Phil

12.04.15 Phil

I had a good walk planned for Phil today. I was hoping to do one of our bigger single loops and check out some autumn sights!

Phil came out of his “Phil-door” to say hello this morning. Apparently he had been waiting a while for me to arrive and was keen to get going at last! Wait til its mid-winter Phil…you’ll be thanking us for the later starts and cool sunny mornings!

We headed off up the hill and it seemed like Phil was taking a more steady pace than usual. He sort of had me worried, ‘…big night Phil!?’ He made no comment so maybe he did? We continued on at what I thought was a very civilized pace and I was going through my mind maps of short cuts we could make just in case we were to be having a nice leisurely walk. I always set the pace and adjust the course we take as we go with all my Dogs. So fast or slow, they always have a good time.

So just as I was getting used to the idea of a leisurely stroll with Phil (which would have been pretty nice) he finds his second wind and we set off at a trot down hill along a cycleway. Rats! There goes an easy walk. So as we sped past the first, and only short cut, we had committed to the full loop!

Phil was all smiles as we made it to the top of the watercourse and we pretty much bolted down the grassy slopes. By this time I was a bit worried we had bitten off more than we could chew in so far as fitting in with our times.

In true Phil-form…we pretty much stormed around the final half of the loop with no problems whatsoever. He was probably just easing into his morning on that first bit. By the time we crossed the small erosion cut…well, Phil leaped, he was all full of beans again. Along the way, Phil got to play in some mud, once again he has a bit of a scratch and a scratch in the water and its soggy muddy bottom. I was hoping that hed get clean walking through the grass before we got home!

We got one flat tyre from a cats-eye burr. But as usual it was a now routine pit stop with barely a stagger in our step…we’re a pretty good team Phil and I!

I was hoping that the last big hill would slow Phil down…but we pretty much marched it home!

Good walking again Phil…and nice spotting on that pigeon behind that tree! I’ll never doubt your pigeon spotting skills again!