stile

I was really excited when my bipeds took me to Devon with them for a holiday. We stayed in a cottage that was close to the South West Coast Path and most days we went out and walked a different section of the path. We explored some wonderful beaches!

I thought I was quite an expert on stiles and kissing gates. I already knew that I can get through some kissing gates and that it usually means a nice reward. I had also seen stiles of different shapes and sizes and I knew it’s usually difficult for large dogs to use a footpath unless there is an alternative to the stile – I told you about one of those last week.

So I was surprised to discover a type of stile I’d never come across before. At first it looked just like any other stile, but then I noticed it had what looked like a large cat flap at the side. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the male biped say it was a dog door! It didn’t look very big at all.

Shows the way a dog door works at the side of a stile

This photograph of one in Kent shows how a dog door works.
Attribution:
Richard Dorrell [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The male biped raised the door. It wouldn’t lift very far. My bipeds said it was about the right size for a Border Collie to walk through, but the Collie would bump his head if he didn’t duck! They looked at the size of the gap created and then the female biped climbed over the stile, leaving me with the male biped.

The male biped asked me to get into the “down” position really close to the door. The female biped bent down on the other side of the door and asked me to “crawl”. I edged forward a little and then I stopped because I would be in the gap if I continued. The female biped urged me to “crawl” again and encouraged me through the gap. When I was through she told me I could get up and gave me a tasty treat and a cuddle.

The male biped was busy singing “I’m Gonna Crawl” (Led Zeppelin). He looked hilarious standing on the top of the stile singing and playing air guitar in the pouring rain!

We encountered many stiles with dog doors after that. The doors varied in size but most of them were larger than that first one. I got quicker and quicker at wriggling my way through them. The female biped said that was because I didn’t want to listen to the song again, but that’s silly because I love it when my bipeds sing! I had thought that crawling was just a trick I did to get treats, but it can be just as useful as walking backwards!

We saw some beautiful places, but my bipeds didn’t take any photographs on that holiday. Each day they said it wasn’t worth taking the camera out with us as it was raining so hard. They said the weather was bound to be better the next day, but we didn’t get any days without heavy rain. I don’t know what else they expected in the Springtime! I’ve found some photographs on Wikimedia Commons of some of the places I saw – it looks like other people have had better luck with the weather than we did. It’s a good thing I enjoy getting wet!

Shipload Bay, Hartland Attribution: Martin Bodman [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Cliffs above Speke’s Mill Mouth Attribution: Philip Halling [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Coastguard Station, Hartland Point Attribution: Pauline Eccles [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

We saw lots of sheep! Attribution: Grant Sherman [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Another view of the path at Speke’s Mill Mouth Attribution: Philip Halling [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The coastal path at Speke’s Mill Mouth Attribution: Philip Halling [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Hartland Quay Attribution: Pauline Eccles [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

See you next Wednesday!

It was a Sunday afternoon and we’d had a lovely walk in some woods a short drive from home. We’d almost reached the gate to leave the woods when we were surprised to hear voices. We turned the corner in the path and could see a group of people and large dogs by the gate.

As we drew closer, my male biped asked, “What’s happening?”

The Great Dane’s biped replied, “The gate is locked, it shouldn’t be locked till dusk. None of us can get a signal on our mobile phones and we’re trying to figure out what to do. Do you know another way out?”

My biped replied, “The only other gate I know of is right at the other end of the woods and opens onto the main road. It’s a loop of about six miles to get back here – there’s no footpath along the road and it would be dark by the time we got there.”

The Great Dane’s biped asked, “Do you think we can lift them over?”

My biped looked at the gate, which was high with barbed wire along the top. Then he looked at the stile which was very high and narrow with barbed wire next to it.

The stile was similar to this one but higher with more barbed wire next to it

My biped said, “I think it will be very awkward. Have you seen any gaps or joins in the mesh of the fence?”

The Great Dane’s biped said, “Yes, I found a join, but no one else was strong enough to help me with it. I think we could probably hold a gap open together. Do you think we’ll be able to persuade all the dogs through a gap?”

My other biped chipped in, “Hopefully we’ll only need to persuade one and then the others will get the idea.”

One of the other bipeds took the Great Dane’s lead so that his biped had his hands free. Then he and my biped pulled at the mesh. When they had an opening, no one wanted to try to get their dog through first.

My female biped said, “I’ll go round and get Clowie to come through the gap to me.”

She climbed over the stile and made her way to the gap. They passed my lead through to her and she called me. I stood there, uncertain what to do. I wanted to please her, but I was still quite young and the gap looked rather small. I decided to stay where I was.

My biped said, “I’m coming back, I have another idea.”

She passed my lead back through and a moment later she’d climbed back over the stile and was beside me again. She explained to the male biped and the Great Dane’s biped that she thought she could climb through the gap and then she thought I would have the confidence to follow her.

They held the gap open again. It was rather awkward for her as it was a roughly oval gap starting about eighteen inches off the ground. She put one leg through and then bent right over and wriggled through and then she had to hop a bit to be able stand up and get the other leg through. She did look funny! But, I suddenly realised that it was really easy to get through the gap after all and I had no idea why I’d been worried. I popped through to join her!

Australian Shepherd jumping through a gap at agility

It was as easy as this!

She patted me and told me how clever I was. While she was still leaning over me, the Great Dane decided to follow me. The person holding him was taken by surprise and couldn’t hold onto his lead. The Great Dane took advantage of the fact that my biped was still leaning over, meaning her face was on a level with his, to give her a big sloppy kiss! My biped told him he was clever as well and took hold of his lead.

After that it was fairly easy to persuade the Old English Sheepdog and the Newfoundland through the gap. The two Labradors were then happy to jump through! The Great Dane’s biped and mine allowed the gap to close and pushed the mesh back into position. Then they climbed over the stile to join the rest of us to stroll along to our cars.

All the bipeds were very happy and thanked the Great Dane’s biped and mine for their help. They also told me I was very clever!

See you next Wednesday!