Dexterity and balance - the 'WOBBLIE'

Fellow pups! Do you ever feel that your human might benefit from improved dexterity, flexibility and balance?

Perhaps they are 'not as young as they used to be'. Or maybe they have been spending your treat money on expensive Pilates or yoga classes.

Now that the warmer weather is with us, let me recommend my special training programme, the 'WOBBLIE'  (Working Out with Bouncing Bertie while Licking Ice-cream Exercise).

Your human will love the unique combination of keep-fit and indulgence. This is how it works.

It is a beautiful day and time for your afternoon walk. You quickly deduce, from the direction of travel and the clement weather conditions, that your human is heading for the ice-cream shop, about a mile away. Normally you would perform your afternoon 'business' pretty soon once you are the obligatory hundred yards away from your home, but today you sense an opportunity to give your human an extra work-out. So  you thoughtfully hold it all in until you have reached the ice-cream place and she has been inside and purchased a cone generously filled with her favourite flavour (coffee or vanilla, since you asked).

You can picture the scene. The sun is shining, your human is walking along, your lead in one hand, ice-cream cone in the other, happily licking away.

Now is the time to 'evacuate'. What better test of dexterity and balance than to have her place your lead in the ice-cream hand, reach for the poop bag with the other, bend over and pick up the poop, holding the ice-cream as far away as possible?  In Level 2 of the exercise you might want to jerk the lead a little at this point. Level 3 requires her to be wearing a white top.

Of course she will somehow need to tie the filled poop bag, one-handed, too.

One must recognise that it might take some practice before your human can complete the exercise without either falling over, letting go your lead or losing a single morsel of the precious ice-cream.

But I am sure your human will be grateful for your contribution to her well being and will reward you with at least the pointy tip of the ice-cream cone.

Level 4 involves, of course, your human simultaneously taking a selfie while conducting the pick up operation. Gail has not yet reached this stage. (In fact when she heard about it she asked, in a rather exasperated tone, did I expect her to grow a third arm or what?)

So anyway, here is a nice photo of cherry blossom, taken later on the walk. Look at that blue sky!

P.S. Do let me know how your human gets on with the WOBBLIE.

Sharing is caring

On the way home to Aberdeen on Easter Monday, we took a small diversion to Portsoy to visit Gail's friend Dave and his "labradoodle" Jasper. Another guest, Henry the "some sort of spaniel", was also there to greet us (noisily) in the garden.

We had finally caught up with the heatwave that the rest of the country had been revelling in all weekend, and Portsoy is famous for, amongst other things*, its ice cream shop. In these circumstances, on a Bank Holiday, I understand that humans are permitted a mid afternoon indulgence.

I want you to note carefully what is happening in the photo below.

Yes, what you see is Dave generously offering each of us dogs a third of his ice cream wafer, before tucking into his tub containing one scoop of raspberry mallow and one scoop of Belgian chocolate ice cream.

What a fine example he sets.

I need hardly tell you that Gail scoffed her ice cream and her wafer, not thinking one minute to share until there were just a few thin smears of wild strawberry and caramel latte flavour remaining in her tub.

I hope by next time she will have learned some better manners from her friend.

*Portsoy is also famous for its annual Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, and for being the closest town to the RAF base from where Gail's father flew Mosquitos in the latter part of WW2.

The heatwave proves elusive in NW Scotland...

So Gail and I were planning a spot of hillwalking in Torridon this Easter weekend, but I regret to report that the weather did not entirely cooperate.

While the rest of the UK was apparently basking in glorious sunshine and record breaking high temperatures, our far NW corner of the country was beset by low cloud and occasional drizzle. 

Of course that did not mean we stayed indoors, and lower level expeditions are also a good way to let off steam.

I even braved a paddle (front paws only, mind) in Loch Gaineamhach.

Gail reminded me once again that remote parts of the country with notoriously unreliable weather do have their plus sides.

After all which beach would you prefer?

Brighton beach (South Coast of England)

Or Ob a' Bràighe, Loch Torridon?

Oh and look, in that last photo, you can even see my shadow, just...

Was your Easter a good one?

Gorse, verse and worse...

Gorse and More

A paucity of gorse is quite unknown

On Aberdeenshire hills in spring.

A plethora of heather later blooms,

(The botanists distinguish Erica and Ling).

And by the sea shore drifts of thrift

Are poised to make the cliffs blush pink again.

In woodland dells, bluebells will soon appear,

And uncontrolled, marsh marigolds seize damp terrain.

***

 

Er, sometimes poems don't turn out quite as one planned.
Happy Nature Friday folks!
Thanks again to our wonderful friends, Arty, Jakey and Rosy, for hosting the blog hop.