Being an Otterhound he has of course gone through his life so far without a glimmer of a bad mood or a grumpy few minutes. However, he has had several periods of Otterhound non-compliance, Otterhounds can sometimes be termed as thinking too much which in turn can lead to them only doing what you want - if they want to!!!
This past week has seen the re-emergence of his “failure to recall” stance. Basically he has decided he is having too much fun to be bothered with that, so he just doesn't do it. Not only does this mean that you have to be especially careful to only let him off the lead in a safe environment but it does sometimes lead to frustration and disappointment. Unlike past dogs who, having learned something, will incorporate it into their daily lives (forever), Rocky appears to be able to drift in and out of learned behaviour depending on how he feels.
Part of the reason we wanted an Otterhound was thier independence and lack of robotic obedience, but with all the work we (and dog owners in general) put into training you are somehow left feeling a bit of a failure sometimes. But it has to be remembered that Rocky (our now 5 and a half stone Otterhound) is still in his teenager phase and there is still much enjoyment to be had from an Otterhound, they are after all the clowns of the hound world!! He still has us in stitches and is terminally cute …………. How on earth do you maintain crossness faced with that??
Rocky still adores his toys and has two current favourites which are fairly small latex dinosaurs which squeak and feel funny in his mouth. Despite their apparent fragility they are lasting well and great amusement can be had by offering him one of them when he already has one in his mouth. He will quickly drop the one he has taking the new one into his mouth, then he will spot the first one and spend the next ten minutes failing miserably to try and get them both in his mouth at the same time, so that we can’t have one. There is an endless round of dropping one then the other and his patience seems superhuman, after a jolly good belly laugh we have decided it is kinder to put one in his toy box which seems to take away his fervent need to keep both of them out of our reach ……….. but we have to have our laugh first!
This weekend saw the first snowfall in our part of the world and Rocky’s first meeting with this cold and funny stuff. There was only a sprinkling and by the time we got to the plain for our big walk most had disappeared except on the high ground or in sheltered spots. Nonetheless, Rocky was intrigued!!
The first thing he had to do of course was lick the beejeebers out of the stuff ………. Then there was the 5 and a half stone bounce?!! In fact, just as with the sand at the seaside, we had such an incredibly bouncy Otterhound! After so many bounces we would witness the "mad fit and charge about" procedure followed by the Ottehound "pounce and Wuf”. Unlike his full throated song, the playful “wuf” is very quiet and pronounced, it appears to be a sort of unsure challenge to play catch as it is inevitably followed by another bounce and mad fit!!
Eventually he settled down to chomping up mouthfuls and going about his usual doggy business, but each new patch of snow prompted a renewed vigour for bounciness!!
There is so much plain for us to explore that each week we seem to discover something new. This week found a secluded grassland meadow which, being surrounded by trees and shrubs on 3 sides, gave marvellous protection from the bitter wind. This not only meant that the sunshine had melted the snow here but it also managed to raise the temperature by several degrees; it felt really quite warm there. I would have liked to stay and mill about in the warm sunshine but Rocky was on his usual mission to explore as much of his world as possible ……..
This meant heading for the high ground; and I thought the warmth was at an end. Rocky ensured I was following and boldly stepped out to whatever was over the hill. However, as he reached the brow of the hill before me (he has 4 legs I only have 2) he promptly turned round and came running towards me, tucking himself neatly behind me ……….. what’s afoot I though?? Well, big brave Rocky had spotted a chap on a push bike (in the middle of nowhere?!!) coming our way and being unsure as to what it was, had forsaken valour for the comfort of Mum’s legs.
Nice chap he was too, stopped and had a long chat about Rocky and gave him plenty of fusses ………. Rocky obviously lost his timidity with the bike because he followed him happily as he pedalled off again!! Plenty of calling (and I suspect the fact that the bike was moving very fast – downhill) saw Rocky return to me and we continued our walk over the hill into another fairly secluded meadow.
Here, Rocky continued his gambling and playing while I explored the sheltered edges of the meadow. It was lovely and warm still with the sun and no wind and the wild violets were nodding their tiny heads. I could have stayed there quite happily but Rocky was for moving on.
We spent quite sometime out on the plain and enjoyed every minute of it. Rocky was really very well behaved, which helped. He does like exploring new places, and I suppose because they are new he stays fairly close and comes when he is called. So all is by no means lost and I am sure he will continue to grow into a lovely chap ……… like all youngsters, it is never plain sailing!!
When we returned home we had visitors and as one of them had thrown his coat on the sofa and no one was about Rocky thought he would investigate the enticing smell of chocolate coming from one of the pockets ………. This is his “I’m not really doing anything” look when a head pops round the door and asks him what he’s up to!!
Butter wouldn’t melt!!!????
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