>>1261568My father used to drag us all out in all weather for hikes, sometimes with a pub lunch included, sometimes with a packed lunch behind a drystone wall in driving rain. I hated it and just wanted to play out on bikes or whatever with all the other kids.
When we got our first dog (I was around 14) we were all tasked with the responsibilty of walking her. Needless to say that didn't last long with my older teenage sister more interested in boys, NKOTB and Bross. I loved that doggo my best friend. We started going out exploring the local area (small country village) without a care for access rights and found tonnes of cool little places that appeal to kids, secluded ponds or streams, old hunting shacks in the middle of the moors, small outcrops of rocks to climb or boulder on or large swathes of what we called bamboo (japanese knotweed) to joust and build dens in. Doggo died shortly after I moved out of the family home. She wasn't replaced but I found a new friend in a rescued little staffy cross with the biggest ears you've ever seen on a dog. I dragged that dog for excercise at god awful times in the morning before work, every morning then evening after work and looking back I'm sure she would have preferred just to be chilling on the bed with my now wife but we both got out and that dog just loved being with someone who cared for her. After she got sick and passed, my then fianceé said she couldn't cope with the heartbreak of losing another dog and didn't want one. I was bored and had little enthusiam for going out alone, the house seemed empty and lifeless and she eventually relented when we found a colliex at another rescue shelter. Me and Daisy are out all the spare time I have now and because I'm working 6days a week I drag my wife and daughter out on a Sunday for a good walk (but only in nice weather otherwise it's just me and mutt). tbc...
