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morning run #1:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Godzilla
Maggie
Ziggy
Stella
Floyd
(8)
A short one mainly to get Floyd and some pains in the ass out: to the tortuga road, then on the trails just north of it to the squishy land bridge, to the intersection and home via the land bridge, which is now drivable by two-wheeled vehicles: ~4.5k. We did it quickly, and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run #2:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Truman
Rufus
Ernie
Jack
Molly
(8)
We did something similar to what we did on Saturday, which turns out to be ~8.5k according to google earth. I thought we would go the long and winding road at first, but when we got to that point at the northern end of the middle charcos where you can either keep going north or cut over east it seemed like perhaps that was far enough for today. We still left relatively early, even having had a run already earlier, but it's starting to get hot here early in the day, and I'd like to be able to do a couple other things besides run today. It was still plenty long and everyone had a blast... I just wanted it to be long enough to tire Ernie and Molly out, for the most part.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Eve
Osita
Frankie
Lily
Monkey
Floyd
(8)
First run after coming back from Merida, and I felt sluggish and thick. We started to go to the long and winding road, but as we got to the northern end of the middle charcos it seemed like nobody was terribly into it, and since things have dried out now there are other options at that point. There is a trail that heads back south on the other side of the middle charcos, and that comes out at the eastern end of the Au Soleil Couchant road, after winding around in those middle northern charcos a bit, so that's what we did. We came back via the cut-over to the secret trail land bridge and the dirty road. Not sure how far, but I'm guessing between 7-8k total. Everyone was good, but I did have to reign Lily and Frankie in a bit at various points. When we crossed the final land bridge almost everyone wanted to swim in that charco, which is actually still deep enough for even Floyd to really swim in, so most of us waded/swam across (Eve and Osita picked their way daintily across the land bridge).
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Floyd
(2)
A short one around the cow pasture in my pajamas before I had to go back to Merida for the rest of the Lytix meeting.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Shirley
Blue
Ziggy
Molly
Stella
Floyd
(9)
I screwed up. It was a little chaotic, and for various reasons I just wanted to get going with whatever dogs were in the yard but I somehow lost track of the count. It was a short one, perhaps a little more than 5k: out the dead goat road to the tortuga crossover, then north via the trails Roni and I found the other day to the squishy land bridge, continuing north to the Au Soleil Couchant road and back home via the shire and the cross-over to the secret trail land bridge. I wanted to tire this group out as much as possible, so we really ran it, and I also let them swim a lot in the charcos when they could. Even at this late date there are still several charcos that are deep enough for the tallest dogs to swim in. Floyd was enthusiastic but well-behaved, and obviously had a good time. Alice and Lucy both kept up well.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Greta
Maggie
Ziggy
Floyd
(4)
Standard walk around the cow pasture the long way. Greta's limp has gotten better since Roni's been giving her glucosamine twice a day, but we'll have to see how she walks later today. Ziggy and Maggie swam in the charcos as much as they possibly could. Floyd was a bit excited at times, and wanted to run, but he was good and didn't fight me.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Tito
Henry
(4)
Roni took Anna, Bogus and this crew for a walk down to Kikis', to survey the place. Zasu rolled in something hideous, but everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Chester
Truman
Osita
Rufus
Lily
Jack
Molly
Stella
(8)
Long and winding road backwards, "new" cut-over to the secret-path land bridge on the way home: 10k. At the very end Molly barked at someone clearing brush at the shrimpery; I visibly disciplined her and put her on the leash until we got home. I also had Molly on the leash earlier in the run, and since Rufus had the harness, Molly was only on her collar both times; she could easily have gotten out of it, but she didn't, and she kept with me when she was on the hook, so that is definitely progress in spite of the barking. Oddly, we ran across an older Mayan gent sitting on his trike in the shade eating sweet breads out in the middle of nowhere, and nobody so much as sniffed at him, so who knows why Molly barked at that guy. As we were nearing doce on the final trail home from the shrimpery I saw a miserable little creature on the other side of the road, skulking away towards our house. Roni and I have known that there is at least one pup nearby out in the monte, but it has been too skittish for us to get more than a glimpse. Since I saw it and the dogs did not, I held us all back and gave it a chance to get around the bend, but when we got closer it had doubled back and didn't run away from us... quite the contrary, as Roni and I have seen many times now, it came back towards me and the dogs and made obsequience to us, allowing everyone to get close and smell it. It was covered in motor oil or some kind of petroleum product, skinny and yet bloated from worms, etc... I brought it in with us, and it has had a bath with soap and a bath with Tactic (ticks, fleas and a touch of sarna). Roni's working on the "adoptable" page on Dogs of Celestún now, I suspect...
