29/06/2025
Back in 2019, on this day, Rio and I took a leap of faith, and we started a new chapter.
Our lives together started small, so small. Walking down the street was stressful, let alone anything more. He found other dogs and people scary. He'd scream at the top of his lungs, barking, lunging, and spinning.
Our new chapter was to embark on journeys I'd never done with a dog. Any dog, let alone one who had big feelings about life.
My boy at the time hadn't had any exposure to sheep or cattle. Never travelled on a train. Let alone journeying up to Scotland, nor moving in with people and dogs (some of whom he'd never met before).
It sounds crazy when I think of it. The goal I set for us.
We'd done a few preparation trips. But one of them was more of a setback than prep, where he was attacked by another dog, and we came so close to losing him that day.
But, we leapt together. A leap out of his comfort zone and mine.
While things didn't go exactly according to plan (for example, being chased by a herd of curious cattle but they are stories for another day), it was a beginning.
And with it, we started a new chapter of adventuring