31.12.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Truman
Rufus
Reggie
Jack
(8)

On Wednesday it was cold enough to actually call it "cold", but today the cold is gone and we're starting to get some heat early. It was correspondingly much more humid than it has been; the wind was the only thing that really saved me, because I wasn't ready for the heat. The Brethren have been hanging around close, and our dogs must've felt it as we were at the gate, because they were really worked up. The harness helped a lot with Rufus, but he was still too excited; he needs individual work on leaving and coming in. The Brethren were indeed close by in the monte behind our house and barked at us as we went by, but none of ours even bothered to go say "hi," they just continued on the normal path. We did 10k in a strange way today, maybe a little more. We started by going south, where the land bridge is now maybe only 60% under water, and not very deep any more. We did the usual southern entrance, then all the way north via the palapa-on-stilts road. I didn't feel like going to the beach, since there are more people around now, so we started to head out on the road to Xixim. I had been thinking we could do the long and winding road, since this group can run forever, but we got about half way there and I decided that 10k was enough for today; I'm swamped with work, and the change in weather was taking it out of me more than I had realized. This turned out to be a good decision, as I'm plenty tired now. If we had gone on I would be toast for the rest of the day. Other than getting out of the gate everyone was stellar. We ran right by an elderly gent heading out to the monte on his bike and there wasn't so much as a bark.
GRADE: A

29.12.10

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Frijolita
Osita
Posey
Godzilla
Elewah
Molly
(8)

Molly was on the harness today for the first time, with mixed results. She managed to back out of the stupid thing on the trail to the shrimpery; it was too large and she got it turned inside-out easily, so I adjusted it while on the run and got it on her again at the end of the coco trail. We did the long and winding road the "right" way which, curiously, is actually counter-clockwise if viewed from above. It's clear but cold and windy today, and we left early while it was extra chilly. This group, like many recently, was built to fly and the cold just egged them on. When we got to the turning point on the road to Xixim I seriously considered heading all the way to Playa Maya, but I need to work today and we were keeping a fast pace; 10k is doable but 14k tires me out too much. I tried Molly on the leash three times during the course of 10k, the last one of which went on for ~500m, maybe a bit more (it felt like more). She was basically an anchor, but by the end of it she was at least moving her feet a little with me instead of digging her heels in... boy, is she heavy. In spite of not liking the leash, she doesn't pull a Tuesday and regard me suspiciously after I let her off; she'll come right up to me and give me a kiss if I call her, so at least she's easy to get on the hook if need be. We're going to have to work on this with her, but I don't count it as bad behavior on her part, it's just something she has to learn like everyone else; I keep reminding myself how impossibly bad Posey was on the leash at first. Besides our battles over the leash the run was fast, beautiful, chilly and uneventful. Apparently, nobody besides me is crazy enough to be out there that early when it's this cold.
GRADE: A

28.12.10

morning run:
Shirley
Blue
Eve
Rita
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
(7)

Strange group with Shirley's so-called "fourth line." Ernie left on the harness, and was on it for about half of the run in total; it made getting out much easier. The Brethren were close by in the woods directly across doce when we left, and everyone was stellar about it; they were gone by the time we came home. We probably did between 8-9k and it was a bit long for Maggie, as she was dragging a little at the end. Shirley's pace is always so high that adding a slow dog with her is usually frustrating, but we muddled through and had a good run anyway. We did a southern route, with the intention of heading north and hitting the hidden trail at the end, but when I realized Mags was getting tired we bagged that idea and came home from the Au Soleil Couchant access road via the shire. I wanted to ford the charco at the dead goat road but Blue and Eve balked at the cold water, and I didn't feel like fighting it so we went around instead.
GRADE: A

26.12.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Gowron
Monkey
Floyd
(6)

Working with Floyd on the leash some more, so I didn't take too many. We did a little over 8k in stormy weather, via the standard southern route. I don't think the distance touched him at all - he could obviously have gone a lot farther. He was extremely good on the leash, and was on the whole time; I think he found it kind of comforting. I am convinced after running with him that he has a fairly serious deficiency with his vision. His reaction to things like birds and lizards and leaves that blow across the road is disorganized and surprised, and frequently does not track reality well; if you look at the other dogs and how they react, you can clearly see that they are in two different worlds. On the other hand, Floyd immediately grasped how to drink water out of the bottle without even seeing the other dogs do it, which is a first; they usually have to learn that. He did try to suck out of the wrong end of the bottle at one point, however, which also made me think maybe he can't see too well. He's not dumb, that's for sure. To work on the "sit" command I made him sit every time I gave him water, and he was doing much better by the end of the run. Everyone else had a famously good time, and the sisters were pretty good about keeping up... their group-mind is sometimes impossible to deal with, but today they were not so thick that way. Really brisk out, still drying out slowly (had a tiny bit of rain last night), no people or signs of them anywhere. They just chopped back a bunch of brush and small trees around the charco right at the start of the dead goat trail, so when you go past now it feels like you can see for kilometers to the north. Strange. It'll all grow back in six months.
GRADE: A

25.12.10

mid-day walk:
Zasu
Alice
Lucy
Floyd
(4)

In the interest of working with Floyd we went out on a leash for a short (~2km) walk with some senior dogs who also need it. Zasu was an angel. Alice probably would have been good if her evil sister had not been along; as it was they screwed around for the first ~5 minutes doing who-knows-what near the shrimpery while I yelled for them, but they finally came around they were good from then on. We just did the dirty road loop. I worked constantly with Floyd on the "sit" command. Although I kept him on a fairly short leash almost the whole time I have to say that he is a dream to walk with. He barely pulls and seems to completely understand the leash, which is surprising. I am almost certain that he has a fairly serious vision problem, mostly in his right eye. His reactions to things are definitely not what you'd expect, and when you compare where he's looking to where the other dogs are looking when something happens you have to come to the conclusion that there's something wonky with his eyes. I let him off briefly to swim with the sisters in one of the charcos; he likes water, goofed around a bit and came back to me and the leash with no complaints. Good boy Floyd.
GRADE: B

24.12.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Frankie
Jack
(7)

Nice to have seven. We left late, but there was a chill in the air and this is yet another fast group, so we still managed to crank out 10k. We went south to start with; the land bridge is now finally drying out and is only ~30% under water. From there we went south down the main road, east into the monte, all the way north on the palapa-on-stilts road, to the hidden trail and down to the beach, south to the tortuga sign and home via the monte. I would've gone back into the monte at Au Soleil Couchant, but Frankie really wanted to eat the nasty fish on the beach, and I didn't see any reason to make a fuss about it, so we just kept going. The beach is not as gross as it has been of late, but there is no good place on it to run due to all of the detritus strewn along the shore from storms and low tides. The water is chilly, but clear, and very shallow for a long way out. At least the sea birds love it, so that's fun to see. Just as we were arriving at the north corner of the cow pasture and the dirty road a small fox went flying across the road 20m ahead of us, and I do mean flying: it was literally two feet in the air when we saw it, and had obviously realized that there were seven dogs right there. Rufus, Frankie, Jack, Otto and Oscar gave chase, but it was a fairly desultory affair; either they were tired, they realized the futility of their chase (there was no way they were going to catch it), or they're just all very well behaved doggies, but they were all back with me within 30 seconds.
GRADE: A

22.12.10

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Godzilla
Truman
Molly
Elewah
(7)

This started out as an A, devolved to a B and ended up as a C, but it was still a good run. This group sort of put itself together effortlessly, and although I intended to take Eve as well I then thought maybe that bit about discretion and valor I was on about before should occasionally be considered before we leave. We were flying right out of the gate, and that was a constant throughout: this was a fast group. We ran into The Brethren early on, and it was hardly a blip: everyone was friendly and caught up with me immediately after saying "hi." From there we did the long and winding road backwards, sort of out of necessity: about 500m west of the junction where you have to turn north to go that way, a van carrying salt workers overtook us on the Au Soleil Couchant access road, and Molly gave chase. The people inside were amused (she is pretty comical), and obviously she couldn't do any harm, but it it is a bad habit and she will have to be broken of it. It didn't help that the driver slowed down to a crawl, so that he was effectively leading us as a kind of parade float. When we got to the junction that heads to the long and winding road he went south and so I naturally went north. Not the best way to make a choice, but whatever - I'm a pragmatist. I did have to lay out a pretty decent sprint to catch the van from the point where I realized what was happening, so we were really flying by the time we turned the corner. Several kilometers later, way out in the middle of nowhere, after we had come to the end of the long and winding road and were heading back on the road from Xixim we ran into a HUGE bull and two cows, just sort of chilling in the wilderness. Again, Molly was one of the bark-leaders, and AGAIN I laid out a halfway respectable 100m sprint to run them down and stop them from being assholes; there's not much they could do to those cows, but it is a bad habit. Elewah, Molly and Posey all contributed to the effort. I put Posey on the leash and once again we flew down that road. Coming home, I was starting to feel all of those sprints, on top of the already high pace, so I decided to take the dead goat short cut and ford that charco, which everyone did enthusiastically. There were a couple more people in various places along the way, and I noticed that I really wished Molly was on the hook, even though she isn't bad - if you didn't know her you might be intimidated by her, and we can't have that. Finally, at the very end, right at our gate Posey and Truman indulged in their old habit of taking off like jackrabbits for the house to the north, which they haven't done in a while. I honestly don't know how they had the energy after a brutal pace for 10k, but that little stunt landed them in the box immediately after coming in, where they stayed for 20m or so. Unacceptable, even though no harm was done. You can't live by "no harm, no foul" all the time. In spite of all of that, it was for the most part a fun, quick-paced tear through the woods. If Molly had been on the harness it would've been much better; she cannot go out without it again, we have to nip this in the bud.
GRADE: C

