There's something quite lovely about having a favourite walk that you can do over and over again and never really get bored of. The short route up to the Wainwright Memorial is one of those for me and Rowena. A bit of fresh air, a decent catch-up and a brew at the top. Sometimes that's all you need.
This week we'd made plans to do it on Saturday morning, but with two additional participants. Kaizer was going on his first puppy date with Hatter, Rowena's Jack Russell x Manchester Terrier. Our two dogs had never met before but, given that their owners have been best mates for years, they're probably going to have to get used to each other.
I'd already decided I wasn't going to parkrun this weekend. The Blackburn Road Runners club championship event was in Skipton and, lovely as that would have been, it was a bit too far for me this time. I'm genuinely gutted because it means I won't complete the 12-in-12 championship I'd planned for this year. That's another story for another blog post though.
Instead, we made plans for a walk. Of course, the weather had other ideas. It has rained heavily for most of the week, often sideways, and I was beginning to wonder whether we'd be going anywhere at all but Saturday morning arrived, the clouds broke and at 8am we were off.
This was actually quite a big morning for Kaizer. At 15 weeks old, he's still getting used to the world outside our house and garden, and this was his first proper car journey that didn't involve either leaving his first mummy or visiting the vet for vaccinations. Not exactly a glowing introduction to trips out so far.
We have bought a special enclosure for the back seat to keep both him and the seats protected, along with a harness and seatbelt attachment to keep him secure. He LOVED it, sitting nicely for part of the journey and even laying down for a while. Considering how much excitement was waiting for him, I was really pleased with how well he travelled.
Getting in and out of the car was another matter. thought He hasn't quite worked that bit out yet, so I had to lift him in and out. At the rate he's growing, that's something we'll definitely need to practise sooner rather than later!
It was also his first meeting with Hatter. There was a bit of initial chaos, as you'd expect when introducing an enthusiastic Akita puppy to another dog, but Hatter is a year older and has spent time around bigger dogs before, so he wasn't particularly fazed by him. There was plenty of excitement from both of them, although I suspect Hatter was responsible for encouraging some of Kaizer's enthusiasm!
One thing I was particularly interested in was how Kaizer would manage on the lead. We've been having a few challenges with pulling and chewing recently, so I decided to use his bungee lead rather than the extendable one. It turned out to be a good choice. It gave me a little more control while still allowing him enough freedom to investigate his surroundings. He did have the occasional chew on the lead, but nothing like some of the battles we've had on our usual walks. He was inquisitive, enjoying the space around him and taking everything in. And he didn't eat any sheep shit so I'm counting that as a significant achievement.
The route to the memorial isn't particularly long but it did present a few new challenges. First there was a stile, which Kaizer negotiated by going underneath rather than over it. Fair enough. Why make life difficult? Then there were two kissing gates to navigate before we reached the memorial.
We had planned to sit, drink our brews and have our usual debrief of everything that's happened in our lives over the previous week but what we hadn't quite accounted for was the wind.
It was blowing an absolute hoolie up there. At one point we genuinely felt as though we might get blown off the hill. My nose was running constantly - delightful - and drinking a brew without spilling it everywhere required considerably more concentration than usual.
But we struggled through. We're nothing if not committed to our Saturday morning refreshments.
By the time we got back to the car, I think Kaizer had experienced enough excitement for one morning. On the journey home he looked completely spaced out with exhaustion. All those new smells, meeting Hatter, exploring somewhere different and negotiating the countryside had clearly taken it out of him.
Once we were home, he took himself off into his crate, curled up and went to sleep. The door was open and he was perfectly happy having a proper rest. To be honest, he's not moved much for the rest of the day either!
I love this walk whether we're accompanied by dogs or not. It's familiar, it's not too far and it's a lovely place to sit and put the world to rights for a while but taking Kaizer along made it a little different this time.
He's still learning about walking on a lead, meeting other dogs and generally existing in a world where absolutely everything is new and potentially worth investigating. We've had some difficult moments recently, so it was genuinely lovely to see him enjoying himself and managing so well.
Hopefully this is the first of many walks with Hatter. Given that their owners have been friends for years, it would be rather convenient if the dogs became best mates too.a
For now, though, I've got one very tired Akita puppy and I'm enjoying the peace while it lasts.
༻❁༺
I've added some more pictures on Instagram.