Thursday 10 July 2008

Moo Moo Bing


Bingley has always enjoyed nibbling grass, but recently he’s adopted a more determined approach to the subject. Over the past couple of weeks when I’ve taken him out for his lunchtime walk he hasn’t been interested in doing very much at all; instead he just wants to lie down in Bingley’s field, tear up a chunk of grass and slowly munch on it.

I’m not certain if this is in any way related to his allergies; normally dogs will eat grass when they feel a need to empty their stomachs, but this doesn’t normally happen with Bing unless he’s daft enough to eat some of the long wispy seed heads.

There doesn’t seem to be any reason for this sudden desire to eat grass in large quantities. He’ll just sit there chewing his cud with a very bovine expression on his face as he gently watches the world wander by.

For a while now I’ve been buying small and easy to open pre-packed blocks of cheddar called Little Moo’s. Bingleys love them; Robs like them too. They’re very tasty, they’re easy to chop up into bite sized chunks, and there’s just enough to see me through one clicker training session.

I’ve been meaning to describe my conversion to clicker training for a while, but the allergies have made sticking with a training schedule even more of a challenge. It’s difficult to insist on a sit-stay when you turn round and find your dog rubbing his head along the carpet.

I’ll leave the clicker tale until later and stick with Moo Moo Bing for now. He was at it again today: sitting on his little grassy hill, meditatively chewing his cud. It’s actually very restful and on warm days I’m happy to sit there with him, the companionable silence broken only by a fresh wad of grass being ripped up. It’s like having a pet cow.


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