Over the fields with Meggy

Today was unusually mild for November and I went for a bout of training in Nentschau, Germany near where I live with my Labrador Retriever named Meggy. The name is probably originally Maggy but the German pronunciation of the english "AAH" is "EH" as they don´t hear the difference. I arrived at my trainer´s and as I forgot to set a date for training she gave me the leash and I went out for a walk with Meggy by myself. The dog is being trained professionally and I see Meggy on weekends when she can overnight. It is quite expensive but the results are a well behaved dog that can respond to commands and even quietly lay at my side during church services (Bless the Beasts and the Children comes to mind). Normally when I have a training session during the week, the trainer goes with me and we work various commands and activities with the dog. Today was different, as I said, and I took off with Meggy by my side over land trails along fields reaching the former border of West and East Germany. There is a sort of road which is grassy with cement blocks where the East German border guards patrolled with vehicles to keep the inhabitants from crossing over to the other side and in their minds keeping the West out. We then turned and headed West making a circle coming back to our starting point at the trainer´s home. I had to watch out that Meggy did not try to sample the sheep droppings left when a herd was visiting a week or so ago. Labradors eat everything and Meggy is no exception. She was more interested in the apples that had dropped off the trees, chewing them and ultimately swallowing them. I have the feeling that when I am working with her and that is what one does for the rest of a dog´s life as put to me by my trainer, that the time goes swiftly by with no feeling of exertion. It is better than jogging while there is a purpose with the intent to communicate with the dog and vice versa.
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