then there was this Oh So Cute …… tiny little painted quail that seemed to be as fascinated by Rocky as he was by the birds. It came up to get a better look, and Rocky got a better look too; and you could tell by his face that he wanted to ………….. hug it and squeeze it and love it! We were stuck there for quite a while but I think Rocky appreciated our patience.

Then we arrived at the famous “pool of the tickly carp”!! These wonderful fish enjoy a good tickle and to everyone’s amusement, they will suck your fingers if you dangle them in the water. We have spent many visits by this pond and the children grew up knowing what it felt like to have their dinky fingers sucked by a big fish!

Rocky got quite excited by the goings on around the pool and stood up on the wall with much shuffling of back feet and whimpers of the “I want to play” variety.
Unfortunately though, due to this young Otterhounds inexplicable dislike of water he never did pluck up the courage to dip his nose in and say hello!!

In amongst all this excitement we did manage to have a look around for what we had gone there to buy, although Rocky seemed a little disappointed that we didn’t want to buy a particular fountain for the garden. He seemed quite taken with it for some reason (probably because it did not have any water in it at the time).

Oh yes, and before we left Rocky met yet another new friend!! I think the shop is on to a winner as you do tend to spend far more time there if you have your dog with you! I think on the whole it is comparable with taking your children to the same place ……………. Thinking back, that tended to prolong the shopping trip too!!

This weeks trip out was a mystery tour for Rocky. We didn’t let on to him, but being young and curious he tried to work out where we were going by the scents he passed along the way ………….. At least I think that was what he was doing ………… surely he can’t just enjoy having the wind in his hair (so to speak) ……….. after all he gets all nibbly and “don’t do that” if you just blow on him!!

Anyway, we ended up taking him green laneing. There is much land that people generally don’t get to see in Britain, this is land that the farmers tend. However there are very many green lanes around (which don’t get used as much as they should), and a walk along these can offer you the opportunity to see a hidden Britain. The best of the country really as there is no concrete and loads of rolling countryside that is quite beautiful. We thought Rocky would enjoy it as much as us anyway!

Every now and then the lane would open up to reveal fields full of new shoots or ancient woodland. Rocky was having a wonderful time as scents, of all sorts of creatures, were every where. However, he was so busy sniffing around he totally missed the sight of two mad March Hares tearing across the lane and off into the other field! He would have had to be quick mind, they are apparently the fourth fastest mammals in the world.

Rocky was very well behaved again and frequently stopped to check we were close by. He bounced about like a baby horse (as usual), although, we do believe he is almost able to control all of his legs at the same time now ………. They are tending to all go in the same direction (mostly)!

We certainly had the best of the day, lots of lovely sunshine and the hedgerows kept the worst of the wind off. How do you know when it’s time to head for home …………. When your young Otterhound comes back to a call looking like this!! He had had a wonderful time and was ready to go home after a big drink.

Can you guess what he did when he got home?

Slept like a baby!!