A Dog's Eyeview of Vanlife - Part 3

 

When we’re on our travels and away from home for a while, more packing goes on before we leave, although I have noticed they keep some of my things in my van all the time. When we do what they call a “trip”, we sometimes go to what the humans call “a-broad”, or “you-rup”. My van goes on a train or a boat, but as long as I can snuggle down comfortably while we travel, I’m OK.

Wherever we end up, the most exciting bit of all is when we arrive and I can smell and see where we are when the door opens. If it’s somewhere I’ve been to before I always remember it. I insist on leading the way for the first walk I get soon after arrival, so I can check out the lie of the land. If I know where we are, I set off an a familiar route. 

The humans were surprised I could do this when we arrived at a campsite in that “a-broad” place we’d not visited since I was a puppy, but I definitely knew my way about.

Campsite dog walks – the bits fenced off specially for dogs – I rate as anything between zero (tiny, tidy, short and narrow boring path) to ten (large field with oodles of space to run, play and make friends with other dogs).

 

After my first walk, wherever we are, I’m happy to settle down outside my van on my long lead, keeping watch on any comings and goings while I take the air. This is even better when it’s warm enough to leave the sliding door open as I can sit in the doorway and watch the world go by. 

 

And when the humans set up their table and chairs outside, and carry out my food and water bowls, we can all eat together. I like this a lot.

 

My rating for vanlife? Ten. It’s perfect!

 

A Dog's Eyeview of Vanlife - Part 2

The main drawback when we set off on travels and adventures in my campervan is that I can’t see where we’re going. I’m quite small and my legs – perfectly proportioned as they are – are also quite small. When we travel I have to sit on the floor on my cushion or in my bed (thoughtfully placed in the cab by the humans so I’m close to them) which means I can’t look out of the windows and take in the views.

I never know where we’re going until we get there, but I’m always keen to get out and explore when we arrive, nose pressed against the crack where the door opens. When I hear that exciting whoooshing sound of the sliding door I’m raring to go and I leap outside, my little legs well up to this activity.

On van days out I’m always on the lookout for dog friendly cafés. The ones I like best have inside and outside seating, and the waiters always bring biscuits for me when the humans have coffee or treat themselves to lunch.

My legs, as I’ve already mentioned, are just wonderful, but I have to admit they’re a bit too short to allow me the amazingly athletic leap I think I can make on to the seats in my van when we’re static. I can’t quite manage that without help from the humans.

I know how to turn on my most intense and appealing gaze and look at them, asking silently if I can come up on the seat/their laps/the back of the sofa where there are good views through the window. If they don’t respond quickly enough I have to remind them with a quick bark. That gets them moving; they give in pretty quickly and then I’m up in the mainstream, on guard and keeping an eye on the goings-on outside. I’m torn between the views from the back of the sofa, and the comfort of the front seats, with the windows and windscreen.

The humans have to admit that it’s rather useful having me with them if we’re staying somewhere overnight. We usually stay on one of those campsite places. But wherever we are, if we’re inside at night time and I hear anything or anyone coming too close I’ll give a warning bark so the humans know. They like me doing this. 

Got to earn my treats, you know!

 

To be continued....

 

Down in the South West

 

 

Well here I am again in my campervan, enjoying my holiday with my humans. We went to Devon for a few days, and then on to somewhere near Devon called Summerset, Only thing was, it was a bit cold sometimes and not really like summer there, but I still had a good time with lots of walks.

One day it was very hot so the humans put the awning thingy out which gives us some shade to sit in, but I prefer getting under one of their chairs and it was quite nice basking in the sun on the warm pebbles (bit lumpy but OK).

We did lots of walks and one day, when it was very cold and windy, we walked on Dartmoor on one of those Tor things.

The human who feeds me got very cold and kept saying it was blooming freezing. I was OK as my coat has grown a bit and although it got blown about a bit (my hair was a right mess....) I kept warm. But it was nice to get back inside my warm campervan again.

We went to a very big, very tall thing called an obbylisk. Looked like a whopping great big tall piece of pointed stone to me, no idea what it was there for but the humans were talking about wellingtons - I think they meant boots. Didn't see any boots there. It was sunny but very windy at the top of the hill the obbylisk was on, and I had a good walk in the woods near the pointy stone.

