Meg is awarded her red scarf at Gnosall

Moored Gnosall, Shropshire Union Canal

The little pup at 4 months old has grown up a bit.  And below, now 5 and a half months old she has become a real super pup. 

Today she was awarded her red canal-dog scarf from yours truly.. Here she is showing it off for you all..

So for the pup to have reached this all important stage in her boat life she had to pass the following tests..

1. Not jump up at people she meets and make them all muddy
2. Come to call
3. Stay at heel when told to do so
4. Leave other dogs be, unless they want to play! (If the later is the case, then 1,2 and 3 go out the window!)
5. Sit nicely in front of me to have her lead put on, and be patient enough for me to do that.  (The catch on the lead is really small and fiddley takes me ages to hook it to the collar!)
6. No pulling on lead
7. No chasing Pheasants especially in Norbury where there is a fussy farmer about loose dogs
8. Not to bark at cattle or sheep even if they have escaped their field and are wandering along the footpath.
9. Not to chase cattle or sheep when exploring fields alongside towpaths (not yet met horses )
10. To get on boat when told to do so, stay there and not jump off just as the boat is pulling away from a mooring.
11. And last but not least not to chase push bikes when they pass on the towpath or chase farm vehicles across fields arriving back looking like a brown collie!

Number 11 was the toughest to overcome, and today was the first time she did not chase a push bike after me telling her to leave it be!

Here she is with her pal Lucy on the towpath.  Lucy just loves her to bits surprisingly.. she doesn’t take any messing from Meg though, but she sure does give a lot.. well only stuff she wants her to have!

Errrrrrrrrr excuse me girls, sorry to disturb you, but this is a photo shoot for tonights blog? …

Ah that’s more like it..