The ruff reality of dog gatherings
Look at the above photo. Some of Clovers bestest friends. In total, 4 Frenchie’s, a pug and a Jack Russell cross… altogether in one garden for a few hours- what could possibly go wrong?! Let me tell you.
‘Frenchie Friday’ started in lockdown. Every Friday we would meet at lunch time down our local park and let the doggies play together. Todd (the Pug) was an honorary Frenchie- he still is. They’d have the best time. Running round the field, chasing each other come rain or shine. If Clover could speak, I know that she would tell me that Friday’s were her favourite day of the week- they were mine too. It wasn’t just the dogs who made friends. I made friends with all the owners and we became a little dog walking gang. We’d meet up for the dogs birthdays, as well as the Fridays and we even had Christmas gatherings where the pups all wore their Christmas jumpers.
Frenchie Friday ended when lockdown began to ease and we all got our lives back. It’s not that we didn’t want to be there, we did, it’s just that life got in the way, people went back to the office and normal chaotic life resumed. But the gang remained strong. We don’t see each other on Fridays anymore, in fact, we’re lucky if we see each other once every few months, but we always make a point of having little reunions wherever we can. That’s what Sunday just gone was. A reunion afternoon for our favourite pups. The weather stayed kind to us and we looked forward to spending a relaxing few hours together in the garden together, drinking wine whilst the pups played. The whole experience was very relaxing and went exactly as planned… oh wait, no… it didn’t.
SUBSCRIBE BELOW FOR EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS WHENEVER A NEW BLOG POST GOES LIVE
Clover and I were third to arrive at our dog gathering. Clover went bombing into the garden so quickly that I didn’t have time to unclip her lead and was dragged through the garden gate. I let her off and it wasn’t long until the gang were back to their old tricks, tearing round the garden and play fighting- because what else would you expect from these excitable pups? When the full gang was in attendance, things just spiralled. 2 water bowls knocked over, wine spilt, and a table almost completely knocked over. The outdoor furniture was covered in mud and dog hair, there was wee on the floor and constant barking, chasing, fighting, and an attempt at love making (the dogs, that is!) The whole afternoon descended into chaos. Not helped by the fact that the dogs can be quite rough with each other and we had a tiny puppy join the group who, as confident as he is, we were all sort of worried he may get trampled. There was also a child in attendance who just wanted to eat his snacks in peace- no such thing with our rabble. As owners, we tried to chat and catch up but our conversation’s were interrupted every few words by the phrases “calm down”, “someone grab that wine glass”, “watch out for the p*ss”, “do you want to go back on your lead?!”, “right-time out” and so on. I sat down for a few moments throughout the afternoon but the majority of it felt like we were herding cats… or dogs as the case may be.
We’d all brought snacks to enjoy throughout the afternoon, but there was absolutely no chance that they were being put out whilst the feral hounds ran rings round us all.
Despite the chaos, we had a lovely time. We were both exhausted by the end of it. We absolutely love our catch ups with our friends, but they are never the relaxing scenes that we envisage. I don’t think we’d have it any other way though…
If you missed any of my previous diary updates, you can find them at ‘the diary of my ruff reality.’
Alternatively, head to ‘nobody warned me about…’ to read about the dog ownership topics that I wish someone had told me about before I got Clover.
Thinking of getting a dog? Visit my ‘top tips page’ for important things that I probably should have considered further before buying my floppy eared hound!
Subscribe below for notifications whenever a new diary entry is released!
*Disclaimer- I have no animal related qualifications whatsoever. Which begs the question as to exactly how much of my advice you should take. This isn’t really an advice blog- not properly. It’s more of a ‘these are my experiences- maybe we can all learn from them’ type of blog. You should probably seek actual qualified veterinary/animal behaviourist/dog dietician advice if you genuinely have any dog related concerns. I’m just here to share the things I’ve learnt in my three years of dog ownership. Some of which may be useful- some not.*
Proudly powered by WordPress