20.12.10

morning run:
Shirley
Blue
Osita
Rita
Frijolita
Ernie
Maggie
Lily
(8)

Ernie surprised a guy and his kid close by on the shrimpery trail just out of the gate, so he really can't leave off the leash for a while again. No harm done, but he's generally too wound up. We did the long and winding road backwards, which was long for Maggie; she pulled through like a trooper, but it did drag our pace down a bit. Other than right at the start everyone was good and had a good time. Lily listens especially well. I had her on the leash several times just to reign her in because Maggie was lagging too far behind, and she was really good about it.
GRADE: B

18.12.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Henry
George
Ziggy
Monkey
Molly
(8)

Nice group. It was a misty, foggy morning, the remnants of which were still clinging to the ground when we left. It made the first few kms of the run strange and beautiful... we could see spider's webs and bird's nests outlined everywhere around us, and the cows took on a surreal and fantastic air. We probably ran between 8-9km, mainly a southern route designed to avoid xmul. By the time we hit the southern land bridge most of the fog had burned off. The monte is drying out more each day, but there are still places you simply cannot go any way but on foot. Everyone was good and had a good time. Monkey and Molly especially like running together. At the very end Molly got a little too enthused over the cows, who were right there at the shrimpery intersection; still, she broke it off and came back to me reasonably quickly.
GRADE: A

16.12.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Eve
Rufus
Ernie
Jack
(8)

What a good group. The harness more or less did its magic again with Rufus at the gate. Sadly, I forgot what an idiot Ernie is when I got this little band together, especially at the start. The best one-word description I can arrive at is gibbering, which is the attitude he maintained for the first 200 meters; he really wanted to go out the land bridge route. Frequently I find that discretion is not only the better part of valor, it's only part that matters. In keeping with that concept I try not to be an unreasoning fascist, although I do generally enforce and promote the notion that it is my run and the dogs are all with me. If they really want to do something and it's no big deal we often do it. Thus, we went Ernie's way, but with him and Rufus on either end of the leash for a bit, just to get them to calm down. We went south to the chappa'hai and into the monte, then all the way north via the palapa-on-stilts road, to the hidden trail, south down the beach, back into the monte at Au Soleil Couchant and home via the monte: 10k according to Google Earth. With this group we absolutely flew, hardly stopping and only briefly when we did. It was chilly out and a little cloudy, so nobody felt much need for water, and everyone really wanted to air it out. The beach was disgusting. The mountains of seaweed that have been piled up by successive storms have gotten grosser and grosser as the ocean has chewed and pawed at them for days. I was planning on rinsing Eve off (rolled in poo), but none of us wanted to go in there, and the poo stink was honestly preferable, so we got off the beach quickly and I took a hose to Eve (and Chester) when we got home. Jack is an angel.
GRADE: A

13.12.10

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Blue
Godzilla
Gowron
Frankie
Elewah
Lily
(8)

Numberwhang. We did the current long run of record: long and winding road backwards, but then north to Playa Maya via the inland route, south on the beach to Au Soleil Couchant and home in the monte. A little over 14k. It's overcast, cold and windy today, which made it easier; also, this group was built to fly, not just run, so we did it quickly to boot. I decided to go all the way to the beach when Blue rolled in something I will not name, well down the long and winding road bit of the program; I washed her off in the frigid ocean, much to her and my chagrin. The ~2km stretch down the beach was murder. There was no patch of solid sand anywhere, since the norte blowing through right now has been vigorously plowing mountains of seaweed under for the last 24 hours. It was like some kind of Kung Fu movie training montage, pounding our way through soft, shifting, treacherous sand into the teeth of a fierce wind with the ocean raging right next to us, digging the ground out beneath our feet. We were all relieved to get off of the beach and back into the monte at A.S.C. - it felt like a great weight had been lifted, and we fairly flew the last ~3km home from there. I had to put Lily on the leash a couple of times because she's just too fast and gets too far ahead, but she listens well and never did anything wrong. P.S. I just re-read this post and have to add one thing: Gowron, one of our littlest dogs, with tiny little legs, has got to get some kind of medal or special notice for throwing down 14+k with the big dogs and making it look not just easy, but fun. She is solid muscle and attitude. Amazing. How can I ever complain when I look down and see this tearing up the road beside me? (she's not much bigger than that now)
GRADE: A

12.12.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Ernie
Ziggy
Monkey
Molly
(8)

Ziggy eight. I tried to quiet him with the hose before we left, but as infuriating as his incessant whining is, having insufficient water pressure to even moisten him in our own yard is that much more so; in the end it just leaves me wet and angry and he doesn't seem to notice either. Once we finally left he was an angel. Ernie started out on the leash, which is a good idea: he is a porky little missile, hell-bent on chaos when we're fresh out of the gate. Once we get going he settles down, much like Rufus. This was probably around 9k again, via southern trails, and everyone did well. George got the lion's share of the water, but he did keep up. The sisters did less screwing around than usual, and everyone listened well when I said anything, which was rare. No flamingos now in the charcos, but lots of egrets and other large-ish water fowl. We saw no people whatsoever. The monte is really starting to dry out now, but the land bridge is STILL under a foot or two of water in most places.
GRADE: A

11.12.10

afternoon walk:
Zasu
Reggie
(2)

Dolphin boy and fatty dingle took Roni around the cow pasture. Reggie was on the leash the whole way, and probably would've requested it so if asked, that's how good a boy he is.
GRADE: A

10.12.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Posey
Frijolita
(8)

Let's just skip the excuses-for-8 portion of today's program. The best answer thus far to Rufus-at-the-gate is the big, black harness, which I recently fished out of the outdoor sink and sort of rehabilitated. Sort of. I had to adjust it while he had it on because wrangling him to that point had been tiring enough, but in the end it fits him and works. He cannot get out of it, at least not with his usual barrage of maneuvers and pranks. The second he feels he's on the hook, he stops barking and calms down a bit, which makes leaving much easier. I had him on and off the leash throughout the course of the run, and will continue to do that with him. I also had Posey and Truman on the leash at various points (running ahead too far and not coming back as quickly as they should). We did the long and winding road backwards again, with a little extra on the way home; I'm sure it was over 10k. We did it quickly, due in part to the strong but pleasant chill in the air when we left (~7.30). At one point within the first 3k Posey took off ahead and got about 60-80m ahead of me, dragging Truman and Rufus with her. I had to yell to get them to stop and turn around, but they did come all the way back to me in the end. It turns out there were people getting ready to go to work in the charcos just around the bend, so it was probably their voices that got Posey going in the first place. By the time we passed them Rufus was on the hook and everyone was with me, but I don't like being made to yell like that. Otherwise all good. Fun, fast group, if a bit rambunctious.
GRADE: B

afternoon walk:
Miles
Zasu*
Tuesday*
Henry*
Tito*
(5)

Started out complicated, ended up simple. The ones with stars after their names behaved badly out of the gate, to an unforgivable degree and via a sort of cascade of misdemeanors. The fun started with Tuesday twisting herself out of her collar and taking off like a lunatic and snowballed. Out of all of them, Miles really wanted to go for a walk and didn't misbehave, so Roni put everyone else back in and just continued on with Miles for what turned out to be a nice walk.
GRADE: C

08.12.10

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Eve
Osita
Frankie
Ernie
Lily
Molly
(8)

Yeah, yeah, eight, damn. Ernie's fat. Molly's fat. This was a pretty good group, but not great, mainly due to Ernie's mania. He's just out of his fat little mind. Although everyone generally did very well and had a good time, there were a couple points where I was unhappy with Ernie (running too far ahead, being too much of an idiot), Molly (running ahead, barking a bit too much at a truck although it was in good fun), and Lily (running ahead). All of them do listen, though, and they all come back to me all the way without fighting me when I make them. Ernie and Lily were both on the leash for stretches, and that helped. Molly really needs leash training, and that's not the first time I've said that here. We left early today and did the long and winding road backwards, which is basically 10k. It was cold last night and well into the morning; those first ~2km hurt on bare feet, but everyone was invigorated by the chill and it seemed like we really ran it quickly. Ernie seemed especially quick, and we had more than a half of the water left when we got home.
GRADE: B

