To that end, we took advantage of the late afternoon sunshine to walk down the Butterfly Sanctuary path. I was surprised by the warmth of the sun, when sheltered from the wind, and Rocky was surprised to meet a new friend. This is Willis and he and Rocky had such a marvellous walk (?) together!
The two of them immediately hit it off and after a brief introduction – they were off into full play mode!
They were happy to just romp together …………….
And ambush each other after brief mad fits!
However, Willis’ owner produced a ball and Rocky (eager to have a jolly good run around) worked out that if he snaffled it, he could get Willis to chase him! So he did!!
Willis was no slow coach and would catch up to Rocky - going in for a rugby tackle!
After a brief roll around the two pals were off again - down the track they ran.
Backwards and forwards, they were having such fun. Occasionally they would calm down for a brief rest ……………. But the key word here is …. Brief!
Then it was back into wrestling and rugby tackles in order to gain mastery of the ball. What fun!
Occasionally Willis’ owner would manage to get the ball and give it a jolly good throw – miles it flew (well, nearly). Now Rocky, being an Otterhound, had worked out that if he let Willis do all the running to get the ball he could ambush him on the way back and get it that way. Saves effort you see – Otterhound problem solving that is!!
Problem is that Rocky didn’t factor in the fact that Willis (being of the doggy persuasion) would sometimes get side tracked by interesting smells and other doggy things. On these occasions Rocky had to forgo his cunning plan and do a bit of extra running in order to obtain his goal!
Willis had a plan as well it seemed; problem was it was much the same as Rocky’s! Get ball – Make friend chase you!!
It was soon time for another rest, so the two pals just meandered around and enjoyed being outside and having fun.
As it was their walk we decided to let them make the decision on where they would go ………… So, where the path broadened out into the countryside Willis thought it would make sense to turn around and play their way back to the cars.
Rocky, having agreed with his friends discerning choice, picked up the abandoned ball in order to be first to get his friend chasing him on the return lap.
I was surprised at how much running Rocky was doing, being a hound dog he usually reverted to the energy saving wolf lope as soon as possible! However, not to act totally alien to his nature; he was initiating more and more breaks into the much adored chasing game.
Aren’t dogs wonderful? Willis had the speed advantage and the ability to keep his speeding up for long periods; but knowing his fun was centred on Rocky he followed his lead with apparent pleasure. How nice is that?
Synchronised drinking was another twist in their game plan ………….. And appreciated by them both!
Getting closer to the cars and going home time, the two (and by now – the tired two) lapsed into more sedentary playing.
They continued to have fun right up till the last moment ……….. What a lovely afternoon for an Otterhound!!
Back home again …………. “Aw mum, turn off the camera now ………… I'm going to take a nap” ……….. And nap taking he did!!
In previous blogs I have mentioned that Rocky’s Otter is one of his favourite toys ………. I have also mentioned his cunning plan to get Mij to play with him by holding on to her toys in an effort to get her to chase him. Well ....... Mij (being a cat and therefore being sneakier) has taken to ambushing his toys when he is asleep and running upstairs to play with them before he can stop her! He hasn’t clicked on to this behaviour yet but he does look at us with confusion when we come downstairs with whatever collection of toys Mij has squirreled away that day!!
Mij has also learned that if Rocky has his attention elsewhere (when “dad” is eating, for example) she can slip in and give "full on kitten attack" to his legs - for ages, before he realises and turns to playfully get his legs back! Their behaviour is quite hilarious sometimes and you can really see the reasoning behind what they do! Both pets seem to have such a wonderful sense of humour and seem to have a grand and playful relationship!!
“Hello Rocky! Did you mizz me while I waz upstairz”?
“Rocky, Rocky - Can uz play I'z Spyz”?!
"Mez Firzt - zomezing beginning wiz D"!
“That'll be Dog then Mij".
"Not fair youz cheeted”!!
They have started to really relax together!
"Why is it that she's so tiny but it's MY head that has to hang off my sofa"?
In the evenings there is always at least one game. But if our Rocky has had a busy day it is sometimes hard work for Mij to get him to play!
And it is usually Mij who falls asleep first after a game …………
"Sigh, back to babysitting duty"!
But Rocky is usually not too far behind her ……….. Aaahh!!
"Scuz me, canz you get your big ed off myz ed pleaz"?
Rocky’s expedition this week saw him back on the plain exploring new ways to get to and from his favourite watering hole.
The sun would peek out from behind the cloud every now and then, it was warm and the autumn colours were beautiful ……….. A perfect day for a walk!
“Come on mum, I think it’s just over this rise …… Yippee”!
Rocky was right. However, the rain we have had this year still doesn’t seem to have filled it back up. There were a lot of cattle tracks around though (which Rocky just had to investigate) – maybe they just drank it all??!!!
So we walked to the nearby watering hole – that was even worse.
“Look mum ……… I can make mud wellies ……… Cool”!
Being not best pleased with the mud wellies I encouraged Rocky to walk in the long grass to try and clean them off ….. It didn’t work!
However realising my distress, Rocky went and stood in a nearby puddle to clean them off ……….. What a thoughtful Otterhound!!
Then it was back to soaking up the pleasures of a romp in the countryside.
Rocky enjoyed all the smells while I enjoyed the colours and the now shining sun! What a Lovely way to spend a morning!!
After being spooked by a pile of stones in the middle of nowhere – Rocky got the courage to go and give them a good sniffing ………What a brave Otterhound!?
Getting closer to the car (and the way home), Rocky is put back on the lead. But he was still enjoying his walk and the huge variety of interesting smells!
Arriving back at the car I realised that with all his sniffing about in the grass he had collected a fair few grass seeds and sticky burrs! He has, in fact, turned into Otterhound Velcro again!!
On our return home Rocky was groomed to within an inch of his life (well, not really but quite a bit)! Our hero then did what he does best …….. Night night Rocky, sleep well and dream sweetly!!
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