The name alone might have been enough to get us driving up the motorway on a Sunday morning. But the idea that on this Schnauzerfest, ‘A nationwide fundraising celebration of walks with Schnauzers’, Teddy would get to rush about with thirty or so similarly bearded, browed and exuberantly-booted friends on a Dog Day Out, only added to the fun potential.
Despite my son’s prediction that taking Teddy to a Schnauzer meet would end in disaster (he has little faith in our dog’s social skills), we set off, trusting in Teddy’s finely honed Schnauzer instinct. (Is it all dogs that recognize their own breed and make a beeline to play with them?)
We got lost near our destination, but knew we were on the right track when we started spotting beardy dogs in the backs of cars.
A little bit of growling (Teddy) and a fair amount of barking (not Teddy) ensued at the meeting point. But once the walk had begun, when most of the dogs were off-leash and had found their natural order, all went smoothly.
Two large, handsome Standard Schnauzers, patrolled the group, flaunting their muscles, their bounce and some extremely dashing whiskers. They drew the eye and ruled the troop without obviously doing anything. It was interesting to watch.
We know that Teddy lives a fairly dog-solitary urban life, but it turns out that – perhaps unsurprisingly for a dog – he’s naturally at home in a pack. We watched him round-up a friend when one lagged behind, initiate a game of chase in the autumn leaves and were most impressed when Teddy stopped to listen and even came back when called, despite the distractions. After witnessing all this, I suppose the question was inevitable: Is Teddy lonely? And after that, the only thing to consider is whether to invest in a friend…
