Dog Walking at Easter

Easters been and gone and brought with it a real range of weather, we went from glorious sunshine to cold, windy and seriously wet, and then back to sun again in the space of 48 hours, we didn't know if we were coming or going clothing and footwear wise.

Bracken & Saffy Before the Mud Bath

This Easter I took the opportunity of a few days off to take my two dogs Saffy and Bracken (Italian Spinone) for some good walks over Salisbury Plains.  They had a whale of a time and got thoroughly covered in mud which my sofas were not to impressed with when we got home but then leather sofas are easy to clean so no biggy.

Crocs Beach Lines - Perfect for Summer

My problem was what to wear!?! Even on the most stunning of days the Plains tend to be quite windy so clothing wasn't a big issue, the usual jeans and my fabulous North Face coat (windproof, waterproof ....perfect) the problem was footwear.  For work last week with such lovely weather I made the most of it and wore my Crocs Beachline shoes I bought last year.  They have been fab gives you all the benefits of a shoe and slightly warmer than a sandal but gives that summery feel, and being based on a boat shoe  perfect with a pair of 3/4 length jeans.  Whilst they're a great shoe for wearing round town or at dog shows they're not so great for serious walking over Salisbury Plains, holes in the sides give great ventilation but also mean you get all sorts of prickles, twigs and stones in your shoes (I found this out last year. lol)

Now I know the easiest thing to wear would have been a pair of good walking boots, Brasher or Merrell or something similar but.....I just don't get on with walking boots, I don't know why but my feet and walking boots seriously fall out everytime I try, I possibly do need to persevere and properly break some in then it may be a different story.  Saturday although lovely did look like it may rain so out came the Kanyons...these are seriously my favourite boots I've ever owned, I've worn them pretty much all winter and love them so much that I have 2 pairs, the idea was one for best, and one for getting mucky etc walking the dogs, kinda hasn't worked like that and I put on the nearest pair in the morning regardless of whether they were my best or tatty ones, so now they are both worn and loved, and look it.

Kanyon Beech - My FAVES!!

The Kanyons did me well on Saturday, made from leather and suede they have a waterproof lining so no soggy feet when trudging through mud, puddles and muddy puddles and the tread gave me good grip.  Always useful in slippy mud.  They're also insulated so my legs and feet were protected from the cold wind.  The downside....they were COVERED in mud, from the knees down I was nearly as bad as the dogs by the time we got back to the car (which is now also covered in mud) so a quick scrape off on the nearest stone just to try and limit the mud in the car as I wasn't sensible enough to take a second pair of shoes to drive home in and off home we went.  Now came the really messy bit, me, 2 dogs, a yard and a hose, I'm sure you can imagine how it goes - hose them down, they shake, mud and water flys everywhere, repeat until dogs slightly resemble the colour they should be instead of brown, then wash down yard.  That is once you catch hold of them to get the hose on them of course.  Next up boots...even after a wash down from the dogs they were still pretty caked, thankfully mostly just the bottoms so I turned the hose on my boots, they are most definitely waterproof!  That got rid of the worst of it so I left them to dry out and gave the dogs a good rub down with a towel before they went in to collapse on the sofas then got myself a much needed cup of tea.  A couple of hours later it was back to the boots, now dry I brushed off the rest of mud then gave them as good coating of dubbin...I do try and keep them looking kind of new...ish :)

Sunday was definitely a write off for going up to the Plains, the weather was just to foul so we had a gentle walk round town, I think both my legs and Saffy and Bracken were glad of a gentle stroll after the shenanigans of the day before, and footwear...dead easy my Kanyons and with no mud no need to clean them (or the dogs) when we got home.

Hunter Original Tall Gloss - Purple

So now we're at Monday, weather was fab again so off to Plains we went.  However I learnt my lesson from Saturday, had a spare pair of shoes for driving home (good old DC trainers) and decided it was far to much effort to clean my boots and the dogs when we got home so opted for my lush purple Hunter Original Talls.  And off we went, wellies have their place but I think for me, for where I was walking and the tracks I was walking along they were probably not the best choice.  They were waterproof as you would expect but I found the wind chill bit through and my feet were much colder than on Saturday, also though they have good tread I did struggle a bit more to keep my grip through the slippier parts.  We all got covered in mud again but I had two very happy, tired dogs when we got back to the car, slipped my boots off and into my trainers (instantly warmer) and made our way home.  With the hosing down battle to come I swapped back over to my Hunters when we got home and after doing the dog hosing battle this was where my wellies really came into their own against my boots, hosed them down, lovely and clean job done, kettle on :)

Then we're back to work, can't believe how quickly the holidays go.  Weathers turned off again and it's drizzling and cool so out came my Kanyons.  So glad I cleaned them after Saturday :)

Pam

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