06.12.10

morning run:
Alice
Rita
Posey
Blue
Godzilla
Shirley
Reggie
Monkey
(8)

Eight is starting to become a little too common, but it's been a throw-a-fatty-on-the-fire kind of situation every time of late. Today it was Alice, who (along with her sisters) really needed it; also, I've found that she keeps up better and doesn't screw around as much without her sisters around (especially Lucy). We did a fairly long southern run, probably a little over 9k: across the still-flooded land bridge, south down the main road to the last exit east, into the monte and north on the stilt palapa road to the Au Soleil Couchant access road, and home in the monte. By the time we got home the beach was already stinking from the red tide-like seaweed we've been having, so I'm glad we avoided it. I had to put Shirley on the leash a couple of times because she was just too far ahead, but nobody misbehaved and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A

04.12.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Gowron
Maggie
Ziggy
Monkey
(8)

Good group. Did the southern ~9k, and reasonably quickly too for this bunch. There was some swimming in the still-flooded charcos near the end. Everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A

02.12.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Molly
Elewah
(8)

Felt pressed for time, but we hadn't gone in two days so I decided it was just one of those days to take the pace up and air it out. We did the long and winding road with very few stops; Ernie drank most of the water, and was lagging a little at the end, but still really pushed through admirably. Everyone else was in their glory and ran like gazelles. It was chilly and overcast, so that helped keep the pace up.
GRADE: A

30.11.10

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
George
Posey
Frijolita
Osita
Blue
Reggie
(8)

I truly did not mean to take eight today. I threw George in at the last minute because he really wanted to go, and he needs the exercise, but I forgot that I had already let out one more of G&G's pups than I had originally planned, bringing the total to eight. After I had everyone separated, I gave the ones who were going their Ivermectina pills and by the time I did all of that and realized I had eight out I there wasn't anyone who obviously didn't belong in the group besides George, and I had promised him to start out with. Because we had him, I did the southern ~10k, but backwards, heading north first and coming home from the south. I made sure George got most of the water and that he was never lagging too much; it was a little over a year ago that he was unable to walk and had to be carried out to the beach every day for physical therapy. He's kind of like an old linebacker that has gotten a little soft around the middle, but still has it. This run was a little long and up-tempo for him, but he did it in fine fashion and had a good time. The only bad spot was near the very end, after we had crossed the still-inundated land bridge behind the shrimpery and were heading home on that road. There was a moto way off in the distance, almost to doce, and Posey decided she wanted to chase it or check it out or something, but she took off and didn't listen to me at first, dragging her three siblings with her. They did finally listen to me and turned around about halfway to doce, but the fact that Posey took off at all irritated me, so she was on the leash until we got home, which I guess was more symbolic than anything else. Otherwise a great run.
GRADE: B

28.11.10

morning run:
Truman
Godzilla
Eve
Frankie
Lily
Jack
Monkey
Molly
(8)

Roni remarked that this was a young group before we left, and it's true. I've sort of been subconsciously making sure there were always two or three Senior Dogs on most runs, but as I looked around before we left I realized that Truman, Godzilla and Eve are all just over 3 years old now; Roni and I had just been talking about it yesterday. They all listen well, don't break the rules and are good influences, which are the basic requirements for Senior Dog status. They certainly acted like it today. This group was another really fast one, maybe the fastest yet. We did the long and winding road backwards, which is a little over 10k, with many sloggy bits still, and the pace was almost at the edge of what I could do. They were all good about sticking with me, but I noticed that the central tendency of this group was to pick up the pace and keep it up. The few times we did stop I noticed that Molly is getting much better about drinking out of the bottle: less of a spaz. Everyone had a really good time, behaved themselves and ran their asses off.
GRADE: A

26.11.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Posey
Shirley
Ziggy
(7)

Good group. Only went a little over 8k, via the southern charcos. It's a bit of a pain mixing fast dogs (Shirley, Posey) with slow dogs (pretty much everyone else), but they all had fun and ran well... the fast dogs just did a lot of larking about in the bushes and chased a lot of lizards, that's all. Cows were studiously avoided.
GRADE: A

25.11.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Truman
Elewah
(8)

I suppose I should not have thrown Elewah in... she talked me into it with her violins-and-pathos routine at the gate, and I need to toughen up and not fall for it so often. On the other hand, it had been a couple days (well past the doggie memory threshold), I really was only going to go with the first seven today and we were going to go for a long one anyway, so what the hell. Right off the bat Elewah led a spirited bark-at-the-cows brigade charge, so at least I got to regret my weakness immediately. The cows were fairly unimpressed, but I decided that we would avoid them entirely by crossing the flooded "bridge" behind the shrimpery to start with. We made our way to the main road by fording those middle charcos, then headed north and east to finally catch the inland road to Xixim, and came home via the long and winding road and the northern charcos. It felt like a tough one for some reason, although I've done it several times now; I must be tired from working all the time. The dogs certainly had fun. Other than the shenanigans at the start everyone was good; Rufus and I are still working on his exits, but this one wasn't as bad as the last time.
GRADE: B

22.11.10

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Frijolita
Osita
Rita
Blue
Elewah
Monkey
(8)

As dysfunctional and screwed up as the last run was, that's how lovely and fine this one was. It ended up being the longest run I've ever done, in any epoch of my life: 14.1km according to Google Earth. This group just wanted to run. For the first time I felt like Elewah was running with us and not just ahead of us. She also now drinks out of the bottle right with Bette instead of always deferring to her, and Monkey has taken to getting on her hind legs and pushing everyone out of her way with her front paws to get a drink (aptly named, that one). We went to Playa Maya, but via the long and winding road from the west; we picked it up going "backwards" from the northern charcos to the western intersection, then cutting east into the monte to get to the inland road to Xixim. We turned towards the beach at the main road just east of Playa Maya, came south down the beach to the Au Soleil Couchant outlet and then re-entered the monte and came home the way we went out. About 500m to the south of Playa Maya, just north of two ruined buildings on the beach we found the body of a dead sea turtle, a little over 1 meter in length. It probably weighed several hundred pounds, and didn't look like it had died all that long ago, or at least it hadn't been lying on the beach for that long. I suppose it must happen from natural causes once in a while; I'll inform someone at the turtle place later today. Other than that nothing odd or untoward happened; there was nobody out there, as we left early. Elewah came in at the same time as everyone else with no prompting or interference on my part, which made me happy.
GRADE: A

20.11.10

morning run:
Godzilla
Tuesday
Gowron
Frankie
Lily
Molly
(6)

Tuesday continued to give me problems, even though I tried a different approach this time. Instead of starting out with her on the leash and keeping tight control of her, I decided to try leaving with her off the leash, and just work with her as much as I could. Roni suggested I take one less dog than normal, and this turned out to be a good idea. For once I had a clear plan of exactly where I wanted to go before we left: out the dirty road to the intersection, through the shire and north to the hidden trail, down the beach to Au Soleil Couchant and home in the monte. We started out extremely well: everyone stayed with me and was listening. This is a fast group. Yesterday I felt like I hardly broke a sweat because the dogs were so all over the place, but this bunch just wanted to run, so we kicked ass all the way down the hidden trail to doce, which is where Tuesday got weird. Until that point she had done extremely well, had fun, and even drank from the bottle twice. For some reason, just after we crossed doce to pick up the trail to the beach Tuesday got that paranoid look and started hanging back, glaring at me suspiciously. I have no idea why. Things had been nothing but light and fun until that point, and we had just run a little over 5km at a flat out gallop, so you'd think she'd be a little tired, but instead she decided she didn't want to go any further, and turned around. I know I've had her out on that very trail before, so she knew we were already heading home anyway. She was not to be reasoned with, and insisted on heading back exactly the way we came, back up the hidden trail; my standard Doggie Psych 101 technique of ignoring her and moving on, expecting her to decide it's okay and catch up, was not going to work, so I got us all turned around and it was off to the races, only this time Tuesday wasn't with me, she was trying to beat me home. If I didn't have concerns about her chasing cars or doing other stupid things when out of my sight I might've just said to hell with it and let her go home alone; I did that with Archie once (a long time ago), but Archie doesn't have a history of acting like Tuesday when we're in the monte. In the end, we ended up tracking her (Lily is a good tracker), and caught her as she tried to ford the crossing right at the dead goat 3-way intersection. Amazing. I got her on the leash in the water, which was a little more contentious than I would've liked. I made a point of not losing my temper or demonstrating strong emotions, because I'm convinced that it is counter-productive in the end, so at least the last 1km home wasn't as much of a pain as it might've been in the past. Everyone else on the run was stellar.
GRADE: C

19.11.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Shirley
April
Ziggy
(7)

