Field walking

Getting away from the roads and terrified pedestrians it's great to let Rocky off lead. He sprints off and then stops to check we're still coming.

Things you see when walking

The bike's been put to one side for a bit. Thanks to Rocky I pulled some muscles in my shoulders (big dogs can pull hard) and just could not cycle a result. I have also lost my gel saddle cover and those long bike rides need gel!

So we've been walking a lot and while out today I thought to myself, dog walkers see a lot more about their local communities than those whizzing around in their cars going to same places all the time. Passing by this house today I thought to myself, how sad and what a waste. 3 years ago I first noticed this house on the market with half a dozen agents' board nailed to the front. Back then that driveway was level and clear, the bricks I swear were brighter and cleaner looking. The grass to the sides was mowed and the shrubbery in check. 3 years later the drive's fallen into disrepair, the garden's gone wild and someone must have lost value. I guess they have their reasons but a house like that must have generated interest for a sale - just now sale happened.

We dont mind a shower

Well it's been so hot recently everything went a bit skewy. So what's a drop of rain ;-)

Rocky's learning to be slower and very gentle

Rocky's learnt a lot of patience for a young dog. Our daughter has also learnt a lot about being around such a big dog. Under close supervision she gets to feed him his breakfast from a cup. Half the cup full then the rest gets poured onto the floor for him to eat without having to over concentrate. They seem to both like it :)

Rocky got stuck into his new green toy thingy today

Rocky was a lucky boy today, he got his chops on a new green thingy toy. I don't know what it is but I don't think it will last a massive amount of time.

CHOMP!

Starting the day with a cheeky dog bike ride at the park

It must have been early as we had the park alllllllllllll to ourselves. Lots of cars out on the road for rush rushy to work time, so we did sprints around the park. You can tell when he's running his fastest as his ears go down flat, otherwise it's the norm for a Shepherd's ears to be pointing upwards and pivoting for the surrounding noises.

Many many dogs tonight - Pack walk with the Parks Trust

The Parks Trust in Milton Keynes maintains most of the wonderful green space that so many of us go to (although most of excludes everyone but dog walkers if there's so much as a grey cloud - it's amazing how many joggers emerge because there's a ray of sunshine).

Tonight was one of their dog pack walks. It's just £1 and it's excellent for dog socialisation. Each walk starts with on lead time and then incorporates off lead time for those who want to. Anyone who has a dog who's unsure of other dogs can take an alternative route at this point and join the others later. It's great and the dogs love it!

So I have just the one clip for you today and that's the 2nd off lead time ...

Happy dogs :)

8.8 miles today (in 2 rides), great sunset for this evening's ride

We got out early enough this morning to see the commuters trudging off to work. Park nice and empty too since the weekend walkers are back to their offices.

Rocky did a great job of showing how a dog will never catch a bird in the park. What I can never figure out is why when a bird can fly does it fly along the ground rather than up really quick when a predator is coming for them. Or do birds suspect that dogs can fly?

The longer ride was this evening's, once the sun had given up. Took a ride over to the next village and stopped to take a snap of the sun setting. Wasn't sure if it would come out well on my mobile but apart from that one red blotch it looks pretty good.

Will have to take some money with me next time and support the only pub there. They have a butcher and a pub and the rest are business frontages that haven't opened in years. I guess no one wants to try running a shop in a village where everyone evacuates it during the day for work. Maybe I should set one up there, no competition for 3 miles.

Out early before the sun gets us! 3.67 miles, just a short ride

It's shaping up to be the hottest day of the year so far. So we got out early for a leisurely 3.67 miles. Of course I wasn't the only early started today and every street we turned into had multiple dogs being walked. So ruled out the usual cool off spots and popular parks and ventured off for one with badly mowed grass and no nice extras to it. Perfect for dogs, but no footpath for people, so I guess that puts off most walkers.

I had to stop and take this photo ... blue sky, fire ball and the dew is still burning off. Definitely going to be hot today. Might get out again in the evening when the sun sets.

Only a short clip today, but it shows off nicely Rocky's instinct to herd me when he's off lead and running with the bike. Either that or he's trying to knock me off! When we get a fast pace going (off lead) he criss crosses across the front wheel of the bike, so I can't film that since I need two hands for braking and skidding when he really gets too close ... a game of course to him). 

... we didn't get out again but the sprinkler took his fancy after I'd cut the grass.

Shade thief

Having put the sun umbrella up I wasn't expecting to lose my spot so soon. Oh well he does need to keep cool.

Chepstow Local Park ride (Bletchley, UK) 6.9 miles (11.1 km)

Since high pressure has finally arrived and the British summer seems to have begun, it was off for an early ride today. And since it's going to be a day in the shade for Rocky we needed to have a decent ride so annoying hit just 0.1 miles under that 7 mile target. I'm going to check before we get back next time we go for a long ride.

We rode out towards Newton Longville and darted off into Chepstow Local Park for the off lead section. The great thing about getting out early is the lack of pedestrians and other walkers.

Oh, I even got a hug today from a marshall who thought biking a dog was cool :) Need to save the pennies for that action camera.