 

[Ed. Bosworth visited the Wellington Memorial in Somerset]

 

 

My Rearview of 2021

Hmmm, it looks like it's that time of year again when everything goes a bit haywire. The humans have Christmas and New Year (what on earth is that?) and I get more attention as they're kind of on holiday. But at home, so treats are always on tap, they're generally in a good mood and a certain someone in the family who adores me comes to stay. With her cat!!

Is it really one of their human years since I took a look at 2020? Yes. Better get a wiggle on then and have a dekko at what I got up to in 2021.

First of all, if you had a read of my canine musings in 2021, (courtesy of the human who feeds me), a big thank you! Nice to know you're out there. Quite important in these strange times, when we can't always go where I - sorry we! - want to.

In January 2021, we couldn't go anywhere. That lockdown thing meant we could only go out to local places not far from home, and we certainly couldn't go away in my campervan, which was a disappointment.

My humans did their best though as we walked and walked locally, exploring parts of the small town we live in which they'd never been to before. We went down lots of roads and I learned new routes, so I now have a pretty good map of where we are if we visit them again - and guess what? I remember where we are even if we've not been there for a while. And I certainly remember the way home!

But something exciting happened in January, I was awarded two first places and one second place in the Norfolk Terrier virtual Fun Day. You can read about it here. And shortly after that my rosettes arrived. My humans were pretty excited about that and of course, I was too. 

In February we did manage to go out for days in my campervan - still couldn't go and stay anywhere as we were still locked down - but we managed some chilly, muddy, interesting walks in Tatton Park, which is near my house. It was SO good to get out and sniff and run and be in some earthy green space. I saw some deer but wasn't allowed to chase them even though they looked and smelled interesting. As we'd gone there in my campervan we had somewhere nice and cosy to go back to after the walk, and we had lunch and a snooze (well, I did).

In March we lots more of those local walks, and I wrote about them here. 

April was pretty good! We went away in my campervan and swapped it for a brand new campervan - the humans do treat me well! It was very exciting as it smelled different. They called that smell "new". And we went away for a short holiday in it to a place I like on the cliffs in Devon, with lots of good walks. It was windy and by the sea and I loved it. Freedom! We could go away at last!

We went away in my new campervan several times in the summer. Oh bliss - it was good because we often went to the sea and the beach for a few days. 

I liked going to the Place called Squirrel because I found a body on the beach, and to Barmuf beach, where I found another body! It was ok in the Boxwolds, but not quite as interesting as being in Whales.

Best of all in 2021 though was being in my campervan. It didn't really matter where we were. It was always good!

Barmuf beach

 

I've not had a chance to say anything lately because the human who feeds me and telepathically shares my thoughts has been busy. Writing a book or something, but she's been at it for a bit of a while now and has eventually realised I might have something that I want to say too!

I've been away for a few days to a beach with the humans, to a place called (I think) Barmuf. Well it sounds a bit like that. (Ed. It's Barmouth in Wales).

I don't know what you do when you get on a beach but all I want to do is run and run and feel the sand between my paw pads and smell the lovely exciting smells and enjoy all the space and....well, you know what I mean.

Of course, an important thing to do asap on a beach, or anywhere come to that, is to make my mark, which is what I did on that big beach.

 

That done, I was ready to explore and run about, and I met a few other dogs doing the same thing so we had a bit of a romp and play. Then I walked and ran for a long time, all the way along the beach and up to the bit where you can go into the town, and there I found something very interesting. And dead.

You may recall I found a dead harbour porpoise a while back when we stayed in my campervan in that place called Squirrel. This body was a bit different, and it was half covered in soft sand nearer the path into town and a long way from the sea.

The humans wouldn't let me sniff it and put me back on my lead (hhhmph) and the one who feeds me said it had flippers at the back and looked like a seal.

After we'd walked a bit in the town (don't know why, nothing of interest there for me) we went back to where we were staying in my campervan. I think it's called a campsite and it was an interesting one, right near the beach, and it had rabbits!! So all my short walks there were nice and interesting too.

The humans got a bit carried away while we were there with the views. They liked  looking at the Linperninserla (Ed. Llyn Peninsula) where there are mountains.