GRADE: B (for barking at that guy)
morning walk:
Henry
Otto
Ernie
Shirley
Frankie
Tito
Monkey
(7)
Anna and Bogus took this crew out. Henry came back early, but everyone else ran around like lunatics the whole time according to their handlers. Frankie balked at the gate when they got home and doubled back to the shrimpery; I ran her down, coaxed her out of the main building and carried her home. She's obviously still feeling defensive, but she seems fine now that she's in.
GRADE: B
afternoon walk:
Alice
Ziggy
Stella
Floyd
(4)
I threw Ziggy and Stella in because they (a) are loud pains in the ass and (b) were in the yard. We just went around the cow pasture via the dead-goat road, so roughly 2k. It was really hot and bright, and everyone had a good time. There were two boys pushing a moto that had a flat tire down the coco trail; inexplicably, they left the engine running while they were doing this. Floyd barked at them a little after they passed by, and I'm not sure why, but it might've been the strange sound/smell of the moto and their furtive behavior... maybe they stole it? I don't know, but they were acting a little fishy. Other than that, no mishaps.
GRADE: B
morning walk:
Zasu*
Henry
Bette
Oscar
Archie
Ernie
Frankie
(7)
Anna and Bogus took this crew out for a spin in the monte. Zasu bowed out early (probably when she realized Roni wasn't there), but everyone else was good and obviously had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk #2:
Greta
Floyd
(2)
A shorty around the cow pasture via the dirty road and the dead-goat intersection. It was already pretty hot out, so we took it easy. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Posey
Eve
Frijolita
Rita
Godzilla
Elewah
Floyd
(8)
Long, hard run with a fast group over partly uncharted territory. We started out the normal way to the long and winding road backwards, from the Au Soleil Couchant road. The last time I looked at google earth I noticed that where the long and winding road reaches the swampier bits east near the road to Xixim there is another turn, which heads north. After about ~2km it hits a three-way intersection which goes west to doce on the one hand and and east to the stone bridge on the other. This is where we went today, taking the turn east to the stone bridge, and then heading home via the shire, the intersection, the "new" shortcut west of the intersection to the "secret trail" land bridge and the dirty road: 12.3k. The trail north of the long and winding road is beautiful, except for two places where there are mountains of garbage that have obviously been there a while, since I see no evidence of recent vehicular activity and I am obviously the only person crazy enough to go out there on foot (it's ~7k from our house to that point no matter how you go, so ~10k from town). Everyone was stellar. Floyd bites at the leash in excitement for the first ~20-30m now and that's it, he's totally into running from that point on. My current water bottle of record has finally sprung a leak, so that sucked a bit, because Rita really wanted water on the run; I made sure she got as much as possible, but this run had several water-hogs (Bette, Elewah, Floyd). Rita was lagging a little bit on the way home, but I didn't detect any problems with her when I checked her over at several points, so I think she just wasn't used to the distance; she certainly had fun. There were a ton of those big, white pelicans in the charco around weathertop.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Bette
Oscar
Frankie
Stella
(4)
Anna and Bogus took these four out for a walk, and report that they were all very good and had a good time. When they got back, however, there was a general scrum involving Frankie, Godzilla and a bunch of other dogs. Frankie was injured a little. Roni and I have been feeling like Frankie often acts defensive inappropriately, and are wondering whether she doesn't have some kind of actual physical problem that has her feeling that way, possibly involving her hindquarters somehow. It's really hard to say, but she is often involved in dust-ups, and we intend to get her checked out by Sandra more thoroughly to see what is going on.
GRADE: A (for the walk)
morning run #1:
Alice
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Floyd
(5)
A quick one, about 3k: down the dirty road, then across the land bridge to our "secret" trail that is still completely under water. Instead of going south-east to this trail, we crossed directly over east and picked up what looks like a dog/raccoon trail heading north from there, which leads to the road to the intersection. Roni and I had hypothesized that this trail existed but had never looked for it. From there, we went north down the road on the other side of that charco to the tortuga crossroads, and then home. We all ran fast, even Alice.
