Reggie Refusnik

Dogs love to walk. A universal truth that sadly seems not to apply to the dog that fills our lives with his love and habits.

When "experts", usually ones that talk through a part of their anatomy that is for sitting on, tell you how it will change your life having a dog, then maybe for once they are right.

It's no secret amongst friends and neighbours that we went to the Dog's Trust,  to get a small tank-bag dog. One that wouldn't mind going on the bike for a ride somewhere.  Instead, we got Reggie. As soon as we saw his face and the way he looked at us, we were hooked. Despite some of his published  (and soon to be discovered unpublished) foibles and traits, he is a great dog.  At 20kgs he is far too big for the bike. Even a Rocket.

Reggie

Recently though, he has shown a reluctance to walk. it starts with him hiding when the lead is brought out; in a corner or under the dining table.  Show him the harness, so that we can attach him to the seat belts in the car, and he goes to ground. Literally.  He lays down on the floor and rolls on his back to stop the harness going over his head.

Once out he usually enjoys himself, especially on the beach at Dymchurch, where he can run and go in the sea, play ball and chase the gulls.

It's on other walks that he simply stops.  It first manifested itself earlier in the year when we walked along the White Cliffs of Dover from the car-park near Dover Castle to the South Foreland Lighthouse.  When we came to walk back he refused and it was a while before we could coax him to retrace our steps back along the path. 

He has started to do it more often.  We live near the Royal Military Canal. Built during the Napoleonic War to provide a defence in case Bonaparte landed on our flat coastal land around Hythe, he has now decide that he won't walk there. He stops at the end of the road. His legs stiffen and he won't budge.

What to do?  He likes it over there, just a few hundred yards away, the smells and the rabbits and squirrels to chase or bark at.....

Any (true) experts?  Feel free to comment!