Hiking with dogs

On Sunday afternoon I hit the Forest Run trails again, but this time with Rusty, my mom Liz and her dog Tansy.

My mom got Tansy almost a year ago when this little dog was abandoned down the road from her house. Tansy was well groomed and had probably only been out there for a while when my neighbour picked her up and went walking around looking for her owner. That's when my mom saw Tansy and it was love at first site. My neighbour took Tansy to the SPCA and my mom phoned first thing the next day to see whether anyone had claimed her. Nothing. Two weeks later, still nothing. My mom then adopted this one-eyed maltese.

Shortly after getting Rusty Celliers says to me:

"I'm not sure whether it is real or whether I imagined it... or if it was a rumour... but I thought that you and your mom were cat people?"

He's right. We've always been cat people. I definitely inherited the cat thing from my mom as I've had a cat in my life almost non-stop since I was born. She always had a cat from when she was a child. Bracken's passing, this time last year, broke our hearts.

There have been dogs that we've liked - like my husky friends Angel and Toscana and, more recently, my dear husky neighbour Kiska (who is no longer with us). But, for the rest, we've been through and through cat people.

Now, nevermind dog or cat, I'm a Rusty person. A total convert. I even kiss her and I don't wash my hands every time after I've touched her. Same goes for my mom. She's a Tansy person now.

I was so impressed with Tansy on Sunday afternoon. This was Tansy's first hike and this little one-eyed white dog with her little short legs proved to be a hiking enthusiast. She walked the entire route (about 5km), scrambled over rocks and under branches and even crossed little streams. Mom carried her across the first stream and after that Tansy did the rest on her own - even hopping across the rocks on her return route. It is a delight to watch the enthusiasm of this little dog with her big heart.

Rusty loves the trails and is an excellent path finder. She doesn't like the sound of the baboons shouting from the hills but she'll get used to it.

Rusty will come out with me next week for four days of trail cutting and clearing in preparation for Forest Run on 20 May. Not long now!