A great weekend!!

Smudge and I have just come back from a great weekend with Nancy, Andy and their dogs. We had such a good time! It was so nice to get away, plus of course seeing friends, and to top it all off a really interesting training day. But we are both now exhausted!

We decided to travel by plane for this trip, as I really didn’t fancy the boat at this time of year. The local inter island airline is the only airline who will accept dogs for travel now, and they let the dogs sit on the seat right next to you!

The flights were interesting to say the least, and just slightly scary! The planes are absolutely tiny, and only take about ten passengers and the pilot. It was pretty difficult to take photos as there wasn’t much space, but you can get the general idea. Boarding was funny as you all just pile out onto the runway and they tell you one at a time where to sit. You then have to climb over the seats to get into position and your bags go on your lap!


If you look carefully you can see the pilot at the front. Yes, pilot in the singular...no co pilot!! What on earth would happen if he had a heart attack? I dread to think, and I certainly didn’t want to ask! Somehow I don’t think Smudge or I would have learnt to fly that quickly! No other staff whatsoever, just ten passengers and the pilot. In flight service is a packet of biscuits passed along the rows! Lol!!

I have also decided that I really don't like being able to see the pilot. I'd rather not know what they are doing! Ours was reading a leaflet and drinking coffee. I am sure they probably do this on all the big commercial flights too, but what you don't know doesn't harm you. When you can see him it is scary…."KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!!!!!" (or the sky I guess!) I kept thinking!!

It was great that I had Smudge sitting next to me, and he wasn’t bothered at all. Took it all very much in his stride, probably more so than me in fact. He was such a perfect traveller. He trotted through all the airports happily (and quietly, much to my relief! haha), through security, was fussed by loads of people and sat and waited for hours at a time on his mat. I am so lucky to have such an easy dog! He is an absolute pleasure to take anywhere.



Perhaps the funniest thing was this…….

Yes that is a cardboard box........ covering the engine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which was right behind my seat. Can you believe it?!?!?! Slightly un-nerving to say the least!!!! I had to take a picture as I really didn’t think anyone would believe me otherwise!

All that being said, I still think I would do this trip again, as it was so nice to have Smudge with me the whole way, and it was certainly quicker than the ferry! You just have to grit your teeth and tell yourself that they do this everyday!

So, onto the weekend itself and we had a great time. When I arrived on Saturday we went for a lovely pub lunch and then a great walk. Saturday evening Bernadette, Dennis and Karen came around and we had a fantastic dinner cooked by Andy. All in all a great day!

Sunday was the training day. In the morning I watched the puppy class that Nancy took and helped restraining puppies etc. It was great to watch, especially as a few of the puppies had running contacts and it was interesting to see the progression from the last time I had seen them. Gives me inspiration for my next dog (perhaps! unless I wimp out - running contacts scare me!) Smudges class was later in the day, and we started with contacts. It was a great session and we came away feeling that we had definitely done some very worthwhile training. I really enjoyed everything we did and it has given me the motivation to concentrate on those contacts!

Unfortunately disaster struck towards the end. Smudge went into the cloth tunnel and came out on three legs. He was really badly lame, to the point where he wouldn’t put his paw on the floor. Strangely, it disappeared and he was completely fine again as quickly as it had happened. I briefly carried on, hoping it was nothing, but at the start of the jumping section it happened again and he came out of the pipe on three legs. So we pulled out of the session completely. This is now worrying me slightly as he did a similar thing on the beach last week. I have booked an appointment for him to see the vet on Wednesday. Hopefully it will be something minor. The strange thing is that he is not lame at all now. And in fact wasn’t straight after it happened both times. It happens so quickly. For now he is on strict rest and observation!

All too quickly our weekend was over, and we flew home on Monday. We had a two hour stop in Alderney, where we had a nice (if very windy) walk on the beach whilst we waited.



Thanks to Nancy and Andy for a fabulous weekend!!

Now back to reality and packing the house ready to move. Groan!