Arthur's (and our) holiday!

[Howard Glansfield]

I was amazed how well an eight month old, very active, puppy coped with four trains to get to our holiday destination.The longest leg was for two hours.Arthur wasn't phased by anything.He jumped onto trains with joy then settled down and snoozed until the next change.The return journey could have been stressful for him as the trains were full and we were stuck in a non moving train for an hour outside one station due to signal failure.Arthur accepted it all.

We discovered he liked buses but not donkeys!

On the beach he was a very joyous dog and mthe first time,he joined the other two in running into the sea but he wasn't very impressed with the sea and didn't go in again, to the surprise of Joan and I. I have a problem though,he discovered crows and that it is great fun to chase them watched by a bemused Fred and Ellie.This was fine until after about a half mile chase of one poor crow the bird flew away from the sands and over the main road...followed by Arthur.Worrying but ,luckily it was early morning and very little traffic.I was heading for the road when the crow flew back to the sands still followed by a very panting Arthur! He was so tired he stopped and came to me and I got him on his lead.From then on he had to stay on his lead if there were birds about.He is good at coming back to me but in this situation he just completely 'sets' and nothing else in the world exisits except the crow! Any advice?

The dogs all love the woods and ran free until another dog ,for no reason,attacked Arthur who much prefers flight to fight.He ran away for about 100 yards but I got him back and had to keep him on his lead as I was unsure where the attack dog had gone to,he didn't hurt Arthur just frightened him.

We enjoyed our holiday and the change and rest did us both good.

 

[Teresa]

I'm looking out the window and I can see my girls running like mad chasing birds in one of our empty fields. We always keep the gates open on the fields no-one is grazing at the moment so they can run and play on them - it's the only way to keep my hens and ducks safe =).

They have lots of chances to chase birds until they can't run another step, so if and when I call them of, it's not a big deal to them

[Howard Glansfield]

We go to Weston - super- Mare .We have been very fortunate in finding a lovely flat that is on the ground floor and has an enclosed garden.We first visited Weston some 12 years ago and have had two landlords retire so we have had to seek a new place to stay but we have been lucky as the retiring landlords have recommended us to someone else.Otherwise we would have had problems in finding somewhere that will take three Irish Setters. 

[silvia]

Nice !!! we are going to the isle of wight during the may bank holiday: maybe is because it is low season, but just searching in internet it was easy to find dog friendly hotels and B&B :)

 

I am sure is plenty of flats/cottages  as well!

 

we'll let you know how it goes:)

 

[Howard Glansfield]

Hope you enjoy it on the IoW.I will have a look there because we could do with a change.

[silvia]

http://www.petfriendlyrentals.co.uk/search/holiday_property_to_rent...

maybe try...

[Sherry Miller]

Howard so glad your lovely holiday was a great success.  Train trip sounds so wonderful here to me...I would love to do that with our Molly....here I am afraid her travels are by car only unless you want to fly them somewhere....new Pet Airline just starting up here so will be interesting to see how they do.  Service dogs can travel in coach as part of public transportation here but not just regular pets.  Though I would beg them to realize my Molly is not just a regular dog!  lol 

 

[Louise Perry]

Hey Howard, W-S-M! I live 20 mins away from there in Nailsea and often take our cheeky beach nutter there to enjoy the sand. I don't see many setters so I will keep my eye out for you and the gang next time...
Oh and Reuben also goes a bit deaf when it comes to birds too!

[Howard Glansfield]

I will look out for you too Louise.The only setter we meet is Monty who lives ,I think,at Uphill.

Does Reuben like the sea?

[Louise Perry]

Well I have to say that the sea has never been in when we go! But Reuben does like to go through the mud looking for it, haha

[Howard Glansfield]

I used to bathe mine in the boating pool on the beach but as that has now gone, I usually sneak them into Marine Lake,at the Knightstone Island end.At least it gets the worst of Weston's mud off until we get back to our flat.

[Garrech and Canagan]

When ducks, chickens, pheasants or most birds for that matter are around the level of recall sinks below zero! I think the rush of adrenalin produces a sudden extra production of wax in the ears causing immediate and total deafness!!! An alternative theory is that the brain goes into convenient suspense mode!

We had a similar problem last week with Garrech! 50% of our garden is bordered by a small river which is quite shallow at a couple of points so ideal to jump into when it’s very hot to cool off and splash around in. Unfortunately (for me that is) this time round there was a duck innocently enjoying his daily paddle when Garrech landed on top of him. Why do ducks and chickens make so much noise when in a bit of a jam? The duck departed at high speed followed by Garrech in hot pursuit. He disappeared in a cloud of spray before deciding to exit the river on the opposite side and into my neighbour’s field!

Knowing that my neighbour leaves his gates open most of the times I panicked as that meant the ability for him to get onto the road and not only have IS little road sense but many drivers these days make zero effort to avoid any animal that happens across their path!

But I was being unfair as he, having failed miserably to catch the duck, decided that crossing back across the river and taking a short cut across the field behind us was the best and shortest option taken obviously in the hope that speed of return might minimise the level of impending retribution. But unfortunately there were other temptations far too strong to resist. In this field there were and still are four young cows. Now Garrech hates cows and will anything to avoid any form of contact but the upside is cowpats! So a slight pause in return flight, an in depth study of a particularly fresh wet one followed by an enthusiastic roll before hastily continuing his return journey. He returned to the back gate covered head to tail with the attitude “Well I’m back so everything is okay now and I wasn’t really being naughty was I”!!

But what I found ironic was that having thoroughly enjoyed his splash around in the river with the duck just an added bonus of fun when I returned him to the river to wash off the abundant cow s!!t? Well that was a completely different scenario. Said indignity of having imposed entry into the water was utterly unforgivable and without boring anyone any longer when we returned to the haven of the bank not only was he still wet and at best still honking but I was also drenched from head to toe not just in water but the cow s!!t as well.

Well I suppose the moral of the story is if you can’t handle it then don’t live with an IS!

[Louise Perry]

Haha, love this story - what little devils they can be...

And cow pats - well Reuben managed to eat a whole one, transport it back in what looked like one piece as when deposited orally on my carpet it was a perfect shape. I still havent managed to get it all out of the carpet!

They can be so naughty but get away with it because they are a setter and they know it!