Checked your ID lately?

Last week I had the fright of my life.

I mean completely shaken up, barely clinging on, adrenalin pumping, cold sweats - the lot.

Me and the collie girls were out walking in some local fields. All had been going fairly well, Freya had stayed fairly close even in the "squirrel-heaven" of Quaker & Acomb Wood.

Part of her reward was getting to thoroughly investigate the very large rabbit holes beside the path on our way home.

Bronte and I carried on walking and lost sight of her for a second (it's pretty overgrown land).

Suddenly there were several very close by gun shots.

Freya has been a bit more worried by sudden noises since our crash in December so I was really surprised when she didn't immediately pop up beside me for the usual cheese and happy voice routine.

A minute later, still no Freya.

Trying not to panic, I called and whistled.

Nothing. Nada. Not even at any of her favourite bunny haunts.

Another dogwalker told me they'd seen a small collie running very fast AWAY from where I was, on one of our usual paths.....

I'll spare you the messy inside of my head as I searched for Freya systematically, and then walked our usual route home as fast as possible.

5 years ago Freya was spooked by gunfire really badly, in a wood she didn't know well. I found her an hour later back at the carpark waiting by the landrover.

So, I was half hoping to find her at home, but that meant she would have crossed several fairly busy roads when she's already worried about traffic.

*gulp*

Thankfully, I got back home to a totally chilled little collie sitting waiting for me in my own back garden (a kind neighbour had let her in) wondering why I was making such funny snuffling noises.

I guess Freya lost sight of me too, the noises spooked her so when she couldn't immediately find me she headed for the nearest safe place.

Alls well that end's well, but I'm writing about this because 5 minutes after losing my wee girlie I realised that the phone number on her tag wasn't the mobile I had on me *arrrrgh*

Having made a big effort to separate work and personal life, I have two mobiles now.  But all my dog tags still have what is now only my work number on them, and of course I left that at home when we went out for a "relaxing" walk.

So CHECK your dog tags, just in case you end up in a panic like me!

I'm ordering new tags for everyone from Indigo Collar Tags as usual. They're amazingly tough, never wear out or come off, and I only need to replace them when I change my address or phone number.

Don't forget your dog MUST legally wear an ID tag as well as being microchipped, and the collar ID will get them home a lot faster in most cases.

After all that excitement I'm hoping for a quieter weekend scouting out training routes for our Canicross workshops!

Have a calm weekend everyone

Morag and the collie girls

PS The new Spring Term classes are out and available to register (activity classes start on Monday 5th February).
The new kid on the block is our Canine Activity Foundations where you'll learn basic Scentwork, Parkour, Rally and Agility skills. The perfect introduction to having more fun with your dog!