I also took Lewis and Islay into Tynemouth and we spent some time in the Castle Moat before heading up through the village on our way home.  These two love being out and about no matter what the weather!

Flash is a Staffy and having never owned or walked a Staffy I have to confess I was unsure if I should even take Flash on. Everything I thought I knew about the breed I had seen on the news or read in the paper and I have to confess to being a little nervous but upon meeting him I immediately fell in love with him.  He's a really brilliant, loving and intelligent dog and I know I say this about all of my dogs but he really is one of my favourites!  He's 5 years old and has spent 3 of those years in the cat and dog shelter.  If you've ever been to a cat and dog shelter you'll know that most of the dogs there are Staffy's and are, for the most part overlooked by potential owners but his current owner didn't overlook Flash and they've been together since November last year.  

Here's a few pics of Flash from recent walks.  He walks pretty well on the lead and responds very well to basic commands such as sit and stay, he gets on very well with the rest of the pack and yesterday I let him off the lead for the first time and his recall was excellent.  I had him out today to Marden Quarry, which he seemed to enjoy and I'm looking forward to seeing him again on Thursday when I have him next.

Today came the moment that all dog owners fear, a dog escaped its lead! I'll skip to the end now and let you know that all was fine and no harm was done but for a fleeting moment my heart was in my mouth.

The Escapee in question was a new dog, Daisy. Today was my first outing with her and within 2 minutes of collecting her she'd Houdini'd her way out of her collar but I managed to keep hold of her long enough to slip the collar back on and tighten it up a bit.

We then collected Lewis and Islay who live very close by and as we set off on our travels Daisy managed to escape for a second time. This time we were on a path right next to a very busy road. I genuinely don't know if was by good luck or good management but she responded to my (rather panicked) request to stop and once again I got control of her.

I secured Lewis and Islay and looked once again at Daisy's collar. Every time I tightened it up it just wanted to slacken off again and I just knew she'd get loose if I put it back on so I popped Islays slip lead onto her and put the 'loose' collar on Islay - you could easily walk Islay using a length of string because her lead work is just brilliant so I wasn't worried at all about Islay trying to break free. We managed a full session and the last 50 minutes were a dream. Pity the first 10 was a nightmare!

Lush dog though, here she is with the fantastic Lewis and Islay.