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We had an absolutely lovely Sunday afternoon celebrating Woof + Whistle's (and Fudge's) 2nd Birthday! We couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather or more eager dog guests. After a stroll around the dandelion filled fields, and quick play in the river and only minimal chasing of deer, we all shared some dog-friendly and human-friendly cake.
A huge thank you to everyone, and everydog, who came along to pawty with us!
For this month's dog adventure we travelled out to Swinbrook, a little village to the West of Oxford with some beautiful houses, a huge valley, and the river Windrush. This time we had Jax, Pepe, Ted and Wilbur along for the ride! Although this week we had been promised sunshine, we were blessed with wind and grey clouds! We both marvelled at how accurately the river was named, as the wind was rushing through the valley past us... However upon further investigation it’s actually because the river winds through rushes for most of its course.
After snooping around some of the gorgeous stone houses, complete with tennis courts, and swimming pools, we set off for our circular walk through the valley and along the river. As you can see, the pooches and Alice were all jumping to get going! The doggos really loved having such a big open space where they could run around in circles together, as well as the river to have a paddle in! We managed to get them to stop playing just long enough to pose for a photo in front of St Oswald's Church. Jax used the blustery weather to achieve the perfect windswept look for his close up.
Swinbrook was another great excursion with the Woof + Whistle pack! Keep an eye on your inbox for Tail Mail (our monthly newsletter), with details of May's adventure date and location, or to subscribe just enter your email at the bottom of the page.
Wags from Woof + Whistle!
In the wake of the Beast from the East, we have had the absolute pleasure of a few warmer spring days this week. Perfect for a test run of the new Tractive GPS tracker. We chose Chester as our test doggy this time, mainly because he does love to pose for a photograph.
The tracker itself is relatively small, only weighing 35 grams, and clips onto a collar (for speed we attached it to a second collar, then popped it onto Chester at the beginning of the walk). It survived the usual hurtling across fields and rolling on grass that our dogs enjoy, and emerged from a swift dip in stream completely unscathed. Chester seemed completely oblivious to it, which was a plus! He had a beautifully sunny (but windy) walk, with lots of bounding about and some rough and tumble with Bear, Monty, Poppy, and Paddy.
Probably the most testing part of the experience was us attempting to use the phone App. The live tracking actually worked remarkably well, it was quick to find itself and did appear to update every few seconds as claimed. We even managed to get a little pink squiggly line showing Chester running around in circles. The GPS seems to have good resolution, enough to track a detailed route even within a small area. However it didn’t keep drawing the route after about 10 mins of the walk, and only the live tracking (the blue paw-print marker) kept going for the hour. I think this was 100% down to user error though…
All of our dogs actually have really great recall and don’t tend go out of sight. However we can never be sure that one won’t get stuck somewhere, or run off chasing after a deer. The live location information will put our minds at ease, making us prepared should the unthinkable happen! Next time we will track the whole walk, so keep an eye on the blog for updates!
P.S Always remember to switch your tracking device off after a walk to avoid mapping yourself!!
In March I went to Crufts for the first time and it was an amazing experience. For a start it was on a scale I simply had not expected. The venue was vast; in addition to the main hall which was very smart and extremely green, there were areas where hundreds of stalls were selling everything imaginable in the canine world; even the programme was A3 size and over 120 pages. It was an event of high quality in every aspect.
The competitions were at an unbelievably high standard, especially the Agility competition where highly trained sheepdogs were running through and over obstacles with extraordinary precision and speed. It was interesting to see that certain breeds of dog seem to share characteristics: retrievers were laid back while collies seemed to be hyperactive. The dogs and their owners spend endless hours together to the point where their facial expressions and their physical stances appear to be the same. Pugs always seemed to belong to stocky owners while well built athletic men owned labradors and ridgebacks; it was easy to see who was with who. The whole show was fascinating, highly organised and very impressive.
By way of a contrast in mid-June I found myself in a sloping, muddy field in the village of Wolvercote on the outskirts of Oxford for a rather different affair. The atmosphere was one of an informal village fete; children were running free; there was no dress code or programme; it was all very informal and relaxed. However there were keenly contested competitions for many dogs to select the scruffiest of them, the one with the most appealing eyes, the best behaved and the most accomplished ball catcher! That last competition was won by a very versatile scotty who should certainly be in the England cricket team! People and dogs just drifted around meeting each other and it was a very happy occasion.
Crufts and Scrufts seem like totally different worlds for dogs and their owners but in fact the two events had many similarities. All the dog owners at both events were extremely proud of their dogs and definitely thought they were the best in show! There was hugely generous applause for all the dogs, even when they didn't get things quite right; the dogs then felt they had done well. And quite simply both occasions showed so clearly our deep love for our dogs and our wanting to celebrate them, their characters and their achievements.
