Another day on the farm

Today I decided to walk to the little village shop/post office in Chardstock (Tytherleigh is in the parish of Chardstock). Mike had taken one of our young alpacas to be mated on another farm and so I took the opportunity to catch up on exciting things like the ironing before setting off.

Maddy is our ten year old lurcher. She used to compete in agility but her heart was not in it and we retired her last year. We felt that she was being left out of things and needed a little bit of attention of her own. Sandy our little terrier is quite old now and seems content to rule the roost and get fed and not much more and the three border collies all compete in agility and get training sessions so they have a fairly interesting time. I thought it would be nice for Maddy to come to the shop and she agreed. We met one of our neighbours walking her little Scotty dog. He and Maddy seemed to like each other. She trotted along quite happily and was very good when I tied her up outside the shop whilst I went in to get my milk, which was the main reason for the trip. I also bought more than planned so had a heavier shopping bag that I was expecting.

I was surprised at how much more exercise the walk on the roads seemed than all the walking we do on the farm. I should probably do it every day, but that is not likely to happen although I think it would be an idea to do it a few times a week to give the dogs experience in walking on a lead and behaving well in public. It is also nice to meet the villagers and get away from our hermit habits.