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Our Trip to Wales

I suppose it all really started when George hurt his leg out in the woods one day. We were walking with Auntie Sue and her two dogs Ellie and Teasel one evening in the same woods we have walked in for several years. We had gone there as a bit of a treat as I had just had my stitches removed after running through a barbed wire fence a few weeks before. I was off hunting and George was off bouncing pointlessly through the long grass (sometimes he is such a disappointment as a brother). He came running back to the path and Auntie Sue noticed a pool of blood forming on the ground.

George feeling poorly

Well, it turned out that George had severed an artery and tendon in his front leg. I was oblivious to any of this as I mentioned previously I was off doing some serious hunting at the time and the first I knew of it was mum frantically calling me. I did respond of course but by the time I got back to where I had last seen them Auntie Sue was waiting with Ellie and Teasel and Mum was off in the distance dragging George along on a lead. I ran to catch up with them and trotted along quite happily back to the car. I was a bit disappointed at the walk being ended so soon but can you imagine my horror when we all piled back into the cars only to end up back at the vets!

Mum, George and Auntie Sue disappeared inside and were there for a long time. When they finally came back out they were both covered in lots of blood and George had a huge bandage on his front leg. George was pretty poorly for a long time and could hardly even get up to go outside, but slowly the bandage on his front leg got smaller and smaller and we went to the vets less often. George of course loved the bandage as whenever he spotted people in the park he would hobble up and hold his leg in the air. The fuss people made of him was completely ridiculous, but George was in his element—there are just some things about that dog that I will never understand.

Jack at the seaside

Anyway eventually the bandage came off altogether but George still refused to use his leg. Personally I think he was disappointed about the reduction in attention when he went from being a dog with a huge bandage to an old greyhound that just limped a bit. At this point John (our vet) suggested that maybe a change of scenery where George would be focusing on a new place and not his leg would be a good idea. I believe that John (and everyone else for that matter) gives George far too much credit for intelligence that as far as I can see just doesn't exist. Anyway this was around about the time that Mum and Auntie Sue decided to spend a long weekend at the beach in Wales.

We set off on a Friday afternoon and, although it was a long trip, us four dogs were comfortable in the back of the car due to lots of beds. We had quite a lot of space really as Ellie either sat in the front or close to something called a cool box that was filled with food. She did like to guard that cool box, although as far as I could see she never got to eat anything out of it anyway.

When we arrived the house was lovely, and we went straight out into the garden. Then from there we went out of the back gate and I just couldn't believe it. There was a line of sand dunes, complete with lots of rabbits, and behind the sand dunes were miles and miles of sandy beach. If I didn't know any better I would have said I'd died and gone to heaven. George was also obviously pretty impressed because within minutes he was off and running across the beach without a trace of a limp. All of which goes to prove my original idea that he was only faking it to get more attention.

Urgh! This water tastes funny!

What followed was the most glorious weekend of long walks on the beach and in the dunes at least twice a day. It was absolutely blissful. Ellie and Teasel also liked to go in the sea, which is not like regular water as it moves and chases you if you get too close. I wasn't so sure and spent most of my time running on the sand or chasing rabbits in the dunes. George went in once or twice, usually to chase Ellie or Teasel, although they were difficult to catch because they go out further than we can. I think this is called swimming but I am not really too sure how you do this so I like to stick to just wetting my paws. George also liked to lie in the water and even after three days at the beach he still hadn't worked out that you can't drink the sea because it tastes funny.

George and Mr Hat

Mum took George's favourite toy, a ridiculous thing called Mr Hat that makes strange noises when it lands on the ground. George loves to chase this and is also quite fond of carrying it around in his mouth. I have tried to tell him he is a greyhound not a Labrador, but he just ignores me.

We all had a wonderful weekend, and Mum and Auntie Sue even found a couple of hours to go off shopping which is a strange activity that they really seem to enjoy. We dogs were left at home for that bit but were all so exhausted from constantly running on the beach that we didn't mind at all.

I hope we go back to Wales one day soon.

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