They went a bit mad for the sunsets on the way back and I had to hang around waiting for them to take photos, but TBH I was a bit tired then anyway as I'd run about a lot and was ready for a snooze back in the warm in my campervan.

My campervan

 

I know I've told you about my new campervan before, but now I've really got used to it I thought I'd share a few snippets about my life on wheels when I go away in it with my humans.

First of all, I love the van's colour my humans chose on my behalf. It really looks good in the sunshine, especially when I can sit outside, see what's going on and be admired as people walk by.

Inside it's comfortable and I soon got to know the best places to sit inside, especially when it's been a bit chilly and the heating goes on. It's very nice near those warm air vents at floor level.

The humans like me to stay out of the way when the door is shut of it's a bit chilly, and they're cooking in the kitchen area. But what they don't realise is that a) it usually smells good down at the end of my van, and b) there's a warm air vent in that area too. So I tend to snuggle up in front of the cooking area. But they move me or shoo me back to the lounge bit.

Ha! But I've cracked it for when they eat at the table, This gets taken out of the cupboard where they hang their clothes, and is opened up so it can stand on its legs. I've learned to keep out of the way when this happens, but the best bit is when they have the food on the table and take pity on me.

As I like to keep an eye on them and be with them, they lift me up on to one of the big seats in the cab, which turn around to face the lounge when we're not travelling. As I've already had my meal, I'm not terribly interested in their food, so I snuggle up on the seat and keep one eye on them while they eat, and I snooze.

Perfect planning on my part, don't you think?

The Boxwolds

I'm watching that pigeon on the roof!

I've been away again in my campervan. I went to the Boxwolds with my humans for a few days, and first we visited their daughter (who adores me). We stayed for one night at a campsite on a racecourse (Cheltenham, Ed.)  It smelled horsey but there were no horses, just people and vans.

We went to the daughter's house and although I could smell that darned cat, I didn't get to see her. I know she was there. When I tried to go upstairs to find her they'd put big boxes on the stairs so I couldn't get up. But we had a great walk in the big park and around the lake, then I sat with the humans in the garden while they had a drink of something which made a loud bang when they opened the bottle. It was their daughter's birthday or something, and it was very nice, even without finding that cat.

Then we went on to stay at a campsite somewhere else in the Boxwolds, and I think that's the name of where we were because the human who feeds me kept calling them the chocolate Boxwolds - something to do with all the villages being pretty and chocolate boxes. Or it could be because they put boxes on the stairs in that part of the country. 

We did walk to a pretty village near the campsite (Broadway, Ed.) but the best bits were going to a ruined abbey (Hailes Abbey near Winchcombe, Ed.) where I was given dog biscuit at the ticket office, when we arrived. I also liked going for a long walk on a hill (Dover's Hill near Chipping Campden, Ed.) which I really enjoyed.

The campsite was nice but every now and then a big thing called a steam train came past, making a lot of chuffing noises and hooting. I didn't like it and hid behind my human's legs. She was smiling and waving at people inside the train and going on about something called the Railway Children.

Something quite exciting happened in my van while we were away. A pigeon was walking about on the big window in the roof and I could see its belly and feet. Very interesting. I liked looking at it, and I could hear it tapping about too. The human who does school with me said he hoped it didn't do a poo on the roof.

Then we met their daughter again on the way back and she took me for a great walk across some fields while my humans went into some gardens (Hidcote, Ed.) and it seems they liked them. 

I just love being away in my van and wonder where we might go next. Soon, please!

Hailes Abbey - I liked it there

Out in the Sticks

By the canal on a sunny day

I'm not sure if the Sticks is the real name of the place we went to in my campervan, but the humans kept talking about it being out in the sticks so I suppose it must be right. 

It was somewhere in Cheshire, or Whales, or Shopshire but we didn't see any shops at all. Anyway, it was a weekend away in the sunshine, not too hot so I didn't need to wear my cool coat when we had walks, and I loved it.

We stayed on a small campsite in the country (maybe that's what the Sticks are?) and all we saw were fields and trees and butterflies and cows. The humans took me for walks along the lanes when it was cool and there was nothing about, but I did see lots of cows. They came to the gate of their field and I sat and looked at them for a long time. The human who feeds me kept talking to them and they seemed to like that. There were about 20 of them looking at me - of course I love having an audience - and they smelled so interesting.

