Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives

Happily we are all still well, but this is a time I hope we all move on from and one day get back to walks without restrictions and being able to travel to our favourite spots across Lancashire.  At this point, Easter weekend, we are still living with family, which Marley loves, so if there is such a thing as fate, it was probably fate that meant we were between house moves when all this happened.  We completed on the new house a few weeks ago, in the first week of restrictions, so one day I hope we get to move in, get the garden turfed, get Marley’s toys back, most of which is in storage, and get on with enjoying life to the max.

Four adults working at home with Marley hasn’t been as challenging as it would have been not so long ago.  He is pretty settled for most of the day and I so look forward to a short walk out later in the evening. Days tend to blur on to one though as it’s so busy, so I keep having to remind myself to do some training with him to stop bad habits appearing.  Today I decided to reverse our routine a bit so we had a good early morning walk before most people were up and about.  Maybe that’s the way to go as he’s the most chilled he’s been for a while this morning, and it feels good to have had some decent exercise. Not that our walk would normally have been such a highlight, all along pavements and what would normally be busy roads, but it’s a nice feeling to be able to cross Blackpool Road to allow a jogger to pass, without taking your life in your hands.

The Green at Wrea Green is our local walk, so we’re really lucky to be able to wander round the Dub, watch the ducks and get some fresh air in a nice environment within 5 minutes walk.  Like plenty of other people though, we’d rather be on the beach or the moors.

Keep safe.

Lytham Hall

My sister in-law introduced us to Lytham Hall yesterday.  What a lovely place!  I had a walk round the grounds 15 years or so ago and how it’s changed!  After walking alongside the long driveway leading to the house, which looks very smart these days, we wandered past the lake and gardens before settling down to a pot of tea, and hot chocolate for the boys, in the dog friendly cafe.  We will definitely be back there.

Moving house with the dog

We moved out of our house just over two weeks ago.  It’s odd as I thought I’d really miss it, but I’ve not. Happily, we are staying with relatives until we can move in to the new house, maybe in a couple of weeks.

Marley has settled brilliantly. I think he loves it here....calm at home during the week and lots of comings and goings at weekends. He has been in daycare most days as we can’t leave him alone at all in our temporary home. He seems to love it there too, and now drags me to the door and off he goes without a second thought. The impact of all this change is the opposite of what I’d expected. He is much calmer, hasn’t been jumping on furniture, sleeps with us all night and is excited to get back home. He went to the groomers yesterday who thought we’d swapped him for a different dog!

Walks have been great these past few weeks. Lytham is just a 10 minute drive so we’ve had plenty of walks on the green and a few walks on Blackpool Prom and up to Bispham.  I love it being so close to the sea.  We’ve not been on the beach in this windy weather but that will come. Daffodils are out and spring is coming. Life is good. It feels like we’re waiting for an apocalypse to happen so I’m so happy we have enjoyed this time.

Winter wanders

It’s the middle of February already.  This morning there were hints of daylight on our walk at 6.30am, and it’s not pitch black when we get home from work.  The first signs of spring are here, albeit we have another storm to come this weekend!

We’ve not been up to much in terms of exciting walks.  Most are in our local area, Bee Lane or over to Walton Park.  Last weekend we got to Derbyshire which was wet and wild but lovely.  We had a good walk around Matlock, Matlock Bath and Starkholmes as usual.  We’ve also had a few trips to the beach at Lytham, and an evening walk on Lytham Prom after fish and chips.

We move in a few weeks so the house is full of boxes.  I’ll miss this place, and I’m sure Marley will too, but sure we will have fun settling in to new, albeit temporary, surroundings.

Formby to Ainsdale, The Star of Hope and Christmas 2019

2020 has arrived and we’ve had a good start to the year.  A whopping three hour dog training class yesterday saw our first ever go at man trailing.  I think Marley got the idea, finding the hiding person twice and of course now regarding her as his latest treat dispenser!

Friday saw a return to Formby for a fabulous walk, pretty much all off lead, up to the wreck of the Star of Hope at Ainsdale and back. It was probably Marley’s longest off lead walk to date so he was shattered for the rest of the day.

Thursday was a trip out to lunch at the Watermill at Ings. It’s a great dog friendly pub.  Marley behaved pretty well other than 10 seconds of wanting to play with another dog and it’s 2 foot high companion. Other than when kids are looking at him or running past he’s pretty good at settling in pubs now.

Other highlights of the season were some off lead time with the twins. Can’t say they were too impressed with his contribution to their indoor cricket matches but he joined in Christmas Day present opening without total carnage, before it did all become too much and he had some time out in the car.  The adults only meal a few days later was rather calmer!

The build up to Christmas was less enjoyable with Marley picking up a rather nasty stomach bug. No idea how he caught it, but it followed a snowy but rather muddy trip to Tockholes. After a few days he had a trip to the vets, some probiotics and special food, which did the trick. Sadly it meant he missed a weeks training classes and a day out, but we were relieved it cleared up almost as quickly as it came on.

