Walk Mutterings & Grumbles

Most of the time when me and Tia are out on walkies, I'm happy in my own little world, enjoying being out in the open, the peace and quiet (excluding the times, when Tia runs off to get into mischief and peace is shattered by me hollering after her to come back!!) and just general being away from it all.. or away from most of it all...

But I have the odd gripes........:

1) My main gripe at the moment is fishermen.... I have no problem with their presence, I understand their need to fish.. I'd understand it more if they ate their catch of course, but each to their own.... what really gets on my nerves is when they have had to relieve themselves along the river bank (sorry point number one is a gross topic.. maybe I should have ended with it!).. I'm talking number two's not number one's!  I clean up after my dog, can fishermen not clean up after themselves.... after all Tia doesn't leave dirty baby wipes littering the river bank after her!!!!  So fisherman..... poo bags don't have to be just for dogs, with a little bit of imagination, I'm sure you can utilise them too.... and remember to take the baby wipes with you too...!

2) Ignorant cyclists - my dog would happily chase all cyclists if she wasn't on the lead... this is the reason she is never off the lead when cyclists are around or in a place where they are likely to appear.  Of course, she would also still lunge at a cyclist given the chance (not on everyday roads, just footpaths and canal paths etc.. the sort of places she has decided are hers for the roaming!).  So when I see a cyclist approach, I pull Tia over to one side of the path and make her sit, occasionally distracting with a treat if necessary.  Basically I go out of my way to ensure Tia isn't a nuisance or scary to other footpath users.......and yes occasionally it would be nice to be thanked.. just a nod of the head will do, you don't need to send me flowers or anything.. just general politeness please... hell, just slowing down a bit would be nice!.... you don't despite what you may think own the path.  (Obviously not all cyclists fall into this category, just a few rude, ignorant ones)

3) I hate to say this one.. but yes other dog walkers do sometimes get on my nerves, again not all of you......

• the ones that don't clean up after their dogs - hell once I walked to place Tia's doings in the nearest poo bin, and stepped in a poo that had been done right next to the bin.... did the owner think it may grow legs and haul itself up into the bin by itself!
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• the ones that do clean up after their dogs but then throw the bag into a tree, bush, hedgerow.. or leave it at the side of the path to collect later and then fail to do so!!!
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• the ones that always seem to be in your way.... Tia isn't always very sociable with other dogs, despite the fact that she was well socialised as a puppy.  She has a weird ability to spot another dog from a few metres away and decide she doesn't like it on sight!  So if I'm in a field with plenty of room, I deviate from the path and avoid them... simples... you would think wouldn't you... but then you get the owner that decides to turn round and follow you, or start throwing a ball across the field to where you have wandered..... surely it isn't rocket science that I have gone out of my way to avoid them for a reason..... throwing a ball for your dog into my new chosen path isn't the smartest of ideas.... besides Tia does like a run too, I go out of my way so that I can find somewhere dog free to let her off the lead, so that she isn't a nuisance.  

• Leaving your dog off the lead and calling to me, "oh they're okay" isn't so reassuring either... firstly, Tia (who is on the lead) may not be okay.. who knows, she has mood swings... so if your dog is going to come over, Tia may growl... and of course my sister and her dog Frankie came across one such lady, she shouted across that her labrador was fine with other dogs (Frankie also a Rotti, prefers to ignore other dogs if possible, she's grumpy).... so said labrador came running over to Frankie and took a chunk out of Frankie's chest before running back to her mum!  My sister hadn't actually realised until they got back to the car when she saw the blood, the labrador hadn't made a sound and neither did Frankie.... so this lady probably still to this day thinks her dog is perfectly fine!

4) Litter and Fly tipping.. I can't even go into it, I'll be on here all day, the fields at the back of my house are popular for fly tipping, as there is a lane running through them, I saw a guy in his posh jag once, eating his lunch, as I approached, he rolled the window down, dumped all of his rubbish and drove off.. such little respect for his surroundings

I'm sure I could go on.... but I won't.. its been therapeutic!