Bingley goes to Holt

Holt, a small village about 200 miles from here, lies just across the Welsh border on the banks of the River Dee, near Wrexham. Jane’s mum lives there and we’ve long planned on driving Bingley down to meet her.

Of course, driving Bingley anywhere turned out to be more of a challenge than we’d originally expected; and for a long while the idea of a 200 mile trip really did feel like a pipe dream!

Nevertheless, as our patience and perseverance is now at long last being rewarded, we decided that it was time to put the new car crate (and Bingley!) to the test. The result, I’m pleased to say, was a complete success! Although we’d planned on taking plenty of breaks during our journey, it turned out that we only had to stop once. Bingley, we’re beginning to learn, likes to get out for a stretch after about one hour in the crate; but once he’s had that break, he’s happy to sleep for the rest of the journey.

We were also concerned about how Bingley would get on with Jane’s mum in her little house on her 84th birthday. But again, we needn’t have worried. Jane’s mum has got a way with dogs, and after a few minutes of Bingley’s bouncing ebullience he was sitting quietly at her feet and eating treats out of her hand, and then delighting her by shaking a paw!

Meeting one new person at a time is about as far as Bingley’s experience has been stretched up until now. But even as the house filled up with other members of the family, Bingley didn’t embarrass us quite as much as we’d feared! It’s still a challenge for Bing to walk into a room full of exiting new people and to behave with total composure, but all things considered he handled it well and everyone survived!

He was much more relaxed ambling around the country lanes and walking through the Meadows. In fact he was clearly happy to be there and it somehow very much felt like we were returning home.

So our first long car journey with Bingley in the crate was a complete success. He loved being with Jane’s mum, he loved meeting her family, and he loved being in that part of the country. In fact we all enjoyed it so much that we’re going down again next month!

It’s now impossible to imagine that Bingley ever had a problem with the car and we’re looking forward to a summer of adventures!