A Week in the Country -Advice pls

Hi

The last week in June we are taking the girls for a weeks holiday near Alnwick Northumberland and are staying in a country cottage ,the girls in walking areas not known will of course be on a lead but i am concerned what their reaction as a breed is generally with other animals they will encounter ,of course i will be on watch and exceedingly careful but a long time ago i had a jack russell who on one occasion slipped his lead (my fault ) and chased a herd of bullocks up and down a field till i eventually caught up with him .The girls like a lot of others go berserk at anything animal/bird/cartoon on the telly so no more animal programmes for me ,and on walks they just want to meet other dogs with Daisy the first to gallup up to them then she just rolls over on her back whilst Poppy just sniiffs and Rosie starts by running up to them but when she gets near shes not so sure then runs back to me and jumps up wanting me to pick her up and protect her.I certainly do not want to frighten or injure and other animals and nor do i want the girls in any danger and i will be on full alert so any general info on what to expect if they see a herd of cows (would they bark or wag their tail) for the first time would help prepare me ,apart from dogs and squirrels and birds i dont think they have come face to face with anything else.

In paris, my dogs bark when we meet "big black" dogs ( Rotweiller...) I think it is because they are afraid.
When we go to the country, I must walk them on a lead because they ran after rabbits, birds, cows, horses... every animal they see !

I walk Lucie off lead on trails through parks and never have any probs with her....she thinks she can catch birds but is fine with other animals.
I would have plenty treats and a squeeky toy as a distraction for the dogs.
L.x

How lovely, its beautiful up there, only 30 miles from me. We have a nature reserve behind where I live. There are a lot of birds, ducks and swans on the ponds. There are horses in the fields too. My gang don't really bother with them, they do notice them and stop for a few moments but there are far too many new smells to keep them busy. I hope you enjoy your holiday and Im sure the girls will too.

We have a caravan about 30 miles from Alnwick - the cavs and the livestock make a very noisy combination!

Our 6 are quite excitable and lots of barking ensues. We tend to go lots of walks in the woods, away from the sheep and cows.

One tip, there are ticks in Northumberland this year. Our vet recommends Advantix - our lot were dosed up a couple of weeks ago, but we've not been to the caravan since, so I can't comment on the effectiveness.

I appreciate your dogs will be on leads but please watch out for fields with cows and calves in. The cows get very protective of their offspring. One thing I read recently - if you're in a cow field and they give chase, let go of your dogs. The cows will chase the dogs, but the dogs will run faster than you and the cows.

We've just had a holiday on a farm, complete with horses, geese, ducks, and lots of big dogs to watch in the next garden - it made a noisy but enjoyable week!

Have you been before? Do you need any ideas for days out?

Charlie's vet is located on a small farm in Maryland.
The first or second time we went there, Charlie got out of the car before I could get his leash on and chased some sheep into their pen.

He loves horses and other farm animals but has an "acquired" taste for moles and voles. Your guys will love the country.

Hi
Last time we went Luke was just a lump in dawns tummy and we had no dogs it was may 95 i was parked on the sands by Holy Island listening to the cup final and of course Everton beat Manc Utd 1-0 .The next day i persuaded Dawn to go on a small boat ride to the Farne islands all i can say is i thoroughly enjoyed it but i don't think Dawn did. Any ideas where to go that is dog friendly would be superb thanks in advance.