We had to move on eventually, and back at our campsite we sat outside and watched the sun go down. Well, the humans did and they seemed to like it. If they're happy, I'm happy (more treats!!)

This campsite place had a good place for me to walk, with paths all amongst the long grass and wild flowers with butterflies and bees. I liked going there but the humans would linger about with their cameras, taking photos of these butterfly thingys.

Before we left, both of the humans had to play some strange game together on the grass. It was called croaky (croquet, Ed) or something like that and they had to hit a ball through some hoops.

They left me sitting outside my van so I could watch them. Personally I couldn't see anything in the game. Why hit the ball when you can chase it and have much more fun?

On the way home we found a good place to park my van so they could have this coffee thing they like to have. All I wanted to do was get out and explore - and we were right by some water. It's called a canal I think (I've walked by one before), and there were masses of wild flowers and grasses growing by it. They had coffee, we had a walk, we had lunch and then another walk. 

I must say it was all rather good. Lots of big long boats with people on them came chugging past, and they waved and said hello to us. If this is what the Sticks are I'd like to go again, please.

A walk on the wild side

 

Please don't laugh. I think you will though.

My humans took me away for a short holiday by the sea, where there are cliffs, and views, and sheep, and walks. There were new smells, new things to do, and it was pretty good.

And it was windy too, very windy. Do you know, they kept taking photos of me with my ears blown back, and laughing....I ask you, laughing. It wasn't really funny, but then I couldn't see myself.

Now I've seen those photos I think I actually look rather rakish and casual, with a certain je ne sias quoi about me.  Enough about me though and I'll tell you where we went.

We'd gone to a place called Devon. We've been there before and stayed in my campervan at this place with three dog walks, lots of other campervans and other things they call caravans. There's a big island not far away and the humans say you can see whales. I didn't see any but I think they mean Wales. It's a place because they kept saying you could see it from the window of my campervan. You can just about see it here...I think....there's something there....

When we went walking I liked looking at the sheep but I wasn't allowed to get near them as I was on my lead. 

Best of all was when they took me for that long windy walk high up by the sea and from there we could see a long way. That's when they started taking those pictures of my ears blowing back, but in fact I was more interested looking at the sea and at where we were. It was pretty good.

 

And after the walk they went and had something which looked a bit interesting but I'd never heard of it before.....cream tea? They seemed to like it and I was happy as the waiter person brought me some dog biscuits.

 Bosworth stayed at Damage Barton campsite, Mortehoe, North Devon

 
 

Does my bum look big in this?

Someone left a nice comment on my last post, saying:

Bosworth, hi! Please can we have a cute pic of you in your fleece onesie? Don't complain about doing the same old route all the time. Walking is good for you. You must see all your little friends out and about, which is nice for you and your humans. Billy 

Thanks Billy, and Hi! No idea who you are but thanks for your request for a pic of me in my onesie, which my human has found, along with something I wrote  a while ago on another blog I had, about going to be fitted for my onesie. Here it is - the story of the onesie. Actually, I have two onesies now - as we've had so much rain, mud and even snow, they bought me a spare for when it's cold and wet. I'm very lucky. And I do enjoy my walks, especially when it's somewhere new.

Here's the tail - sorry, tale - of how I got my first onesie: 

We went on holiday in my campervan to somewhere called North Devon. My humans did all the arranging and driving and packed my food, treats, toys and bed, so all I had to do was behave myself and settle down between the two front seats of the 'van for the journey (hitched up to my restraint of course).

We stopped off at a couple of places on the way before we actually reached North Devon, and I'd heard them say something like, "We could go there on the way and have him measured for it, it's somewhere near the campsite" (that's a magical word for me - I know it means we're going somewhere new and interesting).

Their satnav thingy didn't work properly and they kept saying things like, "It's right out in the sticks here." I like sticks. You can chase them and chew them and sometimes, if I find one I like, I carry it back home. So I thought we were going to a place that had lots of sticks for me to play with. But no. We ended up in a sort of farmyard with a big shed building where there were people making things with funny-looking machines.

