Recently we’ve been walking for miles around Odd Down and Combe Down.
As a rescue dog, Flossie can be anxious and we’ve been advised by her trainer to work on general de-sensitisation. So, we regularly pound the local streets where she is exposed to “life” in a controlled way.
She’s been taking the constant din of traffic, roadworks and blaring sirens in her stride. She walks past people calmly and only occasionally tries to climb into open-doored cars, I think, out of curiosity.
We do have to manage encounters with other dogs which can be a trigger for whining and barking, but nothing too embarrassing has happened.
I enjoy these outings too, once I’ve mentally filtered out the noise. Walking is the perfect way to explore undiscovered places. I’ve noticed houses and tucked away roads that I never knew were there.
However, while these urban expeditions have been successful, Flossie let me down the other day.
A woman with a double buggy was approaching us on the pavement. There wasn’t room for both parties so, to be helpful, Flossie and I pulled into a driveway.
The woman thanked us as she passed and all was well. Until I heard a kind of throaty noise.
I turned around to find that Flossie had regurgitated her breakfast in the driveway.
I was mortified.
She was nonplussed.
I won’t go into too many graphic details but fortunately, the deposit was semi-solid. In fact, it was mostly a chewed tissue that she’d snaffled earlier.
Apparently, she’d decided she didn’t want it after all.
Flossie watched with disinterest as I swooped down, scooped the rejected snack into a poo bag, and swiftly steered her away from the scene.
The clear up was successful although I did feel self-conscious as I was doing it. I hoped the owner of the driveway didn’t witness my shame.
Perhaps Flossie thought she was leaving an early Christmas gift. It’s not one they would have appreciated.
Merry Christmas everyone.
As published in the Bath Chronicle, 22 December 2022
Suzy Pope is a certified copywriter and newspaper columnist specialising in pets, business and lifestyle. If you would like help with a writing project, please get in touch.
