Teg goes swimming

Teg, as we have mentioned before, would rather drink a puddle dry than get her paws wet! That makes our progress getting her to get considerably wetter than that all the more triumphant in recent days.

It started on Monday when we took her on to Freeman's Marsh and after much wussing and whining she eventually followed me into the very shallow (not as deep as my wellies) water. Back and forth she went gradually gaining confidence.

Further one she managed to swim across the river between Diane and myself on numerous occasions, although she preferred the long way round via a bridge more than once!

Today we were back on the marsh and Teg while still a little hesistant, proved herself a water friendly hound as the photo above and the video below will reveal!

Giant fungus highlight on morning yomp!

When Teg found this mushroom, which she quite possibly thought was the chance discovery of a football, she was bewildered enough to sound a confused bark of alarm for me to come and investigate.

Rather like a solid puffball it was a fair size and warranted much sniffing before Teg was ready to resume her morning walk.

Teg meets her first hedgehog

Teg met her very first hedgehog on the way back from the Common this evening. Curious and gentle as ever she sniffed and nudged what was clearly a baby one; amazingly it must have been the hedgehog's first encounter too for it showed no fear and did not curl up into the characteristic ball.

Teg takes to her new basket from an old friend

One of Teg's canine friends was Fritz and he sadly had to be put to sleep the other day; we are sure that Teg recognised the smell of her old friend on this basket even though it had been washed for she sniffed it for ages before adopting it as her own, giving her somewhere comfy to curl up next to her master's desk.

Not prone to whining, Teg discovers wine agrees with her

Teg doesn't pinch food or drink, but when this emptied wine bottle was placed next to the sofa last night she was quick to declare it her own and clearly found the taste of a 2006 Chardonnay most agreeable.

Exploring the flooding

Teg has never been one for getting her feet wet unless unavoidable, indeed she would rather drink a puddle dry than walk through it, so the flooding that has followed the relentless rain earlier today has presented quite the challenge for her.

The photo above might look like one of those puddles, but it is actually a deep pit on Hungerford Common that had filled up and stretches about 50 feet in diameter and is probably about 15 feet deep at the middle - well just look at the scale photo below with Teg dwarfed by the lake!

She circiled it and sniffed it lots, clearly aware that it was not normally there - more common is to use the pit for some more interesting retrieval work!

Crop circles

The wheat growing alongside one of the footpaths we regularly walk along has just reached Teg height and now holds a host of unseen attractions for the a small border collie; Teg bounds, pounces, leaps and charges after creatures unseen but clearly heard rustling. Just the mental and physical stimulation she needs!

Frosty February

We've been having some beautiful walks this month. It is light just that bit earlier and the frost makes our favourite walks crisp beneath your feat and the light is beautiful. Quite whether Teg appreciates the beauty, not least her own, is not clear, but she definitely enjoys herself!