They all made a fuss of me then I was taken into a big room with lots of shelves and one of the nice people got something from a shelf, took it out of the bag it was in and put it on my body! I was a bit startled. It was like having human clothes on and I wasn't sure what to make of it, although it felt kind of cosy and safe once it was on. I even saw that dog I sometimes see who looks a bit like me. He was  wearing it too when I looked at the thing they call mirror. I must say, the colour looked quite fetching against his coat.

In my onesie in the snow

After that, we got in the 'van and went to the campsite, where it was wonderful. Woods! Mown pathways through them! Lots of long grass! Smells! Places to explore and a big lake, where they had to keep me on my lead as there are things called beavers who live there. Seemed to me that the beavers chopped down bits of trees as there were plenty of sticks lying around on the ground. Maybe this was the place they meant that was in the sticks?

Great as it was there, it did rain a lot one day. That was the day they got my my new outfit out of the bag and put it on me. It was to stop me getting soaked, muddy and dirty in the rain, and it worked. When we came inside the van, it was the outfit that was wet and muddy, not me. So it's not too bad at all really.

I do wonder what I really look like in it though, and if my bum perhaps looks a bit big in it?

Editorial note for dog owners: Bosworth's suit came from the home of Equafleece in Devon.

Before the lockdown

Hmmmm....no signs yet that we can get away and stay somewhere overnight (or longer) in my campervan, so I'm having a bit of a daydream about what we did last February, in 2020, when we could go away. Oops, just realised that this was  possible because it was before the endless lockdown hoo haa's  began. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and just a tad sick and tired of visiting the same places on my walks. They're very nice but, you know, it's all a bit samey. Anyway, here's what I wrote a year ago, before that coronavirus thingy:

I went away with my two humans, for a few days in my motorhome. Camping at this time of year - February, wet, stormy, windy - is perhaps not the best but it's sometimes good to get away and see new places. Or in my case, smell new smells. And the van is one of my most favourite places to be.

We stayed in a place called Rutland, on a campsite which had plenty of space to walk around and it had a dog walk too, in a wood. But it was muddy, very muddy, and every time we went out I had to go through that rubbing and cleaning of my paws when we came back in.

We went to a place they called Rutland Water to look at birds. Boy was it muddy there! I couldn't go into part of it as it wasn't dog-friendly, but there is another place in the bird reseve that is OK for dogs. We didn't go there because my humans had enough of the mud they had to walk through to get to the bird hides. I stayed in my van, in the warm, and they walked me around the parking area and along the road nearby. Needless to say, it was wet and muddy. I think I came off best when I saw what was on their walking boots!

Rutland Water

We went to a town called Oakham, which was very dog-friendly. I was welcomed into the Castle area and the old building which was a sort of museum with masses of horseshoes all over the walls.

The best bit of the winter camping trip was a visit to a huge country park with a massive posh house. It was called Burleigh House but it was closed (there were signs saying No Dogs so I couldn't go in anyway) and we walked in the grounds. It was very windy and cold and I wore my fleece onesie, which keeps me dry and warm and clean.

We walked past the big house which had a ditch thing all around it. My humans said it was a ha-ha. I thought they were laughing or something.

The  ha-ha

We also went to the nearby big town called Stamford, which my humans seemed to like quite a lot. I suppose it was quite a nice place as I was allowed to go in everywhere. There are several churches there which I could go in as they were dog-friendly too.

What a difference it makes to find so many dog-friendly places to go to when we visit somewhere new in my van.

 

Stay at Home

Here I am on lookout duty, keeping an eye on what's going on outside. 

Hmmm....here come some deliveries.....oh yes, there's one of the neighbours going out....ah yes, there goes Murphy from across the road going for a walk....and here comes the postie. I sometimes bark or growl if there are people about outside my house, just to make sure the humans remember I'm a good watchdog too.

Of course, I go out for walks too - every day we have a very long walk -  but right now there's a lot of talk about staying at home because with this Coronavirus thing about, my humans are mainly staying at home to do their bit and help stop the spread of the virus. Not that they've got it, and they don't want it either, but because everyone has been asked to stay at home.

