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