Mud, mud glorious mud!

It was the first doggy coffee morning of 2017 today - Maisie didn't do much playing but she did an awful lot of getting muddy - so she had to have an outside footbath as soon as we got home.
This afternoon I went to the wolds and took Maisie for a walk along a busy disused railway track. She ran around like a loony - and couldn't resist splashing about in the filthy beck. 

Maisie has got very barky at lots of things, including bicycles. On my local walks I always pull her aside on a short lead, sit her down and feed her treats while the cyclist rides by. Recently a cyclist threatened to kill me and behead Maisie when she lunged at him as he cycled along the pavement (which he had no right to be on at all!)

As a dog owner I'm really getting a bee in my bonnet about flaming cyclists! They cycle on the pavement - even on cycle paths they approach silently from behind so I have no hope of preparing Maisie - and they cycle at night with no lights. Not all of them obviously - but locally I would say it's the majority.
A day or two ago we were walking along the drainside path (also for cyclists) and a cyclist approached. He was making dog friendly noises as Maisie barked at him .. and stopped to say hello as he drew level. To be honest it would have been better if he'd cycled on by as this just served to wind her up. But he was well meaning and I appreciated his efforts. However - she continued to bark - and as he turned to get back on his bike (I'd suggested he got off as she might be less concerned by him - she wasn't) .. she lunged at the back of his thigh and bit him. I was shocked. He was shocked. He said it was 'ok' .. and cycled off. I felt terrible. Hopefully it's a one off. She can also be grumpy with kids - but so far has only snapped at them, never bitten.

Meanwhile back at the train track - she was off lead (and maybe that helped) but there were a couple of cyclists which she completely ignored .. and came back when called in time to get her on a lead when I saw kids in the distance.

I'm not sure I'm a natural dog owner - I find it all very stressful!

Back home and she needed another footbath!

Here's The Handsome Stranger in the garden at lunchtime. He was behaving slightly strangely - I think he may have mating on his mind - it's that time of year!