Walking The Dog Along The Coast

For two days in a row I took Titch for an hour's run up to and around the rugby pitches near where I live; today would be different, for we would be walking from Wembury, along the coast to Jennycliff, over-looking the stunningly beautiful Plymouth Sound. I even picked the right day for it, too; a warm, sunny October afternoon; perfect.

Now, Titch is not used to walking for such a long time or for such a long distance, so it was a good opportunity to see how well she would cope and behave; I was pleasantly surprised with both aspects. Whereas, when I take her for a walk or run up to the rugby pitches, she harasses and harangs any other dogs; maybe she's getting territorial. This is indeed a possibility as, when a dog passes the double gates at home, she barks like mad at them; not very pleasant for dog and owner alike.
Back to the walk and she really didn't know what she was in for because, when we set off in the usual direction and we reached our usual cut-off path, she automatically assumed we were headed in the usual direction; wrong. We were boarding the 48 bus to Wembury from the stop 100 yards further along; cue, puzzled look on dog's face. Thankfully, Titch does travel well on buses and, as there were no other dogs aboard for her to pounce on, it was an uneventful trip. Hurrah!

Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on Wembury Beach (pffft!), so I had to walk her for a couple of hundred yards before I could let her onto the low tide-exposed rocks below. She was clearly enjoying this change of scenery and explored as many rockpools, seaweed beds and sandy and shingly bits as she could; she was almost dancing with joy!

Now, if you let it, a walk as long as this can get to be a bit of a drag for both dog and owner alike, so it's best to break it down into sections, if you can. We had a little break for drinks and snacks near Heybrook Bay and continued to Bovisand, where Titch made a few new friends, especially Franklin, a large dark-brown beast, somewhere between Labrador and Great Dane. How they enjoyed chasing and growling each other along Bovisand's lovely beach; love was in the air, I think! You could see on their faces that they were really sad for them to have to part; bless.

The last leg of the journey began with a steep climb towards Staddon Heights, passing Fort Bovisand, and along the eastern edge of Plymouth Sound, with views across the water to Cornwall, on the opposite side of the Sound, and Plymouth itself. We arrived at Jennycliff just as the clouds started appearing and rain came down immediately, but that's nothing (well, a little rain won't melt you, will it?).

After we made it home on the 2 bus, and I'd towelled Titch down, she made a B-line straight for her dish and polished off all her food before slumping onto the hallway floor with a "Hmmph!", relieved it was all over for the day. She will sleep well tonight; I wonder what she'll dream of: beach? rockpool? nice, cool streams to lie in? Franklin? Yes, definitely Franklin! Good effort, Titch! Night, night. Sweet dreams...

Woof!! It's all about the dog!