I took the dogs to the beach today with my friend Linette and her three. That's a total of five Border Collies at the beach. When there are that many of the breed together we call them collectively a Trouble of Border Collies. And Geordie lived up to the name.
After romping and playing along the beach for a while, he and Nessa headed out into the water to do some bird watching. (By the way, the herons and seagulls are completely safe from the dogs. In fact they don't even seem to be bothered by the splashing canines, they just flap their wings and keep their distance.) Geordie doesn't swim but he loves to try to catch the seagulls, running into the water after them, dragging his rope. Because of his "issues" he doesn't go anywhere off-leash, but we have graduated to using a long line in certain situations.
While out on the island, Geordie managed to get his rope caught around some big barnacles and rock crevices and it was up to me to wade out into the cold water to the island to disentangle it. Here he is with Nessa waiting to be rescued.
Fortunately the water was only up to my knees and I didn't slip on the seaweed while releasing the rope. Once it was released both dogs dashed for shore leaving me to find my way back from the island.
I now realize that the beach is not the place for the long rope. I think we'll be returning to the flexi-leash for future beach walks.
the picture of the dogs racing back to the mainland looks like they are running on top of the water and knowing border collies they probably were!!! steven
ReplyDeleteIsn't that just like kids? You risk life and limb to help them out and off they go without a thought to how you get back to shore.
ReplyDeleteNice place to walk - even if you're not a dog.
I love Border Collies. Don't they nudge you often because of the herding instinct?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to have such happy personalities and boundless energy.