Charlie came to live with us in about a year ago as a rescue dog with a sad story. He is eight years old but acts like a puppy. We adopted him through the brilliant Cocker Spaniel Club and they were obviously only able to give us limited information about his past.

The day that we  picked Charlie up

The day that we picked Charlie up

From the way he acted we think that he was unfamiliar with the countryside but he is now making up for all the lost time.
He has an amazing personality. We have never seen him show any aggression but sometimes he will bark loudly at other dogs. He absolutely loves long country walks and his favorite walk starts and ends at Broadway Tower (at the lovely Morris & Brown at the Tower where the staff know him and always give him a dog biscuit). This walk takes about 40 minutes and is quite steep. It encompasses beautiful views over the Vale of Evesham, a path through the woods that explodes with Bluebells in summer and also lots of sheep.
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Charlie has absolutely zero interest in sheep. He barely looks at then. His tracker instincts overcome everything. He can run for a long time on a scent never looking up and we sometimes have “smell walks” where he will take half an hour to cover half a mile because he has to sniff every bush for at least five minutes.
I try to give him a long walk every day and the Cotswolds have amazing walks. Barely three minutes from our B&B in Shipston are some stunning walks both on paths and on tar.
Unfortunately, because we are so busy, sometimes he has to make do with a shorter sprint.
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Charlie also loves people and noisy crowded places. One of his favourite things in the world is happy hour at The George on Friday night. Happy Hour is quite an institution in Shipston with people dressing up and coming from miles around.
We will arrive and Charlie will get a bit hyper, rush around for a short time but once he has had a cheese and onion crisp, he will lie under the table and go to sleep (while all the talking and noise swirls around him).
Many of our B&B guests also go to happy hour and they are sometimes amazed to see him snoozing under or table while the pub is in full party mode.
Unfortunately Charlie hasn’t learnt to tell the time so on Sunday morning at 10am, when my husband takes him for a walk, Charlie embarrasses my husband by always bolting for The George and trying to force the closed doors open.
10am on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. Church bells ringing but Charlie is trying to drag me into The George pub.

10am on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. Church bells ringing but Charlie is trying to drag me into The George pub.

Charlie has been an amazing addition to our family and he is waiting to welcome you with a few loud, friendly barks.
Charlie the guard dog

Charlie the guard dog