An Owners Eye View

Sep 3

Walking Barney, my 13-year-old Cocker Spaniel, is something I know well. 👓

We have 13 years of muscle memory between us. I know what makes an interesting sniff for him, where he likes to stop and take in the view, where he likes to let loose and run, and, of course, what is going to happen when he starts circling (I don’t need to explain this further, if you know, you know)

Yet always, seeing his lovely little gait when he walks in front of me always brings me joy. I like to call this ‘An Owners Eye View’.

I love all the little things that add up to Barney being Barney. The flap of his ears if it’s windy outside, the tiny skip in his back left leg, I know all these things that feel unique to Barney - and my relationship with him.

He’s tone deaf now so we rely on sign language. He looks at me regularly, I point to which way we are going, if I show him his lead, he knows to stop and be latched up to me for a little while. All this of course, goes out of the window is there is a squirrel to chase, but again, I know this and can read our walk, I know to put him on the lead before we reach the squirrels by the main road - all this is what I mean when I say muscle memory.

Knowing the bones, patterns and souls of our dogs is such comfort.

This is why I love the idea of capturing and owners eye view in paint, a forever memory of something we know so well.

On our walk this morning, I snapped these photographs of Barney - just look at those beautiful flappy ears! x