Highwaymen (highwaydogs)

The Thames at Barnes

I want to avoid Disneyfying Rocco and his mates, as mentioned above. I also don’t want only to celebrate his positive side – his usually affable laid-back lurcher personality. A recent morning walk reminded me that he used to have ‘Mr B’, (short for Mr Bastard) as a nickname. Policemen on horses, Wimbledon rangers on horses, joggers wearing flappy clothing, cyclists, dogs meekly accompanying joggers – there is a fair list of those, who in his youth, he regarded as provocative. He has mellowed over the years but Mr B has never entirely vanished. Mind you all dogs (and all of us) have a Mr B lurking deep inside.

Mr B

We live close to Hammersmith Bridge, the Thames towpath is a couple of minutes away, a good place one might suppose for a walk. Rowing used to be my sport, I enjoy watching the crews training on the river and greeting Steve Fairbain’s monument at the Milepost however the towpath is not Rocco’s favourite walk. He has never been in a fight, he knows he can outrun any dog showing aggression. His sense of security has always been that he can escape any situation. So open space is preferable to a towpath offering only going forward or back options. 

Mooli leads a search for lost confectionary - a one in a million chance.

As it is half term the Dog Hotel is full. Judy took most of the guest off for a morning walk on Barnes / Putney Common and I took Rocco, Mooli and another down to the river where snow was thawing, I let them off the lead. Our rule being dogs we look after wear leads on pavements but don’t away from traffic (all things otherwise being equal).

I was soon distracted, busy with a poo-bag (joy of joy), when I heard a yelp from a jogger. ‘Your dog bit me.’ He exclaimed. Mr B was back, I stood there mouth hanging open. How to explain the inadvisability of jogging with loose straps dangling at waist height? 

‘Did he bite you or your clothes’? I asked and the runner, bobbing up and down on the spot, admitted that it was a strap that got tugged. ‘I’m cool with that,’ he said pleasantly and whizzed-off. I was mortified.

The point is that a person in charge of a dog is responsible for that dog’s actions, if a situation brews-up, it must be nipped that in the bud. If you walk several dogs you must be in control of them at all times, on or off the lead. Excuses such as ‘He only wanted to play,’ might be true but are beside the point.

I had words with Mr B, but evidently not to good effect. Five minutes later as a carefree golden retriever trotted towards us. Mr B began a highwayman ‘Your money or your life’ routine, Mooli proving an excellent henchman. The golden retriever retreated, I grabbed the putative highwaymen and they spent the rest of the walk on their leads.

Still, its a lot better than sitting in meetings with folk whinging-on about the cost of authors’ corrections to the Notes to the Accounts…


PS Rocco would like to present the case for the defense. 'When I play rough games with my human sister Izzy, nipping is permitted. So how am I to know the difference? 


If you won't accept that, M'lud, then could you please take 37 other counts of towpath harassment into account?