11th June From impeccable to comedic

Just returned from a walk that made me giggle.  Tom started back at school today, but Alex starts tomorrow, so I needed to take Alex to drop off Tom.  A ten minute walk, but a big ask for Alex.  He has only done the walk once before, as it is confusing for him to take Tom to school, out of usual routine.  I had approached the headmistress at Tom's school 3 weeks ago to ask for permission to bring Lucie onto the school grounds for drop offs and pick ups.  Obviously no dogs allowed at school usually, but Lucie in a jacket can have access just about anywhere, unless there is good reason it is not suitable.  So as a matter of courtesy I asked the head's permission.  I just left it that if she had any problems, please let me know as I would need another plan to collect Tom.  Today was the day I had to take Alex attached to Lucie, and with Tom we bumbled in.  It was fine, though it is a very narrow path in entry so was a squish, but I think we managed well.

Tom's school is within the Cuerden Valley park area, so great walking all around. With Tom safely dispatched to school, and all going calmly, I decided to take a new approach and take Alex on a longer walk with Lucie in jacket, in an area neither of them had been used to being attached before.  It was going an absolute treat.  Bearing in mind this is both a free area for them normally, they both walked fantastically.  Dogs passed by regularly sniffing around, and both took it in their stride.

So far so good.  And then we came to a lake area where I could hear lots of ducks and geese.  This is a place we can divert around, which we normally do, as Alex is fairly keen to get in any water he can, but with being attached, I thought I would brave the route.  A man was feeding the geese a whole pack of bread rolls from his BBQ leftovers....Alex has only fed ducks once before, an odd concept for him, and even touching food can be challenging.  So I approached to show Alex him feeding the birds.  He had a spaniel with him sniffing all around, but even with food, and dogs, Lucie remained in control.  He offered Alex a roll.  Before I could intervene the whole roll was thrown in one lump.  Ok - fine, not a bad start.  So I helped from there on.  Lucie sat, and Alex took bits of bread from me and giggled, flapping with excitement, throwing them in the lake.  The man kindly left us a huge pile of bread and carried on his bike ride.  The next few minutes would have needed an orchestra and mood lighting to capture the beauty that was sharing the simple but special act of feeding the ducks and geese with your son.  Impeccable behaviour all round, and I was feeling very fuzzy inside......

.....and then.....

You could not write a comedy sketch that could capture then next five minutes.  From between the geese, a dogs head appeared, and parting the birds, a beautiful chocolate labrador with tennis ball in mouth, swam directly towards us.  I looked up to see the owner on the far side of the lake running as fast as she could to get around.  Not fast enough, as said soggy doggy launched out of the lake directly at Lucie, Alex and I and stampeded to the bread rolls consuming them in 4.2 seconds.  I now was caught in a tangle of leads, dogs and bread everywhere.  Lucie forgot all 2 years of training in a millisecond, and thought Christmas had come early.  Birds were squawking, owner shouting, and Alex and I just stunned as I attempted to control the chocolate labrador who was under our feet.   At the point at which I realised the labrador would not need to eat for another week, and I had officially lost all control, it seemed a giggle and the reset button was required.  The owner apologised, though I think we both just witnessed dogs still have instincts that overide all human logic.  All fun, and brilliant Alex was not surprised by any of this.  So after an untangle we regrouped and completed a really wonderful walk.

Note of the day - dogs appear from all directions, next they will be falling from the sky :)