I like being at home. I sometimes run down the hill to my house for the last bit of our walk, because I know it will be warm and snug inside. Right now that's pretty important as there's been a lot of snow and rain and ice and I don't really go for this weather. But the humans make sure we go out everyday to get exercise. Even if it's freezing cold!

When we go out I have to wear what they call my "onesie". It's a fleece coat, a bit like pyjamas, and it keeps me warm and dry, and most important, it keeps me clean.

You may have noticed that my physique (big word!) is chunky - I have what's described in doggy terms as a "cobby body" - and my body is quite close to the ground. If it's muddy or mucky I come home with my lower half and undercarriage in need of a bath. If I wear the onesie, it's only my paws that need cleaning up and the human who feeds me washes and dries the onesie. She says it's easier than bathing me (although I'm not against a dip in a spot of nice warm water now and then).

I wrote about how I was measured up for my onesie and you can read about it here.

That happened when there was no Coronavirus and we able to go to campsites and places in my van. Ah - those were the days.

I keep my paws and claws crossed that all this will be possible again, but in the meantime, we have to stay at home.

 
 

Being beside the seaside

 

We went away in my campervan last week and had a sort of pre-Christmas short holiday. It didn't rain much - only one morning when we stayed in and I checked out what was happening from my lookout post by the window.

To be honest, not much was happening at all. There were only 9 other camperthingy outfits on site and the most interesting thing to do was watch was the rabbits. They were scuttling about all over the place (Southport it's called) and I got a bit excited when I saw them nibbling the grass when we were out on patrol around the camp site.

It was OK being on lookout and I had another good position in my van to view from, but the best bits were when we went for extremely long walks.

These took us through the park and on to the prom next to the beach.

Aaaahhh - the beach. That was fun! I could spend hours happily trotting along sniffing, exploring, rooting into stuff that had been washed up on the sand. Sand - aaahhh - that's nice to dig in too.

The human who feeds me got excited because she found three mermaid's purses, and of course, she had to take a photo of them. Then we went on the pier. It was a long walk to the end, and it was cold and windy, but the humans seemed to like it as there were birds around on the marshy bits of beach (they like birds) and things called oystercatchers were flying over going peep-peep.

Mermaid's purses - empty egg cases of sharks and rays

 

I'm not really bothered about these things, but the humans like to see sunsets when we're by the sea, so they made sure our walks along that prom thing and on the beach were when it was starting to get dark, so they could take photos.

 

 

 

A Norfolk in Norfolk

 

My humans took me to Norfolk for a short holiday this autumn when we were able to go away from home. This lockdown thingy they have had been switched off or something so we could go. Anyway, we went in my campervan and stayed in a place called Weybourne. The campsite was right next door to lots of good walks. There were woods, walking trails, a hill and best of all, one of the paths led to the beach.

I love beaches, They're great to run on, walk on, sniff on and generally explore. Some of them have rock pools and I like going in those for a paddle. But there were no rock pools on this beach, just lots of pebbles.

Before I could get near the sea and the smooth bits of the beach, I had to climb up a big bank of pebbles. It was OK, I managed, but omg my paws got a bit of a work out and it wasn't always nice walking on those bumpy things. 

The beach was empty and there were only a few other people walking on it. There was a big stone building which my humans thought was a defence look-out used in the war. (What's war?) Anyway, it looked a bit manky and nasty inside so we walked away from it and I ran along with one of my humans, which was good fun.

 

You can see there's hardly anyone about, and the beach was very, very long. The sea was rough and noisy and the waves were crashing in along the shoreline. I went to look at them but didn't want to get my paws wet; it looked just a bit scary.

Next day we drove to a birdy place near somewhere called Blakeney Point where there were supposed to be seals. I don't know what seals are but we didn't see any and it was too far to walk to the Point, so we went on  the marshes to see birds - well, my humans saw them but I couldn't get very excited about seeing loads of black and white birds. They were Brent geese in case you wondered, and they had flown to Norfolk from a long way away to spend the winter here. My humans liked them and watched them through those round things held up to their eyes. Called binnocs or something like that.

The humans made a few jokes (nice ones) about me being a Norfolk terrier in Norfolk. I didn't know I was named after this place, and maybe that's why we went there. But it doesn't matter because it was very nice and I just loved the big beaches.