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| 3 friends on Dartmoor granite |
It's been an eventful few days, some of which events were good or amusing and some of which were just awful. In fact, today I had what was, hands down, the worst experience I have ever had on a dog walk. And this is coming from someone who lost her 6-month-old Neka for an hour on an unfamiliar heath once. And someone who has walked 3 or sometimes 4 reactive Lapphunds at once. And an Akita.
In general, I'm pretty careful about where I walk and when and how. I like a quiet life, and so I aim for walks where I can see who is coming and take appropriate action accordingly. These days I have Keskiyo who is old and not interested in looking for trouble. In his younger days he was a handful at times, but being neutered, intensive training and, finally, age have all contributed to his now happy-go-lucky outlook. In fact, these days if a scary dog heads his way, he throws himself to the ground rather than try to defend himself.
Then there is Maija who will be 9 years old at the end of this month. She is the quintessential easy dog - obedient, friendly to everyone she meets, excellent manners with other dogs. Everything you could ask for. In fact, I would say that Maija is dog perfection. She is sweet and gentle and has never had cross words with anyone. Except, perhaps, on those occasions when some young whippersnapper has the temerity to consider helping itself to her bone.
Finally, we have Tuuli who has her friends and loves the people and dogs that she knows, but who barks at strangers. And sometimes lunges. And there is also occasional leaping. However, if anyone ever went for her, she would turn tail and run away. But because she has such bad manners, she is frequently on lead - always if I am somewhere we are likely to run into others.
This morning before 7am I was in the local dog walking fields next to a river in Kingsteignton near Teigngrace. It's a terrific place for walking dogs, and for that reason it is almost always very busy. And for that reason I rarely go there - my idea of a good walk is seeing no other people. But we were there early, and it was pretty quiet. I walked on past the bridge across the river for the return leg of the journey that most people take and carried on to the next bridge which leads to a track. Unfamiliar with the terrain, I had Keskiyo and Tuuli on lead and, as usual, Maija was running on ahead. As the track sloped downhill towards a gate back into the meadows along the river, Maija popped into the woods at the side and 3 Staffies appeared at the gate.
When I heard two people calling the dogs back in panicked voices, I started to get concerned. Clearly, the owners were worried about these dogs heading out the gate. I wasn't actually unduly concerned yet; I was far enough back up the hill for my dogs not to attract any unwanted attention from most dogs who you might expect to encounter off lead, and Maija is quite safe meeting all dogs. But I called Maija back to me, intending to turn around and head back up the track away from the potentially problematic Staffies. And so my sweet little Maija popped out of the trees straight into the three Staffies who were sniffing around the path. And they attacked her.
She was screaming, trying to get away from them. When she leaped into the air to try and escape, they jumped up and dragged her back down! They pinned her on her back and all 3 were just going at her.
What did I do? Well, nothing useful. I was terrified of getting too close with Keskiyo and Tuuli in case I ended up with a 6-dog fight with leads involved. For the same reason I didn't dare let go of the leads and wade in to drag the Staffies off. So I stood there and screamed. Really unhelpful, I know. But when you're terrified and in shock, it's hard to gather the wits to know what to do.
In hindsight, I think if I had dropped Keskiyo's and Tuuli's leads, they would not have moved because I did sort of register that in those agonisingly slow seconds that Maija was being attacked, they didn't move a muscle or even bark. Very uncharacteristic.
The owners came running after what felt like minutes but, I guess, was actually only seconds. I just screamed at them to get their dogs off. I honestly thought those dogs were going to kill Maija, and they surely would have if not for the fact that they were muzzled. Thankfully.
The owners were very sorry and apologetic. But, honestly, those dogs should not be off lead at any time they cannot absolutely guarantee being able to control the situation. From a dog-owning point of view, why on earth would you have THREE dogs so antisocial that they need to be muzzled and why would you then walk them as a pack when they are clearly so dangerous? The Staffie owners waited until I ascertained that Maija wasn't badly hurt and I just said they should keep their dogs on lead. We then turned around and retraced our steps back to the car, avoiding everyone we met on the way.
Back home, I rinsed all the mud off Maija, gave her a dose of arnica and checked her over for injuries. I'm sure she must be bruised and sore, but at least they weren't able to bite her.
I surely won't be taking that route again, regardless of how early in the morning it is. I'm sure the Staffies' owners thought it was early enough that they wouldn't run into anyone. But it was shaping up to be a warm, sunny day, and there were plenty of dog walkers there, even at 7. So that's it for those fields and us.
This is actually a bit of a shame for Keskiyo who absolutely loved it there in those nice flat fields. A year ago he could hardly walk and now, newly medicated, he scampers around like a puppy. Well, not *quite* like a puppy, perhaps, but there is definitely scampering.
On Saturday we had a much better walk. Around the crack of dawn, Heather and I met up with Loki and the girls for a Dartmoor trek. By 7am we were headed for Hound Tor via Haytor (and I was freezing because I dressed for the weather that came an hour later). It was a great walk with superb sunny weather and a cooling breeze to keep the dogs comfortable. There was some steep climbing and some steep downward skidding, some pushing our way through 7-foot gorse (ruck sacks excellent armor in these situations) and a bit of slipping, one of which resulted in Heather tumbling over some rocks. Luckily she was unhurt but for some grazes, and we had a terrific morning of blue skies, dramatic far-reaching views and picturesque piles of rocks.
First stop was Haytor and the old disused quarry next door - the best spot around for dogs to run and play. Maija fell into the water and, at the age of 8 years 11 months had her very first swim. She headed for a little stand of trees in the middle of the pond for some reason and I feared she was chasing a duck or something. However, it seems she was just trying to find a spot to climb out. Luckily she turned and swam back to me through the lily pads because if she had found some solid ground in that little tree island, I'm not sure how I would have got her back.
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| 3 friends after a swim in the quarry |
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| Great views |
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| Stunning piles of rocks |
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| The light was quite beautiful, but difficult to photograph in |
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| One of those gorgeous Dartmoor stone bridges |
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| Sweet curious calves |
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| Headed .... there |
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| Intriguing little doorway |
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| Inside the doorway |
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| Taking the ancient tramway all the way back |
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| Heading home |
