A bit of an ode to Collar Club in Cardiff but really applies to any secure field – we are just lucky enough for this to be within 10 minutes of our house!
Field runs and field bookings used to be a big thing that were done on occasions or when it really seemed like your dog needed a run – something that doesn’t apply to every dog but in Sam we have quite a high energy hound who loves to play at speed and just sometimes needs to RUN.
When Collar Club opened its two secure fields at Culverhouse across that was music to the ears of the Cardiff greyhound cult – no more treks 45mins or so north to try and get some offlead time organised. Something so secure, so stimulating and so close. It sounded too good to be true to use (we’ve been let down in the past!) but it wasn’t.
Sam and Maisy have enjoyed every Monday morning there for over a year, plus odd evenings and other mornings. The respite and relief and fun it gives to humans and hounds is unparalleled. Sam is unpredictably reactive, Maisy anxious if she feels surrounded or if it’s too different and this can make walks a balancing act.
The freedom field removes that stress and anxiety from a walk, Joe and I with a travel cup of caffeine and Sam and Maisy and sometimes their friends just living the best lives in eight acres of secure space.
We’ve learnt so much about our dogs being able to have this time with them. Maisy found it hard the first few times there – all this space, humans she wasn’t totally convinced about yet and Sam who barks and play bows and just wants to play chase. She would stop, freeze, and walk so far and cry for us to be walking close enough. She would hide behind us when Sam did one of his running plays at her and he would retreat looking confused. She was lacking the confidence to make her own mind up about what she wanted to do, not helped by Sam’s insistence. Before she was unwell, Bea used to initiate what was frankly horrific bitey face play with Sam and they chased each other and barked and had the time of their lives. Maisy has lived with Sam for longer than Bea ever did but she hadn’t quite worked out how to play with Sam.
Now though, she is starting to play bow and chase. We’ve discovered Sam and Maisy both love chasing a ball and we throw it for them to play with together, they run together and bat the ball between themselves, alternately guarding it and launching it to be chased again.
We’ve seen Maisy stand her ground, chase Sam down and bow at him to invite him to play. We’ve seen Maisy learn to do what she wants to do – go and sniff the tyres, explore the sandpit, wander around the corner, and the same with Sam. Previous field runs with many hounds would be a high adrenaline all out event – now it’s just us and we are exploring the concept of freedom. Exploring new sensory things like sandpits and paddling pools and obstacles to climb on and sniff.
Such a funny and wonderful thing – for dogs that had very regimented lives where all decisions were made for them and then into homes where they had to learn to fit in with what they were supposed to do in a house. In this field, we get the opportunity to let them go and let them decide what they want to do. Over 100 visits to this field and we still marvel every time – this week Dottie stalked and play bowed Maisy and jumped out at her from the long grass, a couple of weeks ago 6 of them just formed a gentle sniff train and went together to sniff the perimeter of the field together. Watching them process and decide and just make their own decisions, which they get so few opportunities to do is wonderful.
And it’s so much more wonderful when they decide that what they want is their humans. Sam is flighty and anxious, Maisy finds it hard to trust and form deep bonds. In eight acres of open field we can call their names and they speed to us, jumping and bowing at our feet. When they are tired out from sniffing (Maisy is not a huge runner so whoever wants to peddle the line greyhounds love to run needs to meet her…) they come and walk alongside us.
As a learning experience, it’s unparalleled. A neutral space, open space, space that belongs to no one and that allows everyone to find themselves. It’s the best money we could have ever possibly spent to help our hounds find themselves, forge friendships and form attachments greater than we thought possible with each other and us. For someone who is not a morning person, 7.30 on a Monday morning is my favourite time of the week.
