Our dog (Mazowe) has just turned 14, or as our vet so poetically put it with all the charm that only a clinician can muster, 'he's ancient!'.
We took Mazowe to Brancaster Beach on the North Norfolk coast which uncharacteristically for a UK bank holiday weekend, has been hot and sunny. It remained so all day and was 26.5°c on our drive home early evening. Anyone who has ever lived in the UK will know that bank holiday weekends are synonymous with at least three types of recognised precipitation forms delivered at an intermittent interval sufficient to disrupt any plan.
Sadly, the infirmities that come with age have found him, and I am no longer wearing my arm out throwing a tennis ball down the beach or collapsing on the sand after the exertion of having chased him around, him dancing just out of reach and loving the sport of it all. That's the terrible thing about age, it sneaks up on you and you're caught lamenting moments that have passed. Only in retrospect do you get to recognise when the last time was.
Pleasingly, Mazowe still retains much of his fervour and enthusiasm, particularly for food. I don't think I have eaten alone or not shared part of a meal in some form since he joined our family. By the time we'd identified our spot on the beach, he had already had a share in my ice cream. I did quietly pack some dog ice-cream for him too. I didn't get a share in that.
Brancaster's coastal geomorphology is really interesting – tidal channels, dune systems and saltmarsh succession. It's a good example of Holocene coastal evolution. The intertidal movement means that the channels and flats are shallow and carry warm North Sea water. Most of the time, the North Sea is just unbearably cold but on this day, we enjoyed a long walk splashing through the warm shallows.
As he gets tired more easily and has never been a great walker, I think I may have to invest in an inflatable canoe. News which will be met with enthusiasm by my wife, I have no doubt.