GRADE: A
morning run #2:
Chester
Archie
Rufus
Ernie
Stella
(5)
Another quick run, this one 5-6k: the coco trail to the tortuga crossroads, then north the usual way to the Au Soleil Couchant road, east and then directly south back into the shire, west at the intersection to the trail we just found on the earlier run and home via that same land bridge and the dirty road. Once again we really ran it, stopping only once briefly for a little water.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk #1:
Henry
Bette
Oscar
Tito
(4)
Anna and Bogus took these four on a jaunt through the monte, and said they were all good and had a good time. The dogs likewise said Anna and Bogus were good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk #2:
Zasu
Miles
Gowron
April
Monkey
(5)
Roni took this crew on an afternoon jag, with April on the leash the whole way. April pulled on the way out and was at Roni's heel on the way back. Everyone was good and acquitted themselves well.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Shirley
Blue
Gowron
Ziggy
Stella
Floyd
(8)
Strange group with Floyd, but it turned out well. We went south across the land bridge, which is basically passable now but for a couple spots where the water is over ankle depth, then south and into the monte the usual way. We went further south than normal, and back north on the road to no-man's land, but took the western fork and got back on the palapa road; this probably added ~1km more to our route than the normal southern way, so it was definitely more than 10k (haven't had time to look on google earth). We came home via the Au Soleil Couchant road, but instead of heading straight all the way we took the greenway west to find the place that Roni and I were walking yesterday. It turns out there is a tiny land-bridge across the charco there, a bit squishy in parts but still serviceable. Once across it was a little bit of off-roading to find the trail, but we did find it complete with our tracks from yesterday. It's really beautiful and untouched over there, and everyone had fun sniffing their pack-mates' tracks. Everyone was good, and yet again Ginger had a blast on a long one with much younger dogs.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Alice
Oscar
Otto
Tuesday
Maggie
Elewah*
(9)
Roni and I took everyone but Elewah out for a walk with Tuesday on the harness/leash; Elewah was out already, and joined us while we were on the coco trail. It turned out to be a nice, harmonious, fun group. We went to the tortuga road junction and then explored some trails around the nearest charco there, just to the north. Miles did especially well, and was actually on point for most of the walk, including several stints of off-roading; Roni did give him a lift a couple of times, but really just because he was making the rest of us look bad. Elewah didn't come back in until after dark, when Roni went out and coaxed her. I think she's looking for The Brethren, whom we haven't seen in a while now.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Henry
Greta
Reggie
Tito
Monkey
(6)
Roni and Anna took this crew for a walk down by the side of the nearest charco for a piece, to see what birds were about and what trouble they could get into. Greta has limp, but had a blast: she really needs an X-ray to see what is going on there. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Alice
Lucy
Bette
Frankie
Floyd
(5)
A quick one down the dirty road, I'm guessing almost exactly the same as the walk Roni and Anna took earlier. We didn't quite get to the tortuga sign road before we turned around. Chilly, windy and not-quite-but-almost raining. Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Osita
Gowron
Ziggy
Molly
Stella
Floyd
(7)
Stormy day, a little wet out and very windy, so not everyone was clamoring to go for a run. I took Floyd plus a few that are okay with him and really wanted to go. At first I thought we wouldn't go too far, but everyone including Ziggy was really into it and very quick over the first ~4km, so we continued on and did the long and winding road backwards, coming home exactly the way we went out via the road to Au Soleil Couchant. The wind and the cold energized everyone, so we were really moving. Floyd must be a puppy, because neither the distance nor the pace fazed him at all - he could probably go out right now and do it again. There was nobody else in the monte, which was beautiful and forbidding, and we saw what must've been at least 200 huge white pelicans in the nearest charco, seeking shelter from the wind. Amazing.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Bette
Otto
Ernie
Alice*
(4)
Anna and Bogus left with these four, but Alice chumped out at the road when she realized I wasn't coming and came back to the gate - terrible. Ernie would've bowed out, but Otto really wanted to go and that seemed to inspire Ernie into cartoon-like action. According to reports from the field everyone was good even though they ran into some strange dog in the monte.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
Greta
(2)
A quick one around the cow pasture, where the bugs were unseasonably bad.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Jack
Elewah
(8)
A long, hard run with a fast group early on a chilly morning. We went across the land bridge and south, into the monte at the last turn east, and then all the way north to the long and winding road: 13k exactly according to google earth. Ernie continues to impress on long runs: he waddles, he wiggles, he hoodles, but he gets the job done, and never lags. I did give him most of the water, but just barely... Elewah is a water hog, and so is Rufus. Elewah was merciful, or maybe the distance finally did wear her down a tiny bit, but she wasn't totally kicking my ass by the end of the run, although she did have a blast the whole way. The only people we saw were on a flat-bed truck heading out to the salt charcos as we were coming back, and everyone did exactly the right thing: spread out around it so it could pass through us, without so much as a bark in their direction. I didn't even have to call anyone's name.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Alice
Ginger
Bette
Floyd
(4)
