Out on walks Genghis and Blaze, once let off lead, would race off into the distance and then come charging back towards me like a couple of stampeding bulls. They were good though and despite the excitement of being let loose together would always come back when I called and stayed within a certain distance from me so I could see them.
On one occasion when returning from our walk Genghis decided to run off and explore a rather large drainage ditch, which runs between two fields and is bordered by a thick prickly Hawthorne hedge. Blaze, who up to this point had been beside me, saw where his friend had gone and decided he wanted to take part in this adventure. He cantered off and went into the ditch and despite my calling him proceeded to pretend he was stone deaf. Genghis had returned by this time but still there was no sign of Blaze. I went over to the ditch and peered through the thick hedge. I could see him at the bottom of the ditch just where it disappeared into a reinforced concrete pipe under a small bridge. I kept calling him to come out but he didn’t pay a blind bit of notice and totally ignored my entreaties as he had found something edible inside a pink cardboard box. Time was marching on and Blaze’s owner was due to collect him very shortly. I could see that we would be there for the foreseeable future unless I took some action so reluctantly I squeezed under the hedge and slid down the steep bank of the ditch to where my hairy black charge was busily occupied with his prize. I grabbed hold of him and pushed him up the incline and out towards daylight. He made his way out quite easily, however unfortunately the same could not be said for me, as I had quite a struggle to crawl back up on my hands and knees while keeping my eyes tightly shut against the thorny branches of the thick hedge and cursing loudly as my hands were speared by prickly objects on the ground. Once we had both emerged from our gloomy hole Blaze looked at me and I could tell that he thought it might be an excellent idea to return back down again, the lure of the tasty contents of the pink box proving quite irresistible to him. I therefore quickly preempted any maneuver on his part by attaching him to his lead and marching him swiftly back towards home while Genghis, who had been the original mastermind of the escapade, trotted meekly along behind as if none of this was anything to do with him.