As water bodies go, I'm guessing this is a duck pond. Not many ducks though. The long grass around the edges has grown taller than Rocky so his run through is comical.

Looking glum ...

Walked. Fed. Even allowed to watch the tennis from bed. Yet still grumpy. (You wouldn't believe how long it took to type that text using Blogger mobile and predictive text, avoid)

Too hot for it :(

Well the sun's stuck it's crafty face out for the time being so it's time to lay off the intensive exercise. That and the trickyness of filming with a handheld needs more thought. He had a cool off today out under the garden sprinkler but it didn't really interest him ... I think a person has to be involved.

So instead I'll share this picture I took during a recent dog walk of a tree (mid-summer) that's been enveloped in silk by moth caterpillars! It stood out a lil bit!

He still had a walk.

MK Dons Stadium ride (Milton Keynes, UK) - 6.93 miles (11.15 km)

It just wasn't possible to get out this morning and then the warm weather kicked in ... so no chance until it cooled down. We went out for an evening tour but didn't get to go anywhere scenic. It was an urban ride so I thought I'd take us up and around the MK Dons football stadium. We'll go somewhere nicer tomorrow. But hey, I think what we lacked in beauty tonight we made up in distance :)

Of course, having not been out he was very keen to get going! Pleasure rolls and yapping :) When we first got Rocky I thought he'd damaged his throat from barking too much ... turns out he has 2 barks. This barks for when he's not trying to intimidate ... there is of course another deeper and more serious bark.

A few miles before we got to the stadium but I couldn't film these - just too many obstacles and obstructions to be able to control him and the bike. So you'll have to take my word for it that we did ride there. Well, it ain't pretty, but it's a landmark ... MK Dons Stadium just off the A5 ...

Mid way through the ride it's time to refresh (I need to bring a bottle for me too!) ... it does still make a mess and a lot of the drink runs straight out his chops but at least he's keeping hydrated.

Since the ride was largely on lead I stopped into a small park to give him some time to run freely. Great ride ... no incidents and just shy of 7 miles (should have gone that extra lap of the park and made it 7).

Blue Lagoon ride Bletchley (Milton Keynes, UK) - 4.7 miles (7.5 km)

Great ride today. Rocky seemed a bit different which I guess was due to me holding a camera while trying to ride a bike badly. Normally he's leashed to me via a long leash and I have two hands on the bike and go at a steady pace (averages about 7 mph, but we go pretty quick when the surroundings are right for it - as in no cats to cause a crash!)

I'm going to have to have a think about the best way to capture the rides as holding a HD camcorder and steering with one hand isn't much fun. Whole nature of a ride means that I have no way of knowing when something unrepeatable will happen, so only filming when it's safe to do so is a limitation.

Anyway, this clip is the farm run going into the Blue Lagoon. It starts from the end nearest the allotments and local football club. There's a stream that runs along the side of this field and the water "looks" clean enough. All these videos are going to be shaky but since it's action rather than pretty stills then that's just how they'll be.

Once we're into the Blue Lagoon main section I no longer have to worry about sudden craters in the path since the wardens for the site keep a lot of access paths clear for recreational users

This second bike ride clip is the better one. We do a lap of the small lake and onto the big lake. I always find it amazing how few people use these really nice parks and lakes; I guess having a 35 kilo "Alsation" with me gives me that confidence to be out in areas lone walkers may fear due to the unknown. 

Now, Mrs Shepherd and I like a clean home. That's a losing battle of course with a big dog but, muddy paws are not welcome inside if he expects to get on the carpers! It's time to hose off ... it helps a lot that Rocky loves water and thinks the hose is a toy. Note the lack of plants for some reason :)

More info about the Blue Lagoon, who would have thought that something as ugly on the land as a brick pit could be transformed to such as local asset: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_Local_Nature_Reserve

Hello World :)

Every day I get out and about with Rocky my rescue dog. He's a 2 year old German Shepherd Dog and we've had him for a few months now. This dog is a high energy dog and if we don't exercise him enough every day then things get broken ... I suspect that's why he was given up.

He's got a great personality and is a great example of the breed when it comes to loyalty and working. He just needs a lot of exercise, which is to be expected from a dog bred for field work!!

Not owning a farm or a massive outdoor run to expel this energy I taught him to love bike rides. At first he was terrified of the bike, even growling at me when I got on it. I've no idea if there was a trigger from the past but it took a few days of just feeding him treats while I was on the bike to win him over.

A minimum outing is 3 miles and in a day I have pushed this to 10 miles in total. But the weather, having to do all the other bits in life and not over working him puts a limit on the distances.

I get a LOT of smiles from children and adults while biking Rocky and people feel compelled to talk to us compared to crossing the road if we're walking (yes, people see a GSD and just get scared, it's sad but true). When they see a GSD trotting beside a bike they smile (unless they're up to no good and assume he's a police dog - strange how the mind works)!

Well, that's my opening post, I'm going to try and film our bike ride journeys and those who want to follow our adventures can do so. If this doesn't interest you then thanks for visiting anyway :) Oh and if you're thinking of bike riding your dog too ... expect the odd tumble (squirrels and rabbits will trigger the hunter mindset when already going at speed) and avoid traffic AND CATS!