The long way around the cow pasture. Bette came along to see how she's feeling. She's been on Meloxicam for 5 days now, and it seems whatever muscular issue was ailing her is resolved, because she was tearing around like a lunatic. Floyd was an angel, the two sisters less so, but everyone was basically good. The mosquitoes around the cow pasture are still pretty bad in the afternoons, so we took it at a brisk pace, but we walked and didn't really run at all.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt:
Floyd
Lucy
(2)
Just a quick one to the intersection and home south, maybe 2.5-3km. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Posey
Eve
Gowron
Lily
Monkey
Molly
(8)
I had promised Ginger she'd go on the next run for a couple of days now, and both of her sisters have gotten to go on various outings, so this seemed like a good one for her. It turns out Ginger is a real running dog. I thought we would do a relatively short one, but every time I looked back to see how Ginger was doing she was having a blast with the young'uns. We did the long and winding road backwards. Lily had to have a bit of a refresher on the leash after chasing birds with a little too much gusto, but otherwise it was fun and quick. Ginger gets a gold star and a hoodly-hoo for showing the little ones how it's done.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Greta
Tito
April
Ziggy
Floyd
(8)
A short yet eventful walk around the pasture. Roni and I went together with this crew while Anna and Bogus repeatedly stopped Alice from howling her idiot head off, causing many others at home to howl as well; we heard them at various points from where we were in the monte. Ziggy has definitely turned an unfortunately disobedient leaf, and now tears off to chase birds with no heed whatsoever paid to his commanding humans. April also had to be restrained and severely managed. Floyd was let off the leash at the nearest charco so he could swim a bit, but instead took off on a myopic binge through the bubbling, salty, muddy fringe of brambles and shrubs that line the shore, accompanied by Ziggy and, after about 30 seconds, me. It's a lot easier to make time through that crap if (a) you are a dog, or (b) you aren't wearing long pants. I'm fairly certain that (a) implies (b), but nonetheless neither was true of me. Floyd was on the leash thereafter, and my pants were soaked to the crotch and laden with nature's rich essence up to the knees. Ziggy was also involved in a cow-related incident, which got him put onto the other end of the leash for the duration. Fabulous. In spite of all of that, it was still sort of fun and worth doing
GRADE: C
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Posey
Godzilla
Stella
Floyd
(6)
Sort of an impromptu affair. The idea was to get Floyd out for a relatively quick one, but it turned out that the collection of dogs who happened to be outside were all fine with him and needed to go for one reason or another, so I just took them all. We went 6-7k, pretty quickly: out north but then back south again around the middle charcos, through the shire and home via the land bridge. I wish I had thrown Ginger in, but I already had all of these outside and everyone was being good. Everyone had fun.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Shirley
George
Blue
Rita
Frankie
Maggie
Ziggy
Stella
(8)
A collection of oddlings, as usual, under Shirley's enthusiastic leadership. We did 7-8k via a southern route, coming home via the land bridge. It was a little hot to start out with, so George got the lion's share of the water; by the time we were coming home it was starting to cloud over a bit, which made it easier. Ziggy has decided that he cannot resist the clarion call of the waterfowl, and insisted on chasing ducks even when I told him not to, so he was on the leash for most of the run. I hope this is just a phase. Everyone else was good and had a good time. Once again I must point out what a good girl Stella is on runs. She had a blast jumping around like a lunatic in the charcos, but was never out of control and always listened to me when I called her.
GRADE: A
morning sprint:
Floyd
(1)
I had planned on taking Floyd on the run, but he seems to have an issue with George now, which is disturbing. Frequently it is the case that dogs who have issues with each other get along better on a run, and it can even get them used to each other, but in Floyd's case I'm sure discretion is the better part of valor... you just can't be sure how he's going to react because of the combination of his bad eyesight and the fact that he had obviously never had any discipline whatsoever before he landed up with us. Thus, I took him out on his own about 20min after we got back from the run. The bugs are still pretty irritating around the cow pasture, and I was still in running togs, so I decided to do a quick 2k run with him, more or less as fast as he wanted to go: out the dirty road to the dead goat intersection and back the usual way. I did make him sit a few times to drink or just to make him do something. There were a large group of cows on the road right behind the cow pasture, who decided to run away from us in the direction we were going, so in effect we were doing a little cowboy duty, Floyd and I... that's right, I said "cowboy."
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Slightly longer than around the cow pasture, we went down the dirty road and all the way around to the dead goat intersection, running part of the way due to bugs. He is really good around people, and biting less at the leash when we leave every time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Osita
Elewah
(8)
Long and winding road backwards plus a little at the end, which frequently seems to be the route I take with The Brothers. I gave them all their ivermectina pills before leaving, and doused Elewah with tick meds as well, so she was good and pissed at me by the time we left. She got over it quickly enough, and curiously she came right in of her own accord at the end instead of running me around and making Roni come out to enchant her. It is a beautiful day: windy, sunny, a slight chill in the morning air. We flew for most of the run. People are working at the shrimpery every morning to rehab it, and this group, like all of the others recently, didn't so much as bark at them in either direction.
GRADE: A