The Langdale Pikes, training classes and Rivington Pike - A great walking weekend

Friday was one of those increasingly rare days off with nothing planned other than a walk in the Lakes and, now he’s pretty much fully grown, Marley’s first real Lakeland mountain. Under perfect blue skies with a hard frost underfoot we headed up Stickle Ghyll from the National Trust car park in Langdale, gaining height quickly before emerging at the Tarn for a brief ice cold paddle.  With no sign of tiring, Marley continued enthusiastically to Harrison Stickle, passing a few fell runners, walkers and dogs on route, where we shared a cheese sandwich and a drink of water. Descent was much harder on the icy ground, taking as long to get down as it did to reach  the summit. All good for trying to get some close lead walking though.

Saturday brought a few hours of training classes, which  are going well. Over the past few months we’ve seen a big change. Yes, he’s still a crazy dog but he can hold it together for a meet and greet most of the time. We not yet cracked birds, bikes and joggers, but he doesn’t kick off quite as much these days. He’s though the worst of puppyhood and turning in to a good boy, bit by bit.

Sunday saw another first with a walk up Rivington Pike. I was surprised how much it’s changed in the three years or so since I was last up there. Looking very smart on the terraces and by the Japanese pond. We were joined by lots of Santa’s doing a charity walk at the top. Couldn’t have wished for a better morning walk, which ended with some training amongst the brave or foolhardy bikers who had come over on the Belmont road in such icy conditions.

Autumn colours and the Ribble

Loving the new path to the Old Tram Road.  On a gorgeous Sunday morning we wandered down to the Ribble and Avenham Park, through the autumn leaves, enjoying the sunshine.  En route we passed runners, bikes and kids.  No kick offs although of course he was interested.  Happily the road is still closed to traffic.  Not sure it will be open by the time we leave this place. 

Also had a first visit to doggy daycare this week.  Think Marley loved it!

The Old Tram Road - On the doorstep

For the last 14 years our route to the Old Tram Road has involved a 20 minute walk along busy roads or cutting through the old derelict Lostock Hall Gas Works.  Finally, the new link Road is open to pedestrians and this weekend we wandered over the bridge, down the tram road to Factory Lane, and enjoyed a stroll around Walton Park.  It was so odd to walk along roads and paths that have felt so far away!  It’s like two communities of dog walkers have merged in to one 😊

Other than local walks, we’ve had a good trip to the beach at St Anne’s, plenty of trips to Lytham Green and of course Saturday visits to dog training club.  Marley is still very excitable, but maybe a little calmer week by week.  Tonight I was confident enough to walk with headphones in, one of life’s little pleasures, for the first time in our walking together history!

Hopefully we will get a few decent walks in over the next month or so, after which we might be on the move. Very exciting.

Summer’s gone

Summer has gone and this week we had our first frost!  Been a busy summer, things on most weekends and also another week away in September.  Walks have been mainly local, with plenty of visits to our local park, a few trips to the beach and of course lots of weekends at Worden.  Oddly enough we’ve not been on the moors for months.  We had a day up in the Lakes, where Marley dragged me up Orrest Head which was nice, followed by a walk around Tarn Hows with mum and my sister.  Mostly though summer was about training, continuing to work on loose lead walking and learning to trust him off lead (only when it’s quiet!). We then had a bit of a disastrous period following his neutering, where he was out of action for a few weeks.  Happily we still managed to ge5 down to Cornwall in September, staying near the stunning Cape Cornwall.

Now I’m looking forward to autumn weekends, a few trips to the woods or beach and hopefully a dog who continues to get a little bit calmer. My main mission remains to stop reactivity to kids, birds and bikes but hopefully have some fun with it.

Back to Cornwall

June saw a trip back down to Cornwall, this time to Tregoose Barn, at a fantastic dog friendly holiday home near Helston.  With a huge wooded garden it was pretty much perfect for chilling out, games with a ball or just sniffing round after the visiting rabbits and foxes.

It wasn’t far from Porthleven so we got a few early morning walks in along the coast path and around Loe Pool, somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit. Towards the end of our visit I realised Porthleven beach welcomes dogs before 9am so as the tide was out and a calm sea we also had a stroll on the sands.

We visited plenty of pubs and cafes as usual, but this time there was more outside eating and drinking to be done. That proved a challenge is there were playing kids or birds getting close. Whilst he is calming down a bit, he still goes nuts, especially when kids are around. Given that, the lead stayed in for much of the time out and about but the long line was invaluable again as he had his first proper paddle in the sea at Porthluny.

After all the excitement of a summer holiday life back home seems a lot calmer. Even walking on the main road is easier, but not easy, now. Months of training might be stating to pay off!