Harry’s had a fabulous week – he just loves going on holiday, especially to the Lake District. Everywhere we went there were new things for him to do, to sniff and investigate, even the shops were a completely new experience for him as they are so different to the ones he visits at home.
Public transport was also different, Harry loved going on the car ferry but the trips we took on the lake steamer were the best. All week he had been watching the boats, fascinated by them as they came in and out down by the piers, desperate to get on one. When we did eventually take a trip, he thoroughly enjoyed travelling on the top deck where he was able to watch everything as we sailed by, even if he did get a little windswept and his ears flapped in the wind.
Harry had lots of new and exiting free runs, which invariably involved water at some point, although the lake was so cold that he preferred just to paddle. We had a couple of really windy days which caused some waves on the lake, which really puzzled him. After chasing a few, and then being chased back, he decided he much preferred to dig for stones at the water’s edge instead.
The hotel was a great learning experience for Harry as he met lots of other working Guide Dogs. It was a bit of a shock to him that they didn’t want to play every time he met them, but he soon got used to it and even started to copy their behaviour, lying quietly under the table without even being asked. Harry also got to attend his first disco, he was a bit puzzled at first by all the feet moving around, but he was untroubled by the loud music and soon got bored with watching. He snoozed for most of the evening, occasionally giving out a very loud snore.
Harry made lots of new friends on his holiday, both human and canine, but his favourite was Kirk a black Retriever/Labrador cross. In the evening they would lie quietly together in the bar, but they had the best of times foraging in the leaves together in the free run area of the hotel grounds.
