Today's walk - Bradgate Park

Hi All,

Myself, Oscar (my Son) and Zane (my big GSD) went for a long walk with Breezay (Gemma), her OH and Soz (her collie x) at Bradgate Park, Leics. It's a gorgeous park and I'd recommend to anyone within striking distance.

Firstly, thank you Gemma for the juice that Oscar had and the poop bags. As Zane NEVER poops anywhere othe rthan at home (how thoughtful) I didn't think to take anything to clean up after him with and as Oscar NEVER drinks anything when he's out, I didn't take a drink for him either. I'll make sure I'm fully stocked for the next walk.

The scenery is lovely and there are wild deer in the park. Dogs have to be controlled and there are signs saying they could be shot if they chase the deer, but neither Zane nor Sox were interested. In fact, I know for sure that Zane didn't even see them!

I can imagine it being absolutely packed in the hot weather and so today was an ideal day to go. Not too hot, not too cold, not so many people you couldn't move but plenty to talk to and plenty of other dogs for Zane to play with.

In fairness to Zane, he was interested mostly in either chasing Soz to begin with, even though Sox only wanted his ball, or staying with Oscar. He wasn't interested in much else.

Quite often I saw peoples' apprehension when Zane went runing up to them which is understandable because of his size, but nobody asked for him to be taken away etc. All he did was sniff at people or their dogs (apart from the lady who was silly enough to show him some sausage and then he wouldn't leave her alone) and then he carried on walking.
It was then nice to see people relax when they realised he was in fact friendly (as if I'd let him off lead if he wasn't!) and also when they saw how Oscar was with him.

Having Oscar there I think really helped on the way back to the car when Zane approached a little boy who was absolutely terrified. Zane stopped short of actually making physycial contact with his nose and I told him to wait. I then called Oscar over and asked Oscar to call Zane and command him to sit, which he did do fantastically well.
After that, the same little boy put his hand out to Zane who then proceeded to lick him all over. Hopefully, this has helped him overcome any fear of dogs he may have and he now enjoy his time in the park better.

Zane managed to find every dirty puddle, ditch and muddy bog that smelled like something had died in it, that was possible. Fortunately he did go into the deeper water in the river which cleaned him up nicely.

Sox had more sense and wouldn't go in the water, nor would he get his feet muddy! Good dog! What I kno for sure though is that every dog who likes fresh air, other dogs, people, water and mmostly improtantly, foul-smelling mud (!) should be taken to this park.

We'll be definitely going back, preferably with others but if not, I'll go back on my own for sure now I know where it is. For my next visit, I'll be taking Yiannis - although a 5/6 mile round trip may be a bit too far for him just yet.

I took a few photos with my phone so will edit this post to put them on later. They're not great quality and of Oscar and Zane mostly. Will try harder for better photos next time. Believe me - in a place like this even on the dullest of days, you could take some amazing photos.

Laura xx