Dexter the Border Terrier: My year

Hello folks!

It’s been a long time since I blogged so I will tell you about some of my adventures during the year. The snow in March was a bit of a surprise but I went out and played in the snow as well as having a long walk through really deep snow, my human made a track through the snow so I was able to follow his tracks, the snow was so deep it was up to my tummy. From a small dog's point of view I found the snowy stuff very interesting, not least for the reaction from the humans. They don't half faff about with extra clothes, boots and hats. My fur is all I need to go out in any weather in total comfort, I've got two layers(all year round) and it doesn't matter if I'm wet or dry, I'm happy unless it's really, really hot. As for footwear, well I certainly do not need running shoes, walking boots, wellies, sandals, sailing shoes, climbing shoes and so on. I mean for goodness sake I make do with the same four paws for all my activities. My four-paw drive with traction-control and anti-lock braking is very efficient.

It wasn’t long after the snowy weather that there was a complete contrast with week after week of hot sunny weather, this limited my running to early runs in the forest at Coed y Brenin before the day got too hot. 'Too hot?' I hear you exclaim, yes even in wet Wales we have lovely hot weather, so I had lots of lazy, snoozy days with easy walks in the sun. Unusually, all but one of my favourite drinking places (streams and rivers not pubs 😉) all dried up by the end of May. Now this is where I have to admit humans do have their uses as they always had bottles of water for me to drink. My favourite forest run was the Goldrush Trail, 13.7 km of happy scampering. The hot weather led to my humans repeatedly taking me swimming in lakes and rivers (or to be blunt just throwing me in). Yes, I can swim, but not unless I have to. Some runs were late in the day just before sunset on the hills I know very well such as Moel Emoel or Moel y Garnedd.

Moel Emoel -sunset run.

Moel Emoel looking towards Llyn Celyn

Sunset on Moel y Garnedd

Sometimes a run up into the clouds was a great way to cool down, Aran Benllyn had cloud cover one day (despite it being very hot in the valley), not much to see from the top but a great adventure. I have done a lot of walking this year,I had some long walks this year on the Berwyn hills and Mawddach Trail as well as some cycling in the forest. The humans cycle slowly when I'm with them as my top speed is about 17 kph which I can only manage for about 200 metres. [**Stop press November 2018: My humans have bought a buggy for me that is towed behind a bike - I'll let you know how I get on with this as it looks a bit dodgy to me**]

Llangywer

Tough going near Cefn y Foel

Liberty Hall, on the walk from Cynwyd to Corwen

The Mawddach Trail

In late August I went for a holiday to a part of England that I’d never been to before that is known as the Lake District, it was strange being there because nobody spoke Welsh. But I coped well with the four very small humans (one was like me and walked properly with all four limbs on the floor, apparently it’s called crawling but I really approve of this because the little human was at my level).

Just look at the view from our house – wow –

The second day we were there I went for a run to a hill called Binsey (447m) I knew this was going to be a great holiday but my human was told off because we had been out for too long. I had great fun in the Lake District and was able to go for some great runs on the fells, the key summits are called ‘Wainwrights’, there are 214 of these peaks and I did four while I was there. (Binsey, The Edge, Ullock Pike and Dodd)

Binsey

The Edge

Dodd

So far this year I've done about 490 km running with 11,960 metres of climbing, so easy when you have four legs!

I spent some time on the water instead of in the water which was much better than swimming, I went on the lake in a powerboat because my human had a job to do, I put my paws on the edge of the boat and did some serous sniffing as we sped across the sparkling water in the sun.

On duty as the lookout.

Then when we were in the Lake District I went on a very big boat on Ullswater, it wasn’t like the small boats I’m used to but there was serious sniffing to do when I stuck my nose through the railings, then I went back again in November for more running and another trip on Ullswater.