Menagerie management

[Kirbstone]

When the Menagerie Mistress is away Muggins here has to hold the fort, repel all boarders and see to it that the family fauna are well cared for.
Part of this is exercising the dogs, and with increasing age, laziness & cunning an interesting option has presented itself.

Exercise for the dogs before din-dins Rs.jpg

I take them down to the 'Lakelands of Kirbyshire', (as one of my friends described it), park myself on a seat in the front of the boathouse and arrange for the dogs to swim to the Island, run over the bridge connecting it to the far side of the boating lake, round the perimeter back to the boathouse and repeat the process.

Exercise swimming in lake Rs.jpg

In order not to get soaking wet it is necessary to choose a seat away from where they shake themselves dry! After this a game of ball on the lawn dries them off and then it's din-dins time.

Exercise Jumping on lawn Rs.jpg

Tom K

[DALederle]

Looks like you had a lot of fun with your "puppies" that day, Tom.
Have many more like it!

Dennis A. Lederle

Live Long and Perspire!

[crfriend]

I find it difficult to tell who is having more fun in those shots -- the human or the canines! Clearly there was enough to go around.

It's not surprising that the svelte retriever -- frequently bred as hunting companions that need to swim well -- can handily keep up with the larger and heavier shepherd. What the retriever has in streamlining, the shepherd has in sheer brawn.

But what about the donkeys? Do they swim, too?

[Milfmog]

I have sometimes taken a similar approach to exercising Taz (my 40Kg Boxer / Labrador cross). He loves swimming and toys so I simply throw a "toy"* that will sink into the river. Taz has immense tenacity for a dog and will not stop looking for the toy until he is too tired to continue. Unfortunately that enabler for the plan is also its undoing; if I need to leave before he is worn out he is often reluctant to come back. It is not unheard of for me to have to go into the river and drag him out... Sometimes I think it is just easier to walk him

Have fun,


Ian.

* A fist sized stone works just fine; if I chuck it in the air and catch it a few times it becomes a ball to Taz

[Kirbstone]

I know horses and mules can ford rivers by swimming, but I doubt if donkeys would take to any water. Neither do cats, but in the Menagerie management business they all need visiting and serving with tit-bits.

Menagerie. carrots for donkeys Rs.jpg

Menagerie. Feeding the cats Rs.jpg

I also am required to water delicate plants which at this time of year are taken in, and the built-in watering systems won't reach.

Menagerie. plant watering Rs.jpg

Stones tend to damage dogs' teeth, and where there's water, preferrably floating toys be used. These don't get 'lost' and cause the Master to get his feet wet!
A previous golden retriever we had simply wouldn't get her head up out of a hole, wag her tail in the air, and cause us to retrace our steps to physically yank her collar to get her to come home. The current young one is her direct replacement and thankfully hasn't developed that habit....yet!
I do agree however, that any ruse to increase the dog run to human walk ratio is worth exploring.

Tom

[Kirbstone]

Ian,
This is our 41Kg. Benjy with his bone-shaped floater which squeaks when he chews it. He loves it.

Menagerie. Benjy and his squeaking floater toy..jpg

Autumn colours beginning to appear....

Tom

[Milfmog]

I gave up buying "real" toys for Taz. An "Indestructable" giant Kong throw toy lasted him three hours, after which it had been reduced to a (large) pile of hard rubber chips on the floor. I managed to get a few replacements under their lifetime guarantee, but after a while the shop got fed up and gave the money back instead.

When we are out walking, he tends to carry trees and will play fetch with them if they are small enough for me to throw. I only ever throw rocks for him into water where there is no danger of him finding and chewing the rock or, worse, trying to catch it. Balls tend to be found by him or stolen from other dogs.

Incidentally, I have a friend with "Turkish Van" cat; it took him a while to work out why his neighbours coy carp were appearing on his patio... He had not realised that Van cats love water and will swim for fun as well as to hunt. These days the cat apparently joins him in the bath once the water has cooled to a temperature that meets with the cats approval.

Have fun,


Ian.