Strange group, and we started strangely as well. Alice has what could be called crippling bovinophobia: she simply will not go by cows if they are close to the road. I intended to start out going down the dirty road, but the cows were all near the gate in their pasture; Alice balked, and comically so. I didn't want to fight it, and all of these dogs like water, so we crossed the "land" "bridge" (which is still up to my knee under water) and went out south, down the main road into town from the monte. We hadn't gone that way in a while. There was a group of salt workers eating their morning donuts on the road near the large tar-paper shack, and all of the dogs were angels. We entered the monte via that southern entrance we used to use all the time, which is now overgrown to the point that you almost can't see it. The way was high and dry for the most part, and very pretty. No flamingos at all. We took the road that goes by the palapa on stilts all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant access road, and then home via the monte... about 8k according to Google maps. Everyone did well. April was off the leash for almost the entire run (first time in a long while).
GRADE: A

afternoon walk:
Zasu
Henry
Greta
Tito
(4)

Shorty down the dirty road, to the dead goat intersection and around the loop home. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A

17.11.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Maggie
Monkey
(8)

Rufus was terrible at the gate. I had him calmed down before I opened it, but he was still too riled, and I had to be very stern with him down past the shrimpery to get him back on the leash and calm him down again. Not our best exit. Also, a strange group, but Maggie needed it and Monkey is still on fatty patrol... as is Ernie, although less so. Ernie is frequently the fastest or one of the fastest dogs for the length of a run, in spite of his girth. Once we got going everyone settled in and did well. My intention was to do the southern 10k, but it ended up being the southern ~8.5k because Oscar developed a limp somewhere in the first ~5km. He was fine to start with, so I'm guessing he slipped in the mud while playing; I didn't want to take any chances, so we came home at the first turn after the palapa on stilts. It seemed like maybe he was shaking it off by the time we got home, but we'll watch him today to make sure.
GRADE: B

16.11.10

morning:
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Blue
Eve
Truman
Jack
Molly
(8)

Good group. Did the long and winding road. Uneventful. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A

13.11.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Frijolita
Gowron
Ziggy
Lily
(7)

Another odd group, but it worked out well. We did the southern 10k, via a slightly different route than normal; we crossed over one more charco than we usually do before heading south, and we didn't go the entire way to the Au Soleil Couchant road, opting to cross the big charco at a man-made berm and head around through the shire. We ran into one of "los profesionales", heading south on his moto as we were heading north, and the dogs all acquitted themselves perfectly by larking around in the charco quietly while we talked for a couple of seconds. Nobody made a move towards him or barked. Lily and Frijolita had a good time paling around with each other. Lily deserves special mention for showing constant improvement in listening and behaving herself when we're out there; she likes to run fast, but she'll always come back when called, and understands that when I tell her "no" it means "no, don't go chase those flamingos". The sisters kept up well and had fun.
GRADE: A

12.11.10

morning run:
Osita
Blue
Rita
Ernie
Frankie
Monkey
Molly
Elewah*
(8)

I left early with the first seven, and headed out to do the southern 10k. Almost exactly halfway, where you cross the little land bridge between charcos to get onto the road that goes by the palapa on stilts, we ran into Elewah and The Brethren, or at least two of them. Everyone behaved themselves to a degree that I still find surprising: there wasn't even a single bark, and the ones with me just sort of crowded around Elewah and said hi. She was covered in that sticky plant, and extremely happy/snorty; her pals sort of melted into the monte quickly, and nobody seemed to notice. I was thinking they were following us after that, but I never caught sight of them. Elewah continued on with us and came home; she drank most of the water, so who knows what she got into out there. We never went near the beach.
GRADE: A

10.11.10

morning run:
Bette
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Reggie
(8)

An energetic and fun group. I dealt with Rufus today by forcing him to calm down on the leash inside the yard, and then not opening the gate until everyone was quiet. This took a little while, as Bette and Rufus were both incredibly wound up. However, true to form, by the shripmery intersection Rufus had calmed down, and Bette was having a good time. We went the long and winding road to the northern charcos, the "right" way (counter-clockwise if viewed from above). At the place where you must turn off of the road to playa maya and go west back into the charcos, there is a mini-charco not 20m off of the "road". Usually it is empty, but today we left early and there were at least 100 huge birds of all kinds jammed into it in the morning cold. Flamingos (little ones), egrets, lots of those little birds that follow them both around, ducks ... they were silent, and so were we, but we couldn't help startling about 50 of them into flight just by walking by single-file. Quite a sight. Nice to go early this time of year. Everyone was stellar.
GRADE: A

08.11.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Gracie
Shirley
Godzilla
Molly
(7)

Turned out to be a good group. Alice was scared of a group of cows early; we had to slog around them in the charco so that she couldn't see them through the bushes... if she can't see it, she can't be scared of it. Past that we did half of the long and winding road, just like 05.11.10, but in the opposite direction. We went out like we were going to the hidden trail via the northern charcos, but we kept heading north, slogged across the rump of that charco and hit the trail that leads to the road. We then took it east to the road to playa maya; on two occasions I got crossed up a bit, since things look different when you're going in the opposite direction. However, we persevered and slogged our way through to the north/south playa maya route, turned south and came home via the charcos (Lucy likes to swim so much). We took the short-cut home from the intersection where the crossing is still under water past my hip. The dogs were adorable as they huffed and puffed their way across, and Lucy truly showed her mettle: she hit the water last (she was getting tired of all that damned running), and ended up on the other side first. A warrior at heart.
GRADE: A

06.11.10

evening walk:
Zasu
Miles
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Henry
Greta
(7)

Miles, Miles, Miles... the monte echoes with our voices calling (yelling, hollering, screaming) his name whenever he hits the road. He dawdles and screws around and waits until you walk ALL THE WAY BACK to get him before sprinting off ahead of everyone and pissing you off even more. His shenanigans aside, everyone was good. Just a shorty loop down the dirty road to the dead goat intersection and around the cow pasture.
GRADE: B

05.11.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Blue
Rita
Elewah
(8)

A group built for speed and endurance, we blazed a new trail today... at least new to us. We went north, out to the long and winding road (subject of 28.10.10), but instead of taking it all the way to doce I paid close attention to find the turn back south, which ends up connecting to the northern charcos. The intersection is overgrown, but this time I found it and it worked out exactly as planned; there's only one sloggy patch, perhaps 50m, and a few dodgy bits directly west of the road to playa maya. Other than that, the whole way was high and dry, albeit insanely overgrown for stretches. There are some beautiful little places on that route, and the dogs loved running around out there; yet another route for the must-go-with-Roni tour. Everyone was good, and although Elewah didn't come back in with everyone else, she only screwed around for 15m and then came in of her own accord (she still is titular Queen of the Monte, so I guess she has to check in on things). Not a very long run, but a really nice one.
GRADE: A

04.11.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
George
Osita
Eve
Frijolita
Ernie
Molly
(8)

Sort of a strange round-up of dogs, but it worked out well. There's a norte blowing through right now, so we avoided the beach and did the southern ~9k again. It was perhaps a bit long for George, but he drank most of the water and did well. Monte drying out bit by bit, but still some slogging. Everyone was good and had fun.
GRADE: A

03.11.10

morning walk:
Zasu
Lucy
Greta
Ziggy
Elewah
(5)

Short walk down the dirty road to the dead goat intersection and back again. Elewah was a bit of a jerk at first (predictable), but things evened out and everyone had a good time swimming in the over-full charcos (even Zasu). It was a bit hot, and Greta was not allowed to run so she had to be told that constantly, but everyone was pretty good and had a good time.
GRADE: B

02.11.10

morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Henry
Ernie
Gowron
Monkey
Molly
(7)

Lucy didn't feel like going, which worries me. She doesn't seem to be particularly ill or anything, but she wasn't up for a run. Everyone who went did well. We did the southern 8-9k, which we hadn't done in a while; I did this mainly to limit the amount of xmul we ran through, given that I had a couple of little hairy dogs. there are still flamingos, but not nearly so many, and we didn't disturb them. Still quite flooded; the "land bridge" behind the shrimpery is under water up to my thigh in places. Hardly any bugs at all. Molly did well on her first post-surgery run.
GRADE: A

30.10.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Tuesday
Frankie
(7)

Tuesday still cannot be trusted. I let her off the leash a little past the 1km mark, and she was fine for the almost entire run; she listened to me, let me give her pets and water, and generally had a good time with everyone. We went out to the northern hidden trail, down to the beach, back into the monte at the tortuga sign and home. Right past the tortuga sign, Tuesday started to shy away from me and got farther and farther ahead; she would not be reasoned with, and basically had us sprinting the last 2km home. I don't know what started her off. We were all having a good time running around the bend from the tortuga sign towards doce; I had no intention of putting her on the leash yet, but she seemed convinced I did, or something. It was almost like she got paranoid all of a sudden, although that doesn't seem very dog-like. In any event her behavior sort of crapped on what was an otherwise nice run. Not too long, not too hot outside, very few bugs, fun terrain to run through. Who knows why she did that.
GRADE: C

28.10.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Posey
Godzilla
Blue
Truman
Reggie
Elewah
(8)

