Riverside ramble

How old is your dog?

Well, obviously I don't know how old your dog is, but I do know how old Bingley is. Or at least I think that I do!

When I mentioned on the 6th November that he was six months old, I did so because he was 24 weeks old that day. I have a chart that gives me this information at a glance. I like charts: they help to give me the impression that things are well organised and under control. In this case it also helps me to make sure that we're feeding Bingley the right amount of food for his age and weight.

But as Bing's very good friend Claire pointed out, if he was born on the 22nd of May shouldn't he be 6 old months today: the 22nd of November? Well, yes...and no...or maybe. But what about my nicely planned chart?!

Of course, using the four weeks equals one month approach would mean that Bing's 1st birthday would be on the 22nd of April rather than the 22nd of May, which is a bit daft I admit (though I'm definitely going to adopt this method for my own birthdays - that way I'd turn out to be much younger than I am!).

I like my chart and I'm going to keep using it; but I also think that a good point has been made.

The answer, of course, is 2 birthdays - just like royalty: an official and an unofficial. So, if you want to come to Bing's 1st birthday party that'll be on the 22nd of May, but if you want to send him a card that should get here on the 22nd of April.

Of course all this will suit Bing down to the ground; he always assumes that he's the centre of attention anyway. But two birthdays really are going to give him a big head.

Rainy riverbank tales

It's jazz, Bing

As you can tell from Jane's most recent post, we had a terrific walk with Bingley last Sunday. Without really planning it we ended up following part of the route of the previous days International Cross Country course, which was hosted by Gateshead Stadium; and although the weather on Saturday was appalling the course itself was a marvel: we felt like running ourselves! Bingley of course loved it, and if he'd been taking part on Saturday he'd have done well - at least on the sandy bits. Honestly, as soon as his paws touch sand he automatically goes into bum-tuck mode, charging backwards and forwards like there's no tomorrow.

But though we're having some great walks together, his intermittent bouts of timidity unfortunately continue; and they're just as unpredictable and unfathomable as ever. However, I've worked out that adopting a jolly hockey sticks voice and saying 'let's go along here, it'll be really good fun' helps, and gets us moving again. Although anyone who hears me will probably be wondering where on earth we're heading!


By this stage Bingley pretty much has the run of the house, whilst one of us is in that is: his toilet training has been a success and we now get a couple of nudges when he wants to go out. He's also got a pretty good idea of what he should and shouldn't be chewing; but his will power lets him down sometimes, so we still have to return him to his dog house if we're going out.

Being with us much of the day he's had to get used to all the music which we listen to, and thankfully he's turned out to be a fan of just about everything we play - though different styles affect him in different ways. Dancehall or any upbeat reggae gets him going (he's definitely a fan of Bingy Bunny!) and if I'm listening to that then we're guaranteed some play time. But if I put on some jazz he calms right down again! We're talking about Classic fifties jazz here, not high energy electric Miles or free jazz (wonderful though that is). But artists like Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Lee Konitz, and Stan Getz have all become part of our post evening meal 'settling down' time. A trombone solo can still make his ears prick up, and sometimes the quiet applause between tracks gets him looking around. But otherwise he's happy to lay there in front of the coal fire and relax.

Bing's definitely a real cool dog!

Cross country B

Saturday in the rain

Bingley the Brave

Bingley is six months old today!

Not quite old enough to have candles on his cake but it was worth a mini celebration anyway. In fact that's not the only cause for celebration: yesterday was Bing's first bonfire night and he handled it with great poise and serenity.....thankfully! After the recent bouts of timidity on his walks we weren't sure how he'd cope with several hours of intense noise. But after a large meal eaten a bit earlier than normal, he settled down on the rug in front of our coal fire and dozed all evening. He even went out into the backyard for a couple of toilet stops during the evening, but he didn't hang around for his usual snail foray.

So six months old, 24 kilos and a brave little lad. Let's hope that the next six months go just as smoothly, though not quite as quickly!

Sand baby

It's been another hectic week with barely time to stop and think, and it's just as well that Bingley still sleeps a lot because he's had to spend a few mornings and a couple of afternoons by himself; though never for more than a two or three hours at a time.

We've been having some good fun on our walks, but I'm sorry to say that the bouts of agoraphobia continue. Patience, treats and lots of encouragement seems to lure him out of his reluctance to move on after one of these episodes, though it's often followed by a mad dash to get that particular part of the street out of the way.

I still can't think of anything that might have caused this behaviour, and it isn't consistent: unlike full-blown agoraphobia where the dog simply won't leave the house, Bing gets giddy merely at the idea of a walk, and he can't wait to get out there. But throughout the walk, and especially on the streets, I'm now used to spending regular periods trying to encourage him to continue. There are definite indications that this phase is starting to pass, but if it goes on much longer then we'll have to go and visit the vet just to make sure that everything's ok.

The perplexing thing is that besides that everything else is fine and most of the walks go really well. The only other issue is his now well-honed ability to vacuum up anything that looks remotely edible as he passes it by. He's so quick at this! Today it was a black banana peel followed by someone's discarded apple. The banana peel I was too slow to catch and he sucked it up like a length of liquorice before I could stop him, the apple I didn't even know about until I heard him crunching.

He's also, it appears, got a taste for fox poo - something we encountered for the first time on Sunday morning. And whoa, does that smell awful or what?! Nevertheless, Bingley being Bingley finds it irresistible and gobbled most of it up before we could stop him: he really is disgusting at times!

But nothing excites him more than sand (though thankfully he hasn’t started eating it!). Parts of our walk cover Gateshead International Stadium’s new cross-country course and parts of that are sand covered. I’m not sure if Bing knows about cross-country yet but as soon as he gets onto one of the sandy patches he’s off like a shot, bum-tucking backwards and forwards like a mad March hare. He’s obviously a sand baby and loves running on it. Goodness knows what he’s going to make of the beach when we finally get down there!

Autumnal delights