Week 29 - Hide and seek in the woods

Quella is growing fast, she is now six months old and weighs 25kg. Her cute puppy face has matured into a pretty little girls face. We recently boarded a ten week old puppy, and it was amusing to see it walking under Quella's tummy, just like Quella used to do with Maya, my German Shepherd Guide Dog puppy.
This week we went for a free run to a nice place near Wrexham, which is a disused landfill site that has been grassed over, and a concrete path laid around the perimeter, and the river Alyn running along the side in places. Quella loves to splash about in the river and also drink from it, it is fresh water so quite safe. It is quite shallow at this time of year and even dry at the edges.
The place is aptly called Alyn Waters Country Park, and is a favourite place for other dog walkers, so Quella gets to play with other dogs who are also free running. When Quella stops to play with other dogs, I carry on walking, and she is very good, as soon as she looks up and realises that I have moved on, she very quickly leaves the other dogs and comes bounding after me.
I always teach my new pups to focus on me. When I first start to free run them, I take them to a wooded area near where I live. When puppy stops to sniff the ground to take in all the wonderful scents left behind by other dogs, and the wildlife that frequents the woods at night, I then hide behind a tree (a large tree I might add) and when they eventually look up to find that I have gone, they will use their sensitive nose to come and seek me out, then I find that they always keep a watchful eye on me.
At Alyn Waters, a gentleman saw Quella's 'Guide Dog Puppy' flash on her lead, designed to let the public know that she is a Guide Dog puppy. He then told me that before her illness his wife had been a puppy walker, and he told me that they had just received a phone call from Guide Dogs concerning their last pup, Quella. He was amused when I told him that my pup too was called Quella. He then called his wife over, to meet Quella, and we had a nice chat about our previous pups and their achievements.