I threw Elewah in because this is her kind of crowd. The dogs were angels, but this run turned into an epic without my realizing it. My intention was to head North in the monte towards Playa Maya and turn around out there before the stone bridge somewhere. Instead, as we were getting close to the point where I wanted to turn around I noticed a road heading off to the West, although it obviously had not been traveled in quite some time; the weeds were over my head in spots. I mistakenly thought this was a road that connected with the North charcos. Instead, it is a road that winds down to doce, although it does sort of connect to the road I thought it was initially; I think I must've passed by the intersection and not noticed because it was overgrown or flooded. In any event, we ended up on doce about 1km north of where the hidden trail lets out (subject of our previous run); I didn't know how far North we were at the time. Earlier I had been bitten by ants, of the same variety that attacked Ernie over a year ago now; I was only bitten half a dozen times, but those ants punch way, way out of their weight-class. I mention this because I don't know if it was a factor, or if we had just left too late and gone too far, but it was while running down doce looking for the head for the trail that leads to the beach where I started to feel a bit sluggish. We took a false turn, and then finally found the trail to the beach, which we took. At this point I was feeling fairly crappy, but I wasn't sure if it was late enough that we would avoid unpleasant people on the beach or not, so I cut back into the monte at Au Soleil Couchant, adding 1km to the already much lengthier than expected journey (12km according to Google Maps). We ended up coming home by every possible short-cut in the monte, sometimes fording crossings that were over the dogs' heads for 50-100m at a stretch (they were so cute behind me). I had to walk part of the way, and drank the rest of the water myself to get home. The dogs had a great time, at least, but the total time was over 2 hours, which was kind of a bummer for Roni. That road is definitely a place for us to check out together... there is a lot of cool stuff out there to photograph.
GRADE: A

26.10.10

morning run:
George
Shirley
Gowron
Ernie
Ziggy
Lily
Jack
Monkey
(8)

Ernie barked like an idiot at a huge bull that the local cow-people just let wander around loose in the monte, along with the rest of their now-sizable herd. Otherwise everyone was stellar. It was an odd group: representatives from the Fatties, the Running Dogs and Shorties. They all really had a good time. We caught some cloud cover, so it wasn't too hot; George drank most of the water anyway, but he kept up well. We went out via the shire to that hidden trail from the Northern charcos to doce; this time, however, I finally managed to figure out where the head of the trail on the other side of doce was, so instead of running down doce for 500m we crossed over and did a bit of off-roading to the beach. There is definitely a trail there, but nothing larger than a mapache has been on it for years. It was swampy, spiny and beautiful, if a bit dicey in parts. We came out on the beach about 200m south of the palm tree, ran down to the tortuga sign and home via the monte. Roni and I should go out there with a camera sometime. Bugs not bad. Flooding severe in places but subsiding.
GRADE: B

24.10.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Henry
April
Maggie
Ziggy
Monkey
(8)

Lucy had a little limp by the end, but she was good out of the gate and really wanted to run; she swam a lot, and seems to be over what was ailing her. April was on the leash until we got out past the shire, where it is still flooded, at which point I let her off provisionally. On probation. Never out of my sight. She behaved herself, and was off the leash until we got near the beach, where she was no longer listening as well. We took the obvious way out to the East, North a bit, down the Au Soleil Couchant access road, then all the way home on the beach.
GRADE: A

23.10.10

mid-day swim:
Zasu
Greta
Lucy
Henry
Gowron
Maggie
(6)

Greta did 7 laps in calm seas, Lucy swam a fair bit, Zasu not so much. Maggie came out far a couple times. Everyone was sort of out of sync.
GRADE: C

22.10.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Osita
(7)

What a group. I put Rufus on the leash before we even crossed doce, and by the time we got to the shrimpery intersection he was fine and I took him off; it's just those first 100 meters where he's completely out of his mind. I wasn't feeling all that great to start with, but the dogs inspired me and we ended up going all the way to playa maya via the monte and home on the beach. I didn't intend to do that, but we got to the stone bridge in no time flat, and since that's the half-way mark it doesn't really matter whether we go ahead or come back once we're there. Ernie, chubster that he is, did 13k basically standing on his head. He did drink most of the water, but he was never lagging and was obviously having a good time paling around with Chester. For my part, this is only the second time I've gone that far and I was much better off this time around; I didn't feel like puking or passing out when we got to the beach, and was able to maintain our pace all the way home, so I call that a personal win. Flooding going down steadily everywhere. Bugs not that bad.
GRADE: A

20.10.10

morning run:
Gracie
Shirley
Rita
Frijolita
Eve
Frankie
Elewah
(7)

Bette sat out with a cough, so Shirley gleefully took her place. This was Elewah's kind of run, a Northern 10k out towards the stone bridge with other dogs as fast as her... of course, she would always prefer to go the full distance, but some days that just isn't a good idea. We didn't see another living creature except for the odd lizard and the inevitable birds. The bugs weren't bad at all, but much of the monte is still flooded; usually the two things go hand in hand. Shirley drank a lot of water (Elewah is number two on the water-drinkers list). Everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A

evening walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Maggie
Gowron
(6)

Miles dawdled a lot, Maggie dawdled a little, but in general everyone was good. Mom, Gowron and Zasu went down to the beach at the end and stuck their toes in the water, but only Gowron truly felt the call of the sea. Cute little crew.
GRADE: B

18.10.10

morning run:
Alice
Ginger
George
Chester
Ernie
Monkey
(6)

Lucy looked like she wanted to go but then decided it against it right outside the gate, so I came back and let her into the yard. She still isn't right after her intestinal illness. Ginger was right as rain, and she had the same thing (but not as bad). The monte is less flooded each day, although still pretty flooded most places. We went out North to that little "hidden" trail that goes from the charcos to doce; it's still half underwater, but it goes up and down so it's a fun run. Doce, on the other hand, is no fun at all, but there's only a few hundred meters to go there. We went back into the monte at Au Soleil Couchant and came home the usual way. Everyone was good and had fun.
GRADE: A

16.10.10

morning run:
Henry
Blue
Reggie
Maggie
April
Ziggy
Monkey
(7)

Excellent group, although we missed Molly (recovering from her surgery). Did the southern ~9k, mainly to avoid areas of heavy xmul concentration with all these hairy little dogs. April was on the leash the whole way until we hit the shrimpery trail on the way home. Everyone was good. Flooding is going down. Bugs were not that bad for once.
GRADE: A

15.10.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Rufus
Truman
Lily
Jack
(7)

This was a stellar group. I put Truman in instead of Chester because he really needed to go; I must say the pace was a little less frantic as a result, although we still made good time. We did the Southern 10k; there are still a lot of flamingos in those charcos, much to my chagrin. I've been going North more lately, so I thought I'd check it out again, but I'll go North again next time. Still, everyone was good and had fun.
GRADE: A

12.10.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Osita
Godzilla
Gowron
Frankie
Molly
(7)

Excellent group. We went north and found a road that runs parallel to the Au Soleil Couchant access road, but further to the north; I saw it on Google Maps and was wondering about it. Although it is roughly half under water over its length, it has a lot of dry patches and it isn't too deep anywhere; very overgrown, to the point of effectively being an off-road run for a lot of it. It goes from the first Northern charco past the shire all the way to the doce. On gmaps it looks like there is a trail to the beach right across from it, but right now you cannot see it and it is basically impassable there. We ran South down doce for a couple hundred meters until we found the Au Soleil Couchant intersection, and then went back into the monte and came home the usual way. Everyone acquitted themselves well.
GRADE: A

11.10.10

morning run:
Alice
Posey
Shirley
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Elewah
(7)

Elewah should only come on long-distance runs for a while; I should've taken April instead, and I feel bad about it. Once again, I felt pressed for time and things just sort of worked out how they did. Nobody did anything terrible, and we didn't go for a very long one, but Elewah just jacked the pace up too much. On a 13k run she settles down after around 8k, and I think we may have gone 8k total today. We had to double back at Au Soleil Couchant because I saw someone with what might've been dogs down at the tortuga sign, and I didn't feel like dealing with it right then; we went back into the monte and came home the way we went out. The flooding is gradually receding everywhere, but most of where we go is still under water.
GRADE: B

09.10.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Tuesday
Monkey
(7)

Good group, went fairly far (10+k). Took the northern route out towards playa maya, but did not get to the stone bridge, which is the halfway point of the 13k loop. It is less flooded, but still quite a bit under water. Tuesday was only on the leash within ~1.5km of the house; otherwise, she was off and did well. Rufus also did a little better at the gate today.
GRADE: A

07.10.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Alice
Frijolita
Rita
Gowron
Molly
Elewah
(8)

I threw Alice in because she's fat, and she was asking nicely at the gate when everyone else was being a jerk. She kept up and had a good time. It was another medium-length run, perhaps approaching 10k (9 and change). Still extremely flooded in parts. Elewah continues to prove herself a pain in the ass (reminds me so much of Gracie a couple years ago). She was always too far ahead and jacking up the pace, which was quick to begin with. At one point Elewah and Gracie had something treed in the impenetrable brush and woods behind the observation platform/palapa in the southern charcos, and Elewah was calling for backup. Everyone who answered the call came back to me quickly, and the guilty parties were not far behind. I was glad to see that Molly was not in Elewah's thrall like her pups are; she always came back to me in preference to following Elewah. We avoided the beach, but there was plenty of swimming in the monte.
GRADE: A

