79. Itchenor - House and Pet Sitting - Episode 19

 We drove from Watford to Itchenor (pron. Itch-nuh) in the south-east of England, got lost along the way - thanks Google maps - and arrived a couple of hours late. It was a cold day and was sleeting as we neared our destination. We realised as we turned into the street that we were in a well-to-do area. As we pulled into the driveway we were greeted with a large, beautiful house on a small acreage. The home owners welcomed us with a delicious homemade quiche. We met 'Ned' a 1-year-old border collie, who was excited and very pleased to see us.


Ned was a bit of a handful, especially on the first night, but over time he settled down as we got him into a routine that suited us all. Having 18 sits under our belt, we're finding owners are picking our brains for information on diet, feeding habits and other aspects of dog ownership.  

Ned was toy obsessed and wouldn't settle at all. We'd hide his toy after he'd driven us nuts with it and he'd find another. We couldn't exercise him enough to wear him out. 
He wasn't really allowed on the couch, but we found that having him lie down between us and loved to within an inch of his life settled him beautifully, and we breathed a sigh of relief. 

We took Ned out to a local pub in Hooksway, quite some miles away, which we just stumbled upon on a road trip to burial mounds in the area. The pub owner welcomed the three of us and gave us a seat next to a cosy open fire.



Dogs are regular visitors to pubs in the UK.


Dave and Sarah have owned this gem for over 30 years.  It's in the middle of nowhere and we wondered how it actually survived financially. 


Neddy was a scoffer.  His meals took him literally ten seconds to eat. We timed him.  We bought him an anti-scoff bowl and slowed his food inhalation down from ten seconds to two minutes.  The first time he encountered the new bowl he looked at us with some confusion. But he got the hang of it and we sent video to his human to show how well the change had worked. She was very grateful.  Mission accomplished!

Next, local exploration.

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