dog walking near Narbethong

Last weekend Penny joined lots of other dogs for a long walk on a bush track near Narbethong. (Don't you just love that name?)

We've been there before, so I was prepared for the red mud. (Sorry about the awful quality of the photos, but it was tricky to keep my footing in the slippery mud while taking pictures with my phone.)

Sure enough, Penny had great fun getting muddy. And that was fine.

A couple of us walked more slowly than the others and lost sight of them, but there was no difficulty finding the way. Paw prints in the mud!

When I saw a nice little stream flowing into a nice little pool by a nice little grassy spot, I suggested to Penny that she jump in, swim a little and get nice and clean.

It cleaned off the red mud beautifully!

Hmm... what to do with the black dog?

Well, we stopped for a delicious cream-cake at the Beechworth Bakery in Healesville and Penny had a second swim, this time in the fast-flowing creek, and she came out clean! (It's lucky that she's willing to swim in any weather.)

Scruffy visits

It's been a long time since Scruffy visited us. He first came in 2009, and was an occasional visitor for a couple of years, but we haven't seen him for a while.

 When he visited  last week, Penny made sure to remind him that she's the householder and has rights that he doesn't have.

 Here she is sitting on the swinging seat with her human while he lies on the ground.

a smaller Safe Stix

Penny enjoyed fetching her Safe Stix at Warringal Park yesterday, but she no longer has it.

Today I took a friend's dog for a walk - a beautiful long-haired German shepherd - and she loved the Safe Stix so much that I let her have it.

When I went back to the shop - Murphy Brothers in Hawthorn (in Melbourne) - I bought the small Safe Stix for Penny, because she loved the medium-sized one so much that she carried it everywhere in the park yesterday, and I think it'll be easier for her to carry the small one.

Here's hoping she likes the little one just as much.

our new Safe Stix

At last the Safe Stix is available here! After I received an email newsletter from our favorite shop, Murphys in Hawthorn, saying they'd imported it, I called over there to get one.

I was excited, but Penny wasn't. She was more interested in the view of our rainy street.

Until we played tug with it,

 


and Penny gave it a good shaking.

 

 Now I've put it away, having piqued her interest. Next time we go out we'll try it as a throwing toy (though we have to be super careful with that, seeing she's had her cruciate repaired); and, best of all, as a floating toy.