Beans means walks
A dog brings a new dimension to your walks and your world – as the owners of the first dog ever to grace the cover of Country Walking can attest.
Take a dog along on your country walks and life is never going to be quite the same again. To be sure you’ll still get the exercise, but a canine companion will bring an extra element to all that fresh air and stunning views. Be prepared for numerous unscheduled stops for activities – some decidedly unsavoury, that only dogs indulge in – and lots of laughs along the way.
My walking life, whether big excursions or local walks, has been accompanied by a dog for over 40 years: right back to our first family dog, a beagle named Judy, then our first rescue dog, a quirky mongrel named Benji, followed by another cross-breed in 1987 we named Beans. From the moment
we set eyes on the tiny nine-week old puppy sitting quietly in the back of her kennel at the rescue centre, we knew she was the one for us, and for the next sixteen years until her death in 2003, she accompanied us on nearly every walk we did in our favourite Peak District.
Beans’ arrival in my life coincided with a burgeoning interest in photography and writing, and – as chance would have it – a brand new magazine called Country
Walking. This was the ideal target for the sort of photographs I wanted to take. My first photos of my then girlfriend Jan ( later to become my wife) and Beans appeared inside the magazine, followed by my first front cover (of Jan atop Red Pike in the Lake District) in 1991. Then, a few years later in 1994, they both appeared on the front cover, posing resplendently on the Windgather Rocks on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border. Beans’ status as a Country Walking cover star was finally cemented a few years later in January 1997 as she posed in front of a wintry looking Kinder Scout.
Beans’ adventures are a long time ago now (though sometimes it feels like yesterday) but the joy she brought us, and her escapades, are as relevant to dog walkers now as they ever were. Dogs are dogs – and what they do will never change.
I promise that when you acquire a dog you will see more wildlife. Dogs are superb wildlife spotters; some of it admittedly beating a hasty retreat, but you will see it! Pheasants, rabbits, hares, red grouse, tiny field voles, and squirrels – Beans had a keen interest in all these. It wasn’t a free-for-all I hasten to add, as she was always kept on a lead. I lost count of the times when I was pulled off my feet as she discovered a pheasant in a thicket or if she got wind of a hare and yanked me or Jan across a field in mad pursuit.
Her sense of smell was matched only by her hearing; those large ears able to pick up the slightest sound from the undergrowth. If you’ve ever seen coyotes or foxes jumping
on their prey in comical fashion, you’ll have a good idea of what she looked like if a vole or mouse was anywhere within hearing range. Thankfully (and much to our relief) she wasn’t too successful at catching anything.
Did I mention unsavoury activities earlier on? Yes, I’m afraid I have to mention... pooeating. Some people may be lucky and have a dog who never goes near the stuff, and I envy them, I really do, but sadly none of the fourlegged companions I’ve had in my life have been able to refrain from the activity. Beans, unfortunately, was a champion poo-eater. A field full of shiny round sheep droppings was nirvana to Beans, and, rather like when you open a box of Maltesers, once she started she couldn’t stop eating them – despite my best efforts to pull her away. Still, on the positive side, at least she wasn’t bothering the sheep (in all seriousness, a point of paramount concern around all livestock – to which farmers are attached both financially and emotionally).
Thankfully these days, stiles are becoming more dog friendly, and more enlightened local authorities and National Parks are replacing stiles with ones that don’t require army-style logistics in order to negotiate them with a dog. But there are times when some adventurous thinking will still be required to get anything larger than a small terrier over a stile. Our Peak District walks certainly presented some challenging obstacles – ladder stiles being a particular issue, closely followed by wall ‘squeezer’ stiles. Somehow, Beans was able to climb a ladder stile – if the steps were wide enough for her paws – but once at the top, that was it. There was no way she was going down the other side, so she’d sit there waiting for us to come up with a solution. On one occasion she managed to climb on to my back to be piggybacked off. This particular manoeuvre was fine when she was dry, but when she was caked in mud and heaven knows what else, my rucksack and clothing bore the brunt.
Many of these obstacles have now been replaced with gates, making the countryside more accessible for both humans and dogs, but I look back on our methods with fondness.
It’s good to see attitudes to dogs have changed so much from when we started taking Beans out walking with us. Many cafés – once totally out of bounds to dogs – now welcome them, when once we would have had to walk past – brewless and cakeless. Some outdoor shops too, allow dogs inside, particularly as they now stock all that lovely outdoor equipment for your dog to wear: harnesses, waterproof dog jackets, dog rucksacks, panniers, and even gripping ‘ boots’ for your dog’s paws – if you can get your dog to wear them!
When we had to say that inevitable goodbye to Beans, it wasn’t many months before the lack of that little friend walking alongside us through the countryside became too much to bear, and so for the last thirteen years we’ve had another dog – a lovely Skye terrier called Dougal (see p14 bottom right). He’s now sixteen and retired from long walks, but, as with Beans, the fun and pleasure he’s given us on our walks has been immense. Would I recommend getting a dog to walk with? Of course I would. The excitement when your dog sees the boots and rucksacks coming out is a joy to behold. Enjoy your next adventure.