a walk in the woods with 2 naughty dogs

Naughty dog no 1 - Maija.  It's hard to comprehend that I'm calling Maija a naughty dog, as she enjoys the distinction of being known as the very best behaved of our dogs.  However, in the instance of a walk in the woods with Tuuli, Maija is naughty dog no 1.  By herself, or with the older dogs, Maija is very easy.  She doesn't disappear for long, comes when she's called, and doesn't give us much grief on walks.  Add Tuuli into the equation, though, and Maija becomes suddenly and dramatically problematic.  She has been known to lead Tuuli off into the woods, only to return to us leaving Tuuli lost and nowhere to be found.

So on her lead she remains for long stretches of this 8km walk - i.e. anywhere she has run off before and found deer, badgers, foxes, squirrels or anything at all chase-worthy.  Once they have found such a prize on a walk, Lappies return to that spot forevermore just in case.  That's fine if the spot is 10 feet from the path, but when it's a km or more away, that's a different story altogether. 

Lots of opportunities for picturesque posing on this walk

Maija's lead in full view

Another part of the river, another rock

Naughty dog no 2 - Tuuli.  When running off-lead with someone else, Tuuli invariably becomes utterly deaf, taking no notice whatsoever of the people.  However, it has to be said, that as long as said "someone else" is under control (i.e. on lead like Maija), then Tuuli races ahead and runs in loops but doesn't disappear and always comes back when she's called.  In fact, as long as she has no running mate to lead her astray, Tuuli is the most reliably close of our dogs who rarely even goes out of sight.  Famous last words, and all that, but as far as sticking around goes, I can relax most when Tuuli is off lead.

So how did this paragon of off-lead walking earn the naughty moniker?  Well, like so many young Lappies she has the frequently-irritating and always-embarrassing habit of running, barking, up to dogs and people she meets.  All of my dogs did this as youngsters and they eventually grow out of it.  I live in hope that Tuuli, too, will someday find it less necessary to leap and yap at most people she meets.  Assuming she does occasionally listen and come back to me when when doing this, then she invariably stops infuriatingly short of my reach before tearing back for another round of leaping and yapping. 

I find myself yelling ahead to unsuspecting walkers, "she's noisy but friendly!"  Or those heart-sinking times when I see a runner off ahead on a trail, utterly oblivious to everything around him, including the small furry missile shooting through the forest towards him.  At moments like that I yell "TUULI COME!" a few times at the top of my voice.  I know she will pay no attention to me whatsoever, but at least I can warn the runner that there are others about, including out-of-control dogs.

"Was that a squirrel?"

"I think it went this way!"

Luckily, most people I encounter on my trails also have dogs with them, so they often smile, laugh, say hello, and on we all go.  Then there are those without dogs who sometimes do the same but who sometimes are afraid.  I find it facinating that Tuuli seems to sense that she is scaring these people and she actually stops and comes away.

Then there are people who are neither afraid nor amused.   Such as the people we met on this day last week.  The woman, striding ahead, smiled (a little), said good morning, ignored Tuuli and kept going.  Excellent.  Just the sort of people Tuuli ignores in turn.  The woman's walking-mate, however, stopped in his tracks in the middle of the path and glared at Tuuli.  Did he think he was going to frighten her away?  On the contrary, it simply amplified her reaction to him.  Then he glared at me as I was madly scrambling up the hill to grab the offending small barking creature.  I apologised to him profusely, as is my wont, but as usual when people are ungracious in the face of my apology, I admit to turning somewhat less than contrite.  Especially when he could not even screw up the civility to move out of the way so that I could drag the barking maniac past him.

I guess some people just enjoy wallowing in ire for the maximum time possible.  

On second thought, perhaps Tuuli is an excellent judge of character.

Lots of opportunities for paddling too

 

One of the hundreds of trees brought down by this year's storms

Beautiful lichen on a log

And some more

Moody river, dogless

Another rock - this time in the ancient wood

Naughty dog no 3 - Neka.  Did I say a walk in the woods with only 2 naughty dogs?  To be precise:  only 2 at a time.  And Neka's crime for which she is sentenced to on-lead walks?  Eating everything she finds.  Yes, everything.  Then there was the time she discovered a deer and didn't return for an hour.   Believe me, that doesn't have to happen very often to destroy your confidence in letting your dog off lead.  But mainly it's the eating thing.  And the resultant vomiting thing. 

Different day, different wood, different dogs

Same wood, different day, different dogs

I am very lucky to have several beautiful and different woodland walks within reasonably close proximity for regular weekly visits.  But I also yearn for longer, wilder walks.  And, fortunately, I have Dartmoor right on my doorstep.  And so I set out with backpack and 2 dogs for an adventure one day... and that's a whole other blog post.