WAIT...

It took him a while, but Archie’s finally mastered ‘DOWN!’ This is very handy. He sort of got the idea of ‘WAIT...’ a while ago, but it’s not ticked off yet…

He clunks DOWN with enthusiasm every time. This has proved handy on buses and in pubs and cafes. Today we made good use of it. We walked across the Links and made for a dog friendly cafe which until now I have deemed too far for him to walk. A very good excuse for me to have a treat while ‘getting him used to sitting around doing nothing in public places’.

I didn’t have a coffee - shows how off colour I am... they're not so appealing nowadays - it’s a worry. I had a tea instead, but did manage to force a huge scone down. I was careful not to drop any crumbs, as there were sultanas in the scone and I read that they’re not good for dogs.

The tables are very close together, but the two ladies next to us were yakking away and didn’t notice our arrival. I could see that they both had open-toed sandals on, with painted toenails. Archie finds toes fascinating, as he doesn’t see them much at home, and so painted ones were mesmerising. Especially as they kept moving... Just out of his reach. I had my foot clamped on his lead so that he couldn't go far.

However, I was reading my paper and one of the women suddenly squawked. He had wormed his way near enough to lick her toes, which must have been rather alarming for her. They then made a fuss of him. The waitress brought him a bowl of water. He was very very good and didn’t whinge as I sat on for about half an hour, reading the paper.

When we go for our walks there are so many things to bring and I always forget something - poo bags, kibble treats, money, bus pass, camera, keys. I have to have it all organised before getting out his harness as he goes a wee bit crazy and exit has to be immediate. Today I forgot his kibble treats. So he got lots of pats instead, and he wasn’t worried.

This is him showing off his ‘DOWN!’ and ‘WAIT...’ tricks.

I could NOT do this with a Malteser...