06.10.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Henry
George
Ernie
Tuesday
Frankie
(8)

About 500m out, just past the turn onto the dirty road, I noticed Lucy lagging. She had been up for the run at the gate, and although she was a bit slow to that point that is normal for her. She wasn't limping, just slow. By the time we passed 1km it was obvious that she wasn't going to make anything like a real run. I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong, but she just didn't want to run. She was fine with swimming in the charcos, but not running. We cut it short at the tortuga road and headed home on the beach, where she also swam a lot. Not sure what is up, need to watch her. Her gums look good, and she seems in a good mood. Everyone else was good, including Tuesday, who was off the leash for a lot of it.
GRADE: A

04.10.10

morning run:
Truman
Blue
Eve
April
Maggie
Ziggy
Monkey
(7)

Good group. April was on the leash for all but the last 50m coming home, but was good about it and had a good time. It was a decent length, via the southern charcos. I had forgotten how many flamingos were there the last time we went, and we did bother a couple coming around the horn to the south because they were so close to the road. We should not go that way for a few days, I don't like to bother them even a little. It was about half and half slogging through water and mud and running on dry ground. Everyone listened well, and for the first time Monkey gave me no trouble at the gate coming home.
GRADE: A

02.10.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Osita
Godzilla
Molly
(8)

I thought it would do Molly some good to go on a run where every single other dog is well-behaved and proven. Instead of trying to put her on the leash, I stopped about a dozen times along the way, made her come all the way to me from wherever she was and give me a kiss before we continued. Next time out we'll try the leash again. Everyone else was good. We did the southern 10k, basically, except we skipped the beach and came home in the monte. I hate to mention this, but I feel it should be noted in time: today we came across a group of about half a dozen dead dogs at the corner where you turn on to the dirty road behind the shrimpery. I believe they had been shot and dumped there, and it must've been yesterday, because we went that way the day before and there was nothing there. Nobody we knew. Grim. The dogs didn't pay it much mind. Still flooded. Still buggy.
GRADE: A

30.09.10

morning run:
Gracie
Shirley
Posey
Ernie
Elewah
Lily
Jack
(7)

Elewah is a pain in the ass. I think I have vowed this before here, but I swear I will never take her again with her pups. They got thrown in together today because I was running late and just decided to take whatever dogs were outside for expediency's sake; I didn't feel like going through the hassle of dragging her or her pups upstairs after we had gotten everything set. It wasn't a total disaster, but Elewah did set the pace (FAST) and dragged her pups up ahead with her a bit too much for my taste. Everyone else was good, and Elewah wasn't terrible or anything. Near the end a fox crossed the road about 20m ahead of us and Elewah (on point of course) took off after it into the dense bushes at that intersection, dragging Posey and her pups with her. Remarkably, Gracie did not join the festivities, which I found interesting and gratifying. Still, in the end everyone who chased came out of the brush and back to me in fairly short order. Hot out because we left late. Flooded and bitey.
GRADE: B

28.09.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Ernie
Ziggy
Monkey
Molly
(8)

Mostly fatties in a thoroughly flooded monte. We went a reasonable distance - not a short one, like I have been doing with the fatties, but not a long one, either. Went out via the dirty road, south past the intersection, and around to the turn west near Bag End. We took Elewah's shortcut through to the shire and then back around to the tortuga turn and home the way we came. Ernie barked at some birders on a moto, but he stopped when I told him to. Molly needs a lot more work on the leash. The sisters kept up and had a good time. Everyone swam a lot, and frequently there was no choice.
GRADE: B

26.09.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Eve
Monkey
(7)

Monkey got thrown in because she's starting to show signs of chubbiness, so she's now on heavy rotation (hah). She was stellar until the very end, when she gave me a little attitude at the gate. Rufus was unbelievably worked up at the gate when we were leaving, but calmed down quickly as usual; we need to work on that. The monte is INCREDIBLY FLOODED. We took the alternate route North down the dirty road because it's less flooded, went east of the intersection and then South and all the way around back North to the Au Soleil Couchant access road. It's mostly high and dry on that route, but there were a couple low spots that disappeared into the charcos. We didn't bother with the beach today. Lots of flamingos. Bugs weren't as bad as I thought they would be, but were noticeable after yesterday's rain.
GRADE: B

24.09.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Truman
Rita
Frijolita
Lily
Jack
Molly
(8)

I've said this two or three times now, but the monte was the most flooded I've ever seen it today (heavy rains yesterday afternoon). I took this crew out with eight AGAIN, because I screwed up counting when I was letting them out. I really didn't mean to, but then everyone was separated and being good and the dogs in this group are mostly on the "A" list; I foolishly thought that the good ones would influence the newbies. Out past the intersection, Gracie and Bette ran off into the flooded iceplant flats and scrub to check something out while I was deciding whether to go North or South, and when I called them only Bette came back. This led to about 30min of my shouting Gracie's name and tracking her through the swampy muck until her trail led into brush too dense to follow. By that point I figured she had just headed home; she had, and was waiting for us at the gate when we got back. She hasn't done that in a while and I'm not happy about it. Everyone else was stellar past that point, though, and all stayed with me while we looked for Gracie, through some challenging, swampy terrain. We came home via the beach at Au Soleil Couchant. Lily ran far ahead and then turned around and came all the way back to me when I called her, several times, which is good progress. When we turned off of the beach to follow the maginot line (cow-avoidance) I learned that there no longer IS a maginot line: it has been incorporated into the property to the North and fenced off. Since we were already there we just cut across anyway, but we can't do that again.
GRADE: C

22.09.10

morning slog:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Ernie
Shirley
Reggie
Ziggy
Elewah*
(9)

I left with the first eight; Ziggy got tacked on because he is SO loud when left behind and sometimes it's just easier. It tires him out, and he's good on the road. The monte is even more flooded than the last time I went, due to heavy rains Monday afternoon/evening. I grabbed Reggie on the road behind the shrimpery and put him on the leash for a long while, just to make sure he didn't hurt himself. Once we got out past the intersection I let him off and didn't let him out of my sight; since it was mostly slogging through water up to his chest at times, it wasn't an issue. I had Shirley and Reggie on either end of the leash for a while at one point because she just won't listen and gets too far ahead. Elewah had been let out last night to see her buds, who arrived "home" late (full moon, we could all see). Today we heard her and the Brethren bark at us from far away to the south when we got to the end of the dead goat trail. I called her name a couple of times, but they sounded much too far away for her to hear, so we just carried on North. Apparently I was wrong, because she caught us out past where I let Reggie off of the leash, which was nearly 2km from where we heard her first (but not as the crow flies, and that's probably more how she came). We did a short loop out past bag end to the Au Soleil Couchant access road, down to the beach and home. Not very long but tiring none the less.
GRADE: B

20.09.10

morning run:
Monkey
Molly
Maggie
April
Ziggy
Gowron
Alice
Elewah
(8)

I threw Elewah in out of weakness, I guess; she just started sleeping upstairs a couple of days ago and I guess I felt like I didn't want her to feel trapped, or something. Doesn't always make sense; anyway, she was good, and I'm not going to do that too often. I threw Alice in because she's fat. I'm trying to get the sisters and Ernie in on more runs as much as I can because they're all fat. April was on the leash the whole way, which wasn't far: out North to the Au Soleil Couchant road, into the monte to the first turn south and back home via the shire. The majority of the way was flooded, up past my knee in some places, so even though it wasn't a very long run, it was a lot of exercise slogging through the mud and water, especially for the littler ones. Molly and Monkey both gave me a little bit of attitude coming back in at the gate, but generally everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: B

19.09.10

mid-day swim:
Greta
Gowron
(2)

Greta did 8 laps in calm seas. The bottom is still squishy and gross in places, and the water was even a tiny bit chilly (for here). Gowron was okay, but did a lot of screwing around and didn't listen particularly well... she's just so damn cute it's hard to get mad at her. Dangerous. She could rule Japan by herself.
GRADE: B

early afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Tito
Monkey
Jack
(5)

VERY hot out there after around 2pm, even if there are clouds in the sky. Roni bravely ventured forth with this little crew; luckily, there weren't many bugs, but the clouds and the heat trapped under them turn the monte into an open-air microwave oven by early afternoon. Down to the shrimpery, around the dirty road and back again (due to puddles too deep for Miles or Tito) is more than enough in that heat. Everyone did well.
GRADE: A

18.09.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Ernie
Osita
Frankie
Elewah*
(8)

