Hi, I’m a little grey schnauzer called Merlin.

It’s been a while since I last posted on Facebook and I wanted to tell you all about our recent travels in Norfolk, which is in England. The story might be a bit scary as at one point my tail stops wagging but please don’t worry as everything is back to normal by the end.

A few dog years ago, my humans surprisingly moved in a large dog crate with me. What’s unusual about our crate is that outside is almost always somewhere new whenever they open the crate door! How great is that.

This week however, I know where we are because I’ve been here before. We just visited with Cooper and his humans Lucy, Ben, Zoë and Lexi and now we’re at the beach because I can smell the sea.

My day started well as I took mum for a walk and as it’s really hot, I’ve been forced into my cool jacket. Surprisingly on our walk we bumped into Chris, who is human, just by the seaside. I remember him from the mountains with the snow where we live from time to time.

Luckily Chris had two dogs, Dora and Tilly, with him and they explained they were trying to take him to meet with their mum and that we’d go with them. It’s super embarrassing meeting new dogs when I’m wearing clothes but what can you do with humans sometimes.

Anyway the sun was shining, we were all off lead and the walk by the seaside had everything you really need: mud, water, sand, treats, friends and lots of really good sniffs.

All of a sudden, the skies turned grey and it started to rain. Not little drops of rain but those big drops that get you really wet, really quickly. I was now really regretting my cool coat – as it holds onto the water and I ended up looking a bit like a drowned rat but at least the temperature was still warm.

It’s important when walking in a larger group to make sure that the pack stays together. This can be especially difficult when walking with humans who never really stop to smell and appreciate things properly. Tilly, who’s about my age, had the right idea and we dawdled at the back to sniff stuff and sit on the cool grass when it was too hot. Unfortunately, that meant I had to run to catch up with the humans and let them know where we were. Humans really don’t seem to get the idea of walks.

Human Chris is more interesting than most as he seems to forever be stopping to pick up litter things. He calls it ‘wombling’ and I like it as he never goes off to far.

The walk was fun with lots of new things and at one point Dora tried to get me to roll in something smelly but all the humans shouted at us so we didn’t get chance.

After quite a long time, we met Tilly and Dora’s human, Kim. It was exciting as other humans that I know called Tim and Susan were also there. I was unceremoniously bundled into one of those small moving crates with Tilly and Dora and when the door opened we were all the way back where we met human Chris.

Happily, mum and dad remembered that it was my dinner time and had remembered to bring my food with them so me, Tilly and Dora all had something to eat. I finished mine first but when I went to see what Tilly and Dora were having, I was shooed out. I only wanted to see what they were having…. honest.

As the pack was all together in one room, we could all settle down for a snooze which was good because I was tired after dinner.

Suddenly, all the humans were on their feet and walking around. Mum was calling my name and had the lead in her hand. What’s all this about then?

It turned out that one of the humans, Susan, had decided we would all walk down to the beach….. even though it was going dark. It was really warm still and I noticed that Susan wasn’t wearing any shoes for the walk which was unusual. When we were walking down the path, and when I was out of sight, I decided to stop and leave her a little present for the way back.

The sea, it turned out, was much further away now than it had been earlier. This meant there were lots of new smells, more muddy puddles and bridges over rivers that dad had to keep pointing out to me. It was a proper night time adventure.

The humans seemed happy enough by themselves so I thought I’d play with Tilly and Dora. I chased up on Dora and then barked loudly behind her. I think Dora was a bit surprised by my sudden turn of speed and she barked back. Then I growled at her and she barked very loudly at me and chased me across the beach…. I’m not sure she was very happy. I ran away.

Anyway, somehow while I was running I hurt something on my back. It made it difficult to run so I fast walked back to the house following human Chris who felt safe to be with.

I didn’t see if human Susan found her present.

Once we got back to our big crate, I feel asleep really quickly and mum had to lift me onto the bed.

The next morning, I woke up, stretched downwards and upwards and gave my whole body a shake. Something was wrong. I looked around and couldn’t see my tail. It’s normally curled magnificently above my back and has a mind of it’s own when I see mum or dad but today….. nothing. It was just hanging limply between my legs like it was a dead weight.

I found it pretty painful going for the morning walk but I didn’t like to say anything to mum and dad. Even so, I could tell that they were pretty worried as they kept looking at me and dad gently prodded me around my back, legs and tummy.

I didn’t feel like eating breakfast this morning and settled into my bed instead. I couldn’t help but notice that my humans were still nervously chatting and even mentioned the dreaded v.e.t. word once or twice.

In the end they seemed content to focus on their little black screens and for a horrible moment I thought they were going to take pictures of my tail but apparently they were seeking help from a human we know called Eilidh. I think that Eilidh’s mum is a v.e.t. which might be why but I don’t think they live near here so I won’t have to go into the surgery.

When I woke for my mid-morning stretch, my humans informed me that I had Limber Tail Syndrome which Eilidh’s mum says is actually called acute caudal myopathy or something. It appeared that I would indeed need to visit the v.e.t. after all.

After a few days of mooching about the crate, I started to feel less weird and one morning I noticed my tail was back again arched over my back. And it wagged when I got a treat! I was back.

It turns out that dogs, like humans, can over do things and get muscle issues. I just overdid it on my nighttime beach excursion chasing with Dora and Tilly. I should try to remember to be more careful next time but as I’m a little grey schnauzer, it’s possible I won’t be!

I hope you enjoyed the tale about my tail. If you like this I may write some more blogs when my humans go out on their adventures.

Merlin xox