Our walks are short at the moment.
For two reasons – Tima has very short legs.
And then she has to stop every few minutes to play ‘Gleeful Manchurian Mustache’ The Game (the rules are obscure) with TonTon, who can call out “Help me!” in 17 different languages. Actually the rules of the game seem more fluid than obscure as Timatanga Moana always wins. 
And then secondly, Big Dog is very old. Almost 16 years old I think. Though he was here way before me (I have only been here eight years) so it hard for me to say but he is very doddery so we walk slowly.
But we also have to walk watchfully as he has a dreadful habit of wandering off the track and falling down into The Ditch. He used to run down into the ditch that used to be a creek and play in the water daily. The ditch is about 18 feet down. Straight down. The depth of the water depends on the rain. 
Yesterday it rained!
We have a system for when the Big Old Dog loses his footing and rolls down into the ditch. Or maybe he does it on purpose, who knows. I go down into the water and grab the floundering Cooder around his body, lifting him up so he does not drown, Boo comes down with me, Tima and TonTon shout encouragement from above. Then, standing in the creek with my arm around The Big Old Dog’s skinny body and the other hand holding onto Boo’s collar I shout “See TonTon, See TonTon!”and Boo rushes at speed and with all the strength and purchase of a well fed, sleek, young dog, straight up the bank at TonTon – always the fastest way not the most comfortable way but beggers can’t be choosers – and we are hauled up unceremoniously, holding on for dear life because life is dear, straight up the bank as Ton and Tima back up to give us space to get right up and over the bank. Boo is dragging me, who is dragging The Big Old Dog, whose name is Cooder. All 10 of our legs working as fast as possible.
Once we are all safe and sound back at the top of the unbridgeable bank, we shake ourselves, folding our soggy bodies back into order, readjusting our skins – we all sigh, we check that all our body parts are where they should be, then we turn for home. My three dogs and one little piggie. The eldest and the youngest need a wee lie down after all the excitement.
We collect Sheila and Poppy on the way back through the fields (Sheila does not like Poppy to go out the gates) and promenade with all the joy and arrogance of the living – back home. Home.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
41 responses to “Short Exciting Walks”
I can just picture this! Such a strong dog Boo. 🙂
I’ma start a-callin’ you Cooder.
Wonderful imagery today. Big Dog needs a rescue sling! That Tima provides a lot of comic relief, doesn’t she? We got some rain here too, thunder, high winds and blowing hard kind of rain, but it was very welcome. Have a great day.
I have the same trouble with Fuzzy. Only in our case, he tumbles off the 4-wheeler. I FINALLY figured out that he gets mesmerized with the speeding ground going by him. Now I break up his stare as we slowly move along. It keeps him on and I don’t have to worry about him falling.
♥ღLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
This is such a beautiful post. There is so much love between all the creatures on your farm, including you!
Boo is everyone’s caretaker, it seems.
That ditch sounds very dangerous. I am amazed that Big Cooder is 16. Especially for such a BIG DOG. Clearly a tribute to a healthy life. I’m sorry to learn though that he is skinny. From early pictures, next to Ton Ton he looked really big!
He lost a lot of weight over the winter and only seldom eats now, He still drinks his milk and eggs but mostly buries his meat..poor old fella.. he is showing his age now..c
I love the Manchurian mustache.
Boo is a wonderful boy. Please give him some special ear scratches from me. Ton and Tima what a team.
Such a delightful description of saving Cooder! Happy Mother’s Day from Australia!
would it be possible to build a suspension type bridge across the ditch/creek?
2 tall poles on each side with cables between them, and a wooden floor supported by the cables.lots of them in my part of wv,cheap to build. we call them swinging bridges, some of the more rickety ones swing or bounce more than nessary, most are 3-4 ft wide for foot traffic
very few are wide enough to drive across.
that would be marvellous.. when can you start?..c
Ah Big Dog, you do bring excitement. And yes, I can see the wee Manchurian moustache! I thought at first it was a version of Marco Polo.. 🙂
So glad you have it all worked out 😉 ! Everyone seems to understand everyone else and it’s a case of ‘well, tha’;s done!’ back home 🙂 !
Good lord, what shenanigans! Wish I could be there to join in the Great Scramble myself; this seems like the most magnificent possible way to spend an adventuresome afternoon, especially if I could be permitted to learn something of the mystical intricacies of that there Manchurian sport as well. 😀
xoxo!
Kathryn
Well, I never thought that walking on all that flat land could be so hazardous! Yesterday I attended the launch of the new kids’ book about the Kunekune pig called Lillibutt. My artist friend Claudia, who illustrated the book, talked about how she found the perfect piggie pair at the childrens’ zoo in Auckland. When the keeper tidied them up and put leads on them before taking them for a walk, Claudia was over the moon. She went along too, taking photos, and then did lots of sketches. They had a photo shoot as publicity for the book and the piggy was told by the keeper ‘Smile’, and she did! I thought of you and Tima and wished you were (both) there.
[Book is called ‘Lillibutt’s Te Araroa Adventure’ and is a sequel to ‘Lillibutt’s Big Adventure’ about the piggy walking the Camino Trail in Spain.]