I had let Elewah out earlier to see her buddies, who were hanging out on and around the beach near the cows. I didn't see her out there when the rest of us left, but she picked us up right away, so she was obviously hanging around. We went straight out North towards Playa Maya/Xixim, but I had no intention of doing the full loop today. I figured a good place to turn around would present itself, and it did: Frankie didn't want to ford the deep crossing about 1km south of the stone bridge, so that's where we turned around. That puts the length at around 10k, since the stone bridge is a little more than 6km. We came back via Elewah's shortcut through the shire. There were heavy rains yesterday, and the monte was as flooded as I've ever seen it. Very few bugs, curiously enough. Everyone was good. Ernie deserves special mention, since this was a long one for him (I threw him in because he's still too fat and needs it).
GRADE: A

16.09.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Posey
Godzilla
Rufus
Lily
Jack
Elewah
(8)

Hurricane Karl blew to the south of us last night, to little effect here. The monte was quiet this morning, and there were even more flamingos than usual in the charcos just 1km away (right to the east of the circular intersection). No people whatsoever. Bette had to go on the leash just past the first kilometer because she ran off to do something wet and disgusting; she was good afterwards. Lily thought she might chase some birds past the intersection, so SHE went on the leash there for a while; she was good on the leash, and (mostly) good afterwards. We took a southern route around the middle charcos and back north to Au Soleil Couchant. Near the intersection with doce someone on a moto blew by heading North about 20m before we got there. Elewah decided to chase them, and even though she had no chance whatsoever of catching them I was still irritated with her (but I must remark: WOW is she fast). She needs to wear a collar when she goes on runs, and I don't want to take her together with her kids for a while, because they both followed her a bit. No harm done, and everyone was fine thereafter, but I don't like so many lapses on one run.
GRADE: C

14.09.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Ernie
George
Shirley
Blue
(7)

Technically it was the Gracie/Bette line's turn, but the fatties are looking a little ... fat. Also, it was getting late and hot and it made more sense to go for a normal-length one with the fatties than a truncated one with the Running Dogs. Everyone had a good time and did well. Lots of bugs and LOTS of flamingos. Even though we haven't had any rain in a few days the monte is still mostly under water.
GRADE: A

13.09.10

morning run:
Monkey
Molly
Maggie
April
Ziggy
Frijolita
Eve
(7)

We've had two of Mudo's girls recuperating with us post-surgery since Saturday, so it's been hard to get out; they are getting along famously with everyone now and healing nicely, so today seemed like a good day to take the fourth line out for a spin. Frjiolita and Eve are always stellar, and set a good example for everyone else, who behaved themselves and had a good time. April was on the leash the entire way and did well. We didn't go terribly far, but far enough, and we did it quickly. Lots of swimming in the flooded charcos and on the beach. Lots of flamingos in the monte.
GRADE: A

late morning swim:
Greta
(1)

The ocean is at one of its ridiculously low tides right now, and there is a ton of seaweed gumming up the works; stinky in spots, with a spongy bottom. In a word: gross. Greta did six laps, and it was hard for her. She, in turn, made it hard for me; I had to carry her down from upstairs all the way to the beach (she did NOT want to go), and then carry her a LONG way out to swim each lap... well, it seemed long, anyway.
GRADE: B

09.09.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Rita
Elewah
(8)

Longest run ever (13k according to Google Earth). We went north until we finally hit the access road just to the south of Playa Maya (maybe 200m south), took it down to the beach, then south 4k to the tortuga sign and back home via the monte: a super-sized Lollipop run. It turns out they do work the salt charcos that far out, and it sure looked like tough going to me. The dogs were all angels and had a lot of fun. I was fairly wrecked on the beach, but I managed to pull it together by the tortuga sign. It is really beautiful out there. Bugs were pretty bad in spots.
GRADE: A

mid-day swim:
Zasu
Greta
Gowron
Maggie
Ziggy
(5)

Greta did 7 laps like a champ and even larked around a little. Zasu swam quite a lot, getting a bit of her mojo back; she stayed out later than everyone else. Maggie does not listen well, and she and Ziggy also distract each other a bit too much, but they still did well and swam a lot. PupG was an angel, although she is easily influenced (*cough* MAGGIE).
GRADE: B

08.09.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Ernie
Reggie
Frankie
(7)

Good group. Reggie was on the leash quite a bit as a preventative measure, since he wounded himself so badly on his last outing several weeks ago. He's all healed up now and we want it to stay that way, so he was either on the leash or not out of my sight (I let him off to go jump in the charcos and screw around a bit... he is a dog, after all). We basically did the Lollipop route: down to the tortuga sign access road, then east into the monte in a great circle coming out at Au Soleil Couchant, back into the monte at the tortuga sign and home the way we came. There was no wind, so the bugs were back, but it wasn't as bad as it has been recently (still pretty bad, though). Lots of flamingos, very few people. Nice run.
GRADE: A

mid-day swim:
Zasu
Greta
Gowron
Ziggy
Molly
(5)

Getting back in the saddle after a little bit of a lay-off. Zasu was not her usual enthusiastic self, but she did swim a fair amount. Greta did 7 hard laps. Everyone else was ridiculously cute and had a good time; Molly swam especially well, and is becoming quite a water dog. Water was a bit cloudy, bugs bad at times, still beautiful and fun for all.
GRADE: A

06.09.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Shirley
Henry
Posey
Osita
Eve
Blue
(8)

Shirley talked me into it, Henry had already been promised, and this is a really good group, so once again I took eight. Not going to make a habit of it, but it was fine today. We saw no people whatsoever the entire length of the run, and did a fair bit of off-roading in some of the northern charcos. I keep forgetting that Osita and Eve don't like to ford crossings over their heads; this complicated things a little bit, but we ended up forging a new trail through some pretty cool woods as a result. The wind really picked up during the run, so the bugs were not a problem for the first time in months. Henry is a little trooper, and deserves a medal for some of the crossings he made today. Flamingos everywhere, and very close to us at times.
GRADE: A

05.09.10

morning run:
Monkey
Molly
Maggie
April
Ziggy
Lily
Jack
Elewah
(8)

Alright, I admit that taking this many untested dogs at once was a bad idea, and that's without considering what a nut-job April is. The latter made me pay for letting her off the leash out past the intersection, where she disappeared for 15 minutes and left me screaming my head off. As much as I love the sound of her name, hearing it reverberate off of the swamps while I shout myself hoarse is not my idea of a good time. She showed up no worse for wear, and everyone else vamped admirably; naturally, she was on the leash for the rest of the run, and will remain on the leash for the rest of her natural life. Ziggy was having some butt issues, but he's a trooper. Everyone else behaved well, especially Molly (her rookie run). We didn't really go that far, but the monte is completely flooded so there's a lot of slogging through water and mud up to your knees. Let's cal it a win, anyway.
GRADE: C

01.09.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Frijolita
Godzilla
Elewah
(8)

The past couple days have been hard (work, not feeling well), so I was dead set on going today regardless. We left late but had some cloud cover, so the heat wasn't really a factor. This group is good for exploring, so we went farther north than we have ever been except in Jeep: out past no-man's land to the north, where the road is under water more than half the way for at least 2km. It starts to dry out and is passable after that, at least for long stretches. I kept wanting to see what was around the next bend, but somewhere out there I realized we had gone a LONG way north, so we turned around. Beautiful, all kinds of birds everywhere (but no flamingos to the north, curiously). We were probably about as far north as playa maya when we turned around, maybe a little to the south. Everyone was stellar. Hard one.
GRADE: A-

28.08.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Shirley
Monkey
Maggie
(7)

Rain yesterday topped off most of the charcos in the monte, so there was a lot of mud and water with crabs, tadpoles and tiny fish. We did a bit of off-roading off to the north, this time in the charco further west than last time; we actually ended up fording the same crossing as last time at the end, and came out by Chester's shortcut out to the north of no-man's land, but we got there by a different route. Buggy and beautiful, with just a few flamingos around (but impressively large and close). Everyone acquitted themselves admirably, kept up and had a good time.
GRADE: A

26.08.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Osita
Rita
Ernie
Gowron
Frankie
(7)

Another all-monte run to the north, this time off-roading around one of the charcos just north of no-man's land, to the west of where we went last time. I've been there before, but when it was dry; today there was a lot of slogging through water up to my ankles or even knees in places. In a few spots we had to turn back because of a combination of slippery, hard bottom and deep water; there is an algae that grows on the bottom sometimes that is slipperier than ice. Osita doesn't like to ford crossings that are too deep, and we had to turn around at the end and run an extra km with her on the leash because she wouldn't come to me to make a short-cut (I was going to carry her across). Otherwise all good. We saw one lone flamingo up close in a northern charco, and a group of 6 overflew us at close range on the way home.
GRADE: B

24.08.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Frijolita
Elewah
(8)

I've been asked by the biosphere people not to go running in no-man's land any more, for fear of bothering the wildlife. So, today we went much farther north than we've been before, heading out to where the trail through no-man's land ends as our starting point and continuing on through the flooded salt charcos (which is fine by the biosphere people). It's impassable if you aren't on foot, and very beautiful. We saw no flamingos and no people whatsoever out there (just a couple salt dudes close to home on the way back). I'm not sure how far we went exactly since I don't have a good mental map of that part of the monte yet, but my legs feel like it was a long one. A lot of slogging through water and mud. Rufus was too wound up to begin with but settled down. Elewah was good and came in with the rest of us at the end.
GRADE: B

