From hero to zero in 12 hours!

Oh I was so pleased with my little Cairn heroine that I decided to take her for a long walk around the beautiful Tamar Lake this morning. We set off at around 7.20 and parked up for the walk about ten minutes later. The sun was shining through a low mist and the lake was beautiful and all was right with the world. I didn't bother with a car parking ticket as I would be back before everything opened up at 9am.

Taken moments before Bonny took off - calm before storm!

I walked Bonny across the dam, got onto the circular path that runs the 3km around the lake and let the little darling off her lead. She immediately ran through a gap in the fence and was gone. I hoped she had just seen a rabbit and would run back any moment - after all she was in an utterly strange place and surely would want to stick with me. But no. Oh I saw her often enough as she dodged in and out of the gorse bushes, shrieking with excitement and causing a rabbit rout.

So I started using all the strategies I have learned for this situation. I walked away on the path for a while. She followed me, but on the wrong side of the fence, with no way to get through. Once I realised that, I returned to where she had gone through, but she just saw that as an invitation to carry on hunting rabbits. I tried walking past her and on down a hill in the same field, so she wouldn't have to find a way out. That worked until I reached the other end and found there was no exit. She, having followed me, worked this out just as I did and by the time I turned to look, she was haring (forgive the pun) back off up the field. This went on for several hours.

I had arranged to have lunch with my former supervisor today and that piled on the pressure as I hadn't brought my phone with me. Added to that I was without money and so couldn't pay for the parking. Fortunately I met some friends at around 10.30 in the same field and they paid for my parking, bought me a bottle of water and promised to phone said supervisor when they returned home. They did try to tempt Bonny out to join their dogs but with little success.

By this time I had climbed a very steep hill at least six times, walked across the dam twice and down the lake path many more times, all to try and get Bonny to follow me without success. I was hot, footsore and seriously peeved with her. Then a young man approached and asked me if I'd lost a small grey dog because there was one running around the car park! Somehow she had got out of the field and crossed the very large dam without me spotting her. I ran over there as more cars were arriving all the time and Bon has little car sense - especially when she is out of her head as she evidently was - acting like a wild creature.

Sure enough, there she was, hesitating near my car. Whilst I stood still working out what move to play next, she spotted me and ran off into a plantation alongside the car park. I couldn't follow her into the undergrowth so I stopped. There is a cafe at the carpark and I was desperate for a wee, so I went in. The friends I met earlier had already informed the very lovely oriental woman running the cafe what was occuring and she not only let me sit in the shade, but gave me a free pot of tea as well.

By the time I had drunk my tea and had a wee around 15 minutes had passed and no Bonny. As I walked back out to the carpark I was just in time to see her jogging off down the drive towards the road! I yelled at her and she dived into an adjacent field. I lost all self control, vaulted the gate and ran straight at her. She ran off down the fence line with me in hot pursuit. I just couldn't let her get to the road or all would be lost. Panic gave me the necessary energy and I cornered her by a patch of nettles and with no hesitation, rugby tackled her to the ground! The time was 12.30 - exactly 5 hours after she ran off. I had missed my lunch appointment, my feet were in agony, my hands were nettle stung and my blank blank little dog was filthy, covered in burrs and limp with exhaustion. As I carried her back to the car she tried to lick my face and generally acted delighted to see me! As if I had been the one who had disappeared for 5 hours and not her.

I really do not understand Bonny at all. Once she has run off like that and not returned when I call, it's as if she then feels she can't come back because she has been naughty. She then gets into a total panic and the result is the 5 hours I have just described. As usual, when I finally do catch her, she then acts as if she is so happy to see me - as if she failed to recognise it was me chasing her all morning! So it's back on the lead for walks again. That's so sad as I really thought the cruise had finally put paid to all this palavar.

Wild thing!