Ollie: A dog’s weekend away

~ beetleypete

As I was getting ready to leave on Saturday morning, Ollie was showing signs of interest in my preparations. He noticed that I was dressed and ready earlier than usual, and that I was packing things into bags. By the time I got around to picking up his food and water bowls, he was beside himself. Could he be going out somewhere? Was I going to leave him behind? He ran around panting, and sniffing everything I touched. And his expressive face portrayed the full range of his emotions; from excitement, to worry, and eventual desperation.

Then I picked up his large bed, and folded it to carry to the car. That was it for him. If his bed was going, then he was sure he was going too. He scampered around like a pup, displaying every possible sign of canine enthusiasm. For all he knew, he might just be going a few miles down the road, to walk in a different place. Perhaps an unwanted trip to the Vet, or somewhere completely new. But he was up for anything, as long as he was going with me.

He is very good in the car. He jumps onto his bed in the back, and doesn’t bother to look around, sit up, or show any interest in what’s going on. He lay down contentedly for a journey of over a hundred miles, looking surprised when the car stopped, and I opened the back. He has met my cousin and her family before, also her two dogs, the Cavalier Spaniels Jess and Dennis. But now there is a cat in the house, and within seconds of his lead coming off, he was chasing that up the stairs. He loves stairs. Brought up in a house on ground level, he sees stairs as a path to something new to explore, and will run up and down them like a child on a playground slide.

A walk later on introduced him to some new smells of the local Essex dogs, and he was frantically scent-marking accordingly. More people around than he is used to saw him attract attention from admiring humans, and lots of enthusiastic sniffing from new dogs he encountered too. Then he was back to trying to find the elusive cat, and wondering if he was going to be left behind in this strange house with stairs. In case I was about to do just that, he kept checking I was still in the armchair, and that the bags I had brought were still where I had left them. As we got ready to go and visit baby Violet that evening, he was unsettled for the second time in one day. But once I picked up his lead, he was his old self once again.

A short drive to the unfamiliar house provided him with the opportunity to meet new dogs, and to find another set of stairs to climb. A feisty Pug, and an excitable Cocker Spaniel pup, only six months old. The Pug was having none of this curly-tailed intruder, and barked and growled constantly at Ollie, who ignored him. He checked out the tiny baby, just a quick sniff to see what we were making a fuss about. Then he was off up the stairs, in case a different cat was lurking up there, waiting to be chased.

By midnight, when I went to bed, he had been on the go since 8 am. Riding in the car, rushing around strange houses, up and down stairs, and chasing cats. I put his bed into the kitchen, and he needed no urging to climb onto it, and sleep soundly all night.

It takes a lot out of a dog, a weekend away.

71 thoughts on “Ollie: A dog’s weekend away”

  4. Hey Pete! It’s Taylor, “the American” if you remember me! I should have told you before, but I just got back from Ireland, which I know isn’t in the UK, but it was amazing and I LOVE that area! Also: love your dog because that’s how mine behaves. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s Ollie’s breed? I have a golden retriever.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Of course I remember you, Taylor.
      I have been to Ireland, but only to Limerick. Also to the north, Belfast. (Which is strictly speaking in Great Britain.) The people (mostly) speak English, but it is very much a different country to England.
      Ollie is a Shar-Pei, a breed originally from China. But he is not a pure-breed pedigree, though he has most of the usual features of the breed.
      This is what he was like as a puppy. (An American video from You Tube, so not Ollie)

      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Oh how adorable! I feel like I saw that type in the National Dog show last week (they play it every year after the Thanksgiving parade). I think that my family went to somewhere near Belfast, but we mostly went around the south. I would love to go to London sometime, though! It seems like such a cool city!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  9. Haha, good old Ollie. Our Tsi-poodle is like that every time Josef and Jovy spend the weekend at Jovy’s grandmother’s place. He feels pretty excited and before the car goes, he showers me with wet kisses like saying, ” I will miss you”.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. What I found most interesting was Ollie’s behavior, which has both an emotional and intellectual side. I particularly liked this: “…he kept checking I was still in the armchair, and that the bags I had brought were still where I had left them.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, David. Ollie doesn’t seem to be able to function too well unless he knows I am close by. On the rare occasions I go out and leave him, he lays on his bed, even if Julie is here. He only seems to be happy when I return. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. Brilliant, Pete! Oh my goodness…To see how they see. To run like they run. I would like to..Just for a moment.
    About the sniffing…Dogs love the most noxious smells, e.g., poop, dead animals, spoiled food, funky shoes.. and they hate good smells, e.g., shampoo, perfume, deodorant. Wouldn’t want to experience their sense of smell..Not even for a moment.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Pam. That 40 X smelling ability might seem awful to us, but it stands them in good stead in the wild of course. I just love to see his joy in new smells, as long as I don’t have to smell them too. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  22. I’m so pleased Ollie had such a great weekend. Our cat hates it when we go away, even though she ignores us 90 per cent of the time we’re at home. And she’d be horrified if we took her in the car!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

        1. Ollie is very focused on me. Even when I go out to the wheelie bin, he acts like I have been gone for the day when I walk back in. 🙂 Mr Fritz sounds cute, I like those little sausage dogs.
          Best wishes, Pete.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  27. Awww! I’m so glad Ollie had fun! We always leave my cat at home when we go places and he now knows the signs that we’re going away and leaving him… And he definitely doesn’t like it! Last time we were packing to head to our cottage property for a few days, he tried to climb into my duffel bag and lie down.
    Of course, us leaving means he’s going to be spoiled by grandpa (my man’s dad), we’ve been leaving too much lately, because my cat is starting to get fat with all the treats he is snuck in our absence! 😕

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to John Charet Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.