21.08.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Henry
George
Shirley
Monkey
(7)

Good group, and a wet one. The whole monte is flooded; even the "land bridge" access road behind the shripmery is impassable on anything but foot now. Monkey was a dream, and enthusiastic without being out of control. She swam a LOT, as did most of them (Ginger the least, naturally). We didn't hit the beach at all. We went the usual route to the intersection (completely flooded), then went across the first set of charcos and turned south, where there were a ton of flamingos. We went all the way around the southern loop, and came back via the shire, which was COMPLETELY FLOODED; the swimming hole was well over all of the dogs' heads, and you couldn't even see the trail for 50m. Everyone had fun.
GRADE: A

20.08.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Posey
Blue
Eve
Ernie
Tuesday
Elewah*
(8)

It looked like maybe this was a bad idea before we left: they were incredibly wound up, and I knew I had to have Tuesday on the leash practically the whole way. Somehow, though, only 500m down the road or so they all settled down and it turned out to be a nice, long run on a cool, cloudy, windy morning. The road to the southern 3-way was too flooded to bother with, but we ended up going out to no-man's land anyway, and off-roading a bit to get around the worst of the flooding while out there. A red SUV was parked out in the middle of the road just before no-man's land, and there were three people in the boat out on that far charco, too far from us to see. Ernie did well in spite of it being the longest run he's been on for a while. Tuesday was only off the leash in no-man's land when we were punching a trail through the woods. We came home via the monte at the tortuga sign, since I didn't want to run into or deal with the cows on the beach (their pasture is completely flooded). Everyone behaved themselves. Elewah is still out as I write this, but it's going to storm so I expect her back soon.
GRADE: A

18.08.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Rita
(7)

Left on the beach due to cows on the road. Turned into the monte at the tortuga sign, where Rufus kept shying away from me when I went to put him on the leash; I had to sit down in the road and make him come to me. Very bad. He hasn't done that in a while. He was really wound up, but still there's no excuse for that. He was on the leash for the rest of the way, which was short. We just did a loop around the shire, basically, and hit the beach at Au Soleil Couchant. Saw soldiers and hat guy on the way home. Everyone else was moderately good, but it wasn't a very good run in general. Monte is extremely flooded (which normally would've been fun).
GRADE: C

17.08.10

afternoon swim:
Zasu
Molly
(2)

Zasu did 4 1/2 laps and Molly was game but starting to wander on the beach. Beautiful.
GRADE: B

16.08.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Shirley
Ernie
George
Gowron
Elewah*
(8)

Went on the normal medium-length fatties run; threw Elewah in because I knew she wanted to go find The Brethren and she doesn't ever cause any grief, at least not with this crew. Went out sort of halfway to the Last Turn Home but then doubled back to the road that goes to the East of the shire, and took it all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant access road. We only went on the beach down to the tortuga sign, to avoid any possible or even imaginary issue with people, since there are quite a few staying to the north of us now. Everyone was stellar. Elewah stayed out to find her buds, expect her back soon.
GRADE: A

truck dog:
April
(1)

Start writing this down, since it counts. Went for a microwalk in the monte on the back way to town.
GRADE: A

14.08.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Godzilla
Osita
Frankie
Lily
Jack
(7)

Went early on a long one with a good group. Lily and Jack are both really coming along; I had Lily on the leash in no-man's land again (although she seems less and less interested in chasing flamingos), and she ran like a champ the whole time she was on. We went the full 10+k, entering the monte proper via the southern route (no goat-punchers in this group), and coming home on the beach from Au Soleil Couchant. Everyone had fun, kept up and listened well. First time in a while that we didn't see a single person anywhere, but there were lots of flamingos.
GRADE: A

13.08.10

afternoon swim:
Zasu
Gowron
(2)

Gowron was enthusiastic, Zasu not so much.
GRADE: B

11.08.10

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Frijolita
Elewah*
(8)

Left with the first seven; Elewah had been let out much earlier to go see The Brethren, one of whom had come to get her on the beach. Out near weathertop hill they all barked at us from the bushes somewhere (couldn't see them), and I called out Elewah's name a few times as we ran past (everyone was good). Sure enough, about 100m later, as we were crossing the middle charcos, Elewah came rocketing up to us out of the bush, whining and happy. She was with us for the rest of the run, out through no-man's land and down to the beach, but then took off again out the south road once we got back. Tons of flamingos, very few people. Long one. Everyone was stellar.
GRADE: A

mid-day swim:
Zasu
Molly
(2)

Mixed bag. Zasu didn't want to swim, and Molly is not quite up to speed on her ever-increasing hugeness. They both came in early so Roni could have a decent swim. I'm laid up with a swollen little finger/hand, so wrestling Greta was not an option.
GRADE: C

10.08.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Shirley
Ernie
George
Henry
Elewah
(8)

Turned around at the ~2km mark because I couldn't find Henry, who had inexplicably come home by himself early. Everyone got gypped, especially Shirley, who really wanted to run. Really sucked.
GRADE: D

mid-day walk:
Zasu
Miles
Tito
Molly
(4)

This adorable little crew took mom on a walk to the charco behind the shrimpery and managed to get her back without getting carried off by the bugs. Tito claims several of the rodents in that area owe him money, but can produce no paper to back it up. Hot, humid, cloudy, sweaty, buggy day.
GRADE: A

09.08.10

morning swim:
Greta
Zasu
Maggie
Ziggy
(4)

First time in a little while. Greta did 7 laps, but wanted to do less. Zasu was game for anything but did less than she has done in the past; still, she obviously likes swimming now, whereas she never used to, so that's pretty cool. Mags and Zig swam a bit and then got themselves into trouble by barking at someone (Mags, mostly), so they went in early. Water was nice, at least.
GRADE: B

08.08.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Posey
Rita
Blue
Lily
Jack
(7)

Long one with a good group. The greenway is cut off from our normal eastern entrance due to flooding, so we took the main road down towards the goats and then turned into the monte from the southern route. Fairly flooded, but passable and beautiful. Nobody is working the charcos to the south right now. Went the full monty. Had Lily on and off the leash through no-man's land and a little beyond (where we've seen flamingos recently); she is MUCH improved. It turned out the closest flamingos were less than 50m away in the charco at the turn to the west, and nobody made a peep.
GRADE: A

05.08.10

morning run:
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Osita
Godzilla
Eve
(7)

Good group, went far. Usual story of late: lots of flamingos, lots of mud, lots of bugs. Nobody did anything untoward. Rufus had to start out on the leash he was so excited, but otherwise no worries. Missed Oscar again, but next time he'll be okay.
GRADE: A

04.08.10

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Henry
George
Shirley
Ernie
(7)

The mystery of the flamingos continues; they are close by now, seemingly out of season. Ernie, pinhead that he is, chased a couple at the 1km mark, in the charco next to the three-way intersection. He was reprimanded and put on the leash immediately, but still I am not happy about that. Ernie hasn't done something like that in a while. Everyone else was good the whole way. There were flamingos in various charcos near to us. The water at Au Soleil Couchant was full of nasty seaweed and a bit stinky in places, but it cleared up as we got further south. Cows on the beach just north of the HoJo, had to put Alice on the leash to drag her past.
GRADE: B

02.08.10

morning run:
Gracie
Bette
Truman
Rita
Gowron
Lily
Jack
(7)

Bit of a hiatus due to a variety of causes, mainly fatigue on all of our parts. Today I came back strong with a long one, and this was a good group. I didn't see for sure but I am fairly certain that Lily chased a Flamingo in no-man's land, so I put her on the leash and this time for a while; she was bad at first, but by the end of no-man's land she was running on the leash properly, and nobody did anything else worth mentioning. There were Flamingos again in the charcos just to the east of the Shire, and then out in no-man's land. No crabs, as it is starting to dry out again. Very pretty, very buggy. We had to double back on the beach from the pier to the maginot line because I didn't want to run into a gaggle of kids next to our house; the dogs would almost certainly have been fine, but I didn't have any energy left to deal with it if they weren't. Note to self: perhaps I should take in a little more than a handful of stale popcorn and a half a cup of coffee before running 10k.
GRADE: B

29.07.10

morning run:
Otto
Archie
Chester
Blue
Frijolita
Frankie
Rufus
(7)

Long one, through lots of water and mud: the south way to the road through no-man's land is completely flooded now, it's not possible to come in the back way. The dry bits through no-man's land are only passable on foot now, and the mosquitoes are not to be believed. Seriously: don't listen to them or they'll drive you nuts. There were large numbers of Flamingos in no-man's land and one of the charcos to the northwest, and little crabs everywhere. Went back into the monte at the tortuga sign. Everyone was stellar. We missed Oscar (recovering from surgery).
GRADE: A