When Mother goes to work, I always go with her, except on Saturdays. On Saturdays Mother either works a long shift, and I go to work with her, or she works a short shift. When she works a short shift I get to stay at home.
I rarely stay home alone, I’m such a spoiled puppy, Mother tells me that all the time. I stay home alone on the rare occasion Mother goes to the shops, or has an appointment to go to. But once every few weeks I’ll have a Saturday to myself.
Mother will make sure to get up early and we go for a walk around our village. There is an unofficial dog group that meet in the village on the playing fields by the village hall. We stumbled across them accidently early last year. The group consists of one young cocker spaniel puppy, one mastiff cross, one elderly Labrador, one Patterdale terrier, and three border collies, plus or minus the occasional dog.
I love playing with this group. They always have toys, frisbees and balls, all kind of things that Mother doesn’t usually let me play with. Mother doesn’t like me playing with the dog group as much I like it though.
Mother says I’m confident. I say I’m happy. Strangers say I’m bolshy, pushy, happy, a character, dominant. Mother hates when I’m called dominant. Dominance is an outdated theory, and Mother regularly corrects peoples assumptions on walks when they call me dominant.
https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/training/techniques/dominance-theory#:~:text=Dominance%20theory%20is%20an%20outdated,show%20aggression%20to%20achieve%20dominance.
The first time I played with these dogs, I lay down to await one to approach. I do this all the time, lots of spaniel type dogs do. One of the collies approached first and he leaned over me. I didn’t like that very much, so I gave him a growl and jumped to stand up. Since then the collie has avoided me, but he was actually a bit better with me today so I think we just got off on the wrong foot. But the collies owner said that I was dominant and mean. She said this every subsequent time I stumbled on the group, every time making a comment about how I’m dominant and mean, even though I never grumbled at that dog ever again. But because he was always cautious with me, the lady said it over and over. A lovely gentleman with the group, who plays with me and gives me treats, always tell me to ignore her and that the collie is just naturally a bit worried. Mother says that collies are prone to being anxious and it can take a while for dynamics to settle if dogs don’t know each other very well, so she isn’t worried about me and the collie. But Mother avoided the meetings for a few months just to save herself the frustration of owners who don’t understand how us dogs work.
Mother doesn’t like to tell people she’s a vet when she meets them on dog walks. Mostly because it ends up with people making comments. She also doesn’t really want strangers who know roughly where she lives knowing she’s a vet, in case they knock on the door randomly in the night with animal related questions. If they say I’m dominant, she tells them its an outdated theory, and then we walk away. But there are some people in the village that forget they’ve met us (which is rude as I’m clearly unforgettable) and repeat the same dominance stuff, just because I’m a confident, happy dog. All I want to do is play.
Anyway, today Mother was trying to walk around the field without letting me say hello. The mastiff cross, Chester, ran over to say hello to me first. Previously, Mother and I have always left to get home before work at about the time Chester usually joins the group so we haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each other. I have a particular preference for large breed dogs, I don’t have to worry about hurting them and they can usually keep up if we play chase. So I proceeded to try and chase him around while still on my lead, before Mother huffed and agreed to let me play. Freedom!!! I had half an hour today to run around with all the dogs. The people gave me treats and threw frisbees and balls. My favourite is the football. One of the collies (not the anxious one- he’s called Blue) loves the ball too. So the humans throw or kick the ball, then we race to see who wins it, then the winner carries it closer to the humans. With a bark we get their attention and then it starts again. So much fun!
Unfortunately, Mother said it was time to go, much sooner than I would have preferred. So we raced off home.
When Mother does leave me home alone she gives me plenty of food based distractions. Others say I’m spoiled but I don’t see it personally. I have a scatter mat and a magic snuffle ball that Mother fills with kibble, and some of my fishy treats ( I like sprats, and whitefish cubes, and eel skins, and salmon skins). She then hides the mats and the ball in places, under the footstall or armchair, and then she leaves me to it. Sometimes I even get a frozen food dish with good stuff like yogurt and liver paste and chicken broth.
By the time Mother gets home, I’ve managed to open all the mats, eat all the food, and have a nap for a couple hours. Then I’m ready for another walk. To be honest with you, I’m always ready for another walk. Mother is the opposite, she’s always ready for another nap. Mother says regularly that she would never have chosen a spaniel, too energetic. She didn’t chose the spaniel life, the spaniel life chose her, as she says. But I nap better after playing with another dog or two. Mother has to tell people often that I won’t get a permanent dog brother or sister, because Mother barely copes with one dog let alone two. But as long as I have regular play dates with other dogs I’ll survive. I have a good range of regular playdates; from spaniels to boxers to labradors to staffies to greyhounds. I love all dogs.