19 Weeks: The beginning of this week was very disappointing. I took Meg back to the place we practise lead-walking, and she completely lost it. She was lurching at everything that moved. She’s too strong for me now, and I could barely control her, which was dangerous for her and meant I hurt my back and shoulder. Such a shame.

Meg also pooped in the house, which she never does. I am allowing her more freedom, and so was in the dining room, where there is a rug on the floor. The kitchen and hallway only have tiles, so maybe she thought the rug was grass, and therefore okay to toilet. Who knows? I cleaned it thoroughly, and moved the rug upstairs, and will be more careful in the future when carpets are available.

Other than those (fairly major) setbacks, Meg has been lovely. She’s such a happy little thing, and loves to play. She wags with her whole body, and reminds me of our Labrador when she wiggles towards me, with her ears back and some huge toy in her mouth, ready for a game. She’s also very naughty, and uses the cat flap to throw things outside that she knows she’s not allowed (like slippers, the rubber feet of the cat bed, and leaves from my houseplants).

I don’t quite know what to do with walking her on the lead. She’s great in the garden, if there are no distractions, and knows to walk beside me, barely pulling. But the first sign of a person or animal, and she’s off. I guess we’ll just keep practicing and hope the world becomes less exciting. There’s a seat in the High Street, and I’ve starting taking her there each day, to feed her a meal. She’s fully aware of the traffic and people passing, but she’s hungry, so stays with me, looking at my face, while I hand-feed her the food. I’m hoping in time we will progress to be able to walk up the High Street. Maybe 2026?

The Duck Incident

We were walking in the garden—my favourite thing to do with Meg—she’s so happy, and skips about collecting sticks while staying close to me as I walk around the garden. One of the ducks had left the pond enclosure and was sitting on the lawn. Unfortunately, Meg noticed before me. She was off before I could stop her, and any stick-waving-shouting-commands was completely useless. Meg is completely deaf once she fixes on something, and my poor white duck was fully fixed-upon!

The duck tried to escape, running into a bush, but Meg ploughed through it, trapping the duck between both paws. The duck dived over a paw, tried to force itself through the fence, ran around the enclosure. Meg was really enjoying the game now, and raced after it. I gave up trying to bribe/command/entice Meg and instead went to open the gate to the pond, deciding to at least help the duck if I couldn’t control my dog.

Meg pounced, trapping the duck between her paws again, the duck squiggled out, and rushed towards the gate, squeezed underneath and made a dive for the pond with Meg seconds behind it. With a final flurry of feathers, the duck flew onto the pond, Meg rushed to the edge of the bank and stopped. She stared for a moment at the duck, considering whether the water was as wet as it looked (she doesn’t like wet). Then, a miracle! her hearing returned—she picked up her stick and carried it to me for praise.

I closed the gate to the pond, and decided to give Meg a treat. Afterall, despite several opportunities, she had never used her mouth on the duck, and although it was at serious risk of being bounced, there was nothing vicious in the game. In time, I hope to teach Meg to help me round up escapee poultry—Kia was a brilliant help when a duck escaped and directed it back to the pond. It was less exciting than this encounter, but the principle was the same.

Thanks for reading. Take care.
Love, Anne x

****