Episode 13 – A Pushchair made for “Tzu”

Right - Off we go....

Now H was getting a bit older, dad would take him out in his pushchair. This was a bright red colour and had a pushchair seat with three wheels, one at the front and two at the back. There was another baby carrier which fixed into the top of the pushchair when H was still quite small. As he grew up a little the baby carrier could be removed and could then sit in the normal seat. Underneath the pushchair there was a canvas shelf used for carrying H’s baby bag.

When dad was taking H for a walk to sooth him to sleep after a huge feed, he would take me with him. The large wheels of the pushchair meant that he could take us off the path in along various dirt tracks and bridle ways. These were covered with stones and rubble in places but just dirt tracks in others. The pushchair had no problems negotiating these with its huge wheels.  After a short while, H would always drift off into a deep sleep and dad would let my leader out onto a long lead so that I could explore. Dad loved these walks with us both also as it gave him quality time alone with us. As H was very cute, everyone wanted to see him and play with him which was great but sometimes it was good for us just to be together alone.

H in his pushchair

Not far from where we lived at the time, there were loads of old mine workings that had long gone. There was an attempt to bring these areas back to nature and there were a couple of huge woods planted over the old coal heaps. In addition, there were designated nature walks through the area where protected flowers, grass and insects were now thriving. This gave me an endless number of things to explore and sniff at. I loved it. My tail was wagging all the way, and my tongue was hanging out of my mouth with excitement. Dad would carry some water for me in a bottle and a small plastic drinking bowl so that I could grab a quick drink halfway through the walk. I liked this but as my chin was covered in mud through sniffing, I would sometimes turn the water a muddy brown colour and dad had the change it for me. He was great for looking out for me like that.

Me, dad and H off on our next adventure

Some parts of the walks we went on were deep into the woods and I would get sticky seeds stuck to my fur which dad says were an absolute pain to remove! Whoops – sorry dad. Other parts were exposed and on a hot summer day this made me very warm. My fur was quite thick, and it didn’t take long for me to overheat. On a couple of occasions, I had enough and just stopped where I was and collapsed onto the floor. Dad could see that I was getting too hot and he gave me plenty of ice-cold water and then came up with the idea of putting me onto the lower shelf of the pushchair. I liked this a lot as I could still see where I was going and be close enough to the ground to sniff all those amazing smells, but I was now in the shade and getting a free ride in the pushchair like H.  On future walks I made the decision to put my lovable Shih Tzu eyes on and stare at dad until he cracked and gave me a ride in the pushchair just for fun These were great days, and I loved being out with dad and H.

All aboard! 

Anyway, time to sneak a lift in the pushchair again.

TTFN,

Mazie