Hunden Wanderung....

in English that means...a large group of dogs off the leash with owners walking in the woods.

Today was Clover's, (my best friend and wheaten Terrier) first hundenwanderung with his new teacher, Helga. There were 45 dogs in total with double that number of their humans companions. We met way out in the Odenwald...in English this means: end of the Earth. There is a parking lot at the foot of a wooded hill path where everyone gathered to toast the New Year with warm applecider and champagne. Before the hike begins, the dogs gather on leash and sniff and check the crowd out...then Helga the Alpha female, or teacher to humans gave us our intructions. In German she said for us to not let the dogs run into the forest off the path, to make sure to leash the dog if people, cars or bikes were coming and also when doing this to stand to the right side of the foot path. Once we drank and were given our instructions....they were off.

Clover ran in circles for about 10 mins with about 4 dogs running after him...I think he thought if he stopped they would catch and eat him, but after a while he tired and realized...Hey! It's ok.
From that point he joined the group walking to the hut at the top of the hill where we were to have our lunch. (of course you do realize now...that in the meley of rushing out the door this am...I totally forgot my camera) Our little man handled himself very well and soon fell deeply in love with a large German shepard looking dog.

All the dogs handled themselves well and we made it to the hut in about an hour and a half. Of course with this many dogs and humans...we took over the little hut. I had a wonderful bowl of leek soup with a bratwurst in the middle...I ate this quick when I realized they had cake...so later I had cheese cake and coffee....After this great meal...and warm dry place to sit... (Actually I have to add here that it was a glorious weather day here in Germany. Started "iffy" but soon was bright with sun.) we headed back down through the woods.

Somewhere along the way Clover had found a deep mud puddle and was just covered. He was having a wonderful time. When we reached the bottom, there was a deep stream luckily and we attempted to wash most of his muck off of him before putting him back in the car. What a great idea this is for the dog lover and friend. We made many great friends during the day and met up with some old friends...there really isn't much of a language barrier when it comes to the love of one's dog.

I hope to add some photos that are actually from the day...but I have to wait for someone who remembered to bring the camera to send some to me. :)