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morning run:
Alice
Posey
Frankie
Monkey
Molly
Elewah
Stella
Floyd
(8)
My plan was to do pretty much what we did yesterday, but the humidity and heat were already too much for Alice, at least, even relatively early. We're going to have to start leaving well before 7am to beat it for the next few months. We started out the same, east out the land bridge and immediately north on the road, through the intersection, east to the shire, but when we turned east to hit the road to the hidden trail several of them made it clear they wanted to go to the beach right then, especially Alice, and honestly the humidity was killing us all. Thus, we just turned around and ran down to the beach on the Au Soleil Couchant road, went back into the monte at the tortuga sign and came home the usual way: ~7k. Stella took off up towards doce at the turn onto the coco trail, but she caught up to us before we made it to the shrimpery - I was not pleased with her, and had her on the hook the rest of the way, Elewah stayed out briefly but asked to come in before I was done settling Floyd down - even she was feeling the heat. Monkey had a blast.
GRADE: B
morning pup beach run:
Lucy
April
Daisy
Twiggy
Mo
Una
Xmul
(7)
Lucy needs the exercise, and this is a good distance for her since (a) she frequently comes up a little lame after a run and (b) she prefers to swim anyway. We just went to the tortuga sign and back home on the beach: ~2k. Xmul is an independent little creature, but does listen in the end. The three black pups (Twigs, Mo and Una) now all throw themselves into the water without hesitation whenever I go in, and when Lucy goes in they were all over themselves to go out and swim with her... really cute. Daisy still isn't sure about the water, but she does wade in some. April was on the hook for the whole way, and had a great time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Ernie
Jack
(8)
Hidden trail with a little extra at the beginning. We crossed the land bridge but then immediately headed north on the main road, went through the intersection, headed east and then north through the shire, hit the hidden trail and headed down the beach to Au Soleil Couchant, and then came home in the monte via the trails north of the tortuga road: ~8k. Rufus was only on the hook for a short while at the start; I kind of needed a break from always having a big dog on the leash for long stretches, and it was nice to just run for most of the way. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Godzilla
Gowron
Maggie
Ziggy
Stella
Floyd
(8)
Floyd is still a bit skittish about the beach side of the yard, but perhaps a bit less so than yesterday. Very strange. We went down the dirty road, across the alternate land bridge to the cut-over, through the intersection, to the Au Soleil Couchant road, down to the beach and home: ~5k. Everyone did well and was behaving themselves until we got in front of our house. There is a stray that's been hanging around near our house on the beach - she looks like Daisy, and could very well be her mom. I was on the lookout for her as we approached, but she's hard to see because of her coloration; Zilla saw her before I did and led the charge, which I'm sorry to report included most of my troops. I put Floyd in the yard first, then went back out and gathered up the rest of them, who sheepishly obeyed me. Ziggy was not involved - he was having poop issues up the beach, and straggled in last, clueless and sporting a nasty tail end as always... such a charmer. Not a great finish, but a decent run.
GRADE: C
morning puppy run:
George
Gowron
Daisy
Twiggy
Una
Mo
Xmul
(7)
George is an angel, and Gowron loves to swim so much I took her as a swimming coach for the pups, which worked out well. We only went to the tortuga sign and back: ~2k. Twiggy will jump in and swim to me however far out I am in the water every time I ask her to, and her sisters will increasingly do so as well. Xmul and Daisy aren't too sure about that swimming stuff, but they are warming to it. Daisy wanted to smell some garbage on the beach in front of our house, but in general everyone was good and had a good time... I think George might even like some of the pups (Xmul, who is a hit with all the big dogs).
GRADE: A
morning run:
Lucy*
Gracie
Ziggy
Lily
Stella
Floyd
(6)
Floyd was acting very strangely this morning when we let him out of his pen, and continues to do so. He was behaving nervous and afraid of some invisible thing towards the beach side of the yard - we can't figure out what. More or less in order to "reset" him and rid him of whatever paranoia was affecting him, I decided to take him and whoever was out with him on a short run that would bring us back on the beach side, so that he had a swim and some fun and came in as normal. We went across the land bridge, immediately north via the ridge, on via the back road to the tortuga sign and home on the beach: ~3k. He was fine on the run, swam a bunch (beach was empty), and everyone was great until we got to the soldiers'. Then, inexplicably, Lily ignored me and ran up onto the army base (there were maybe two soldiers there total, but still); she has never done anything like that before. Stella also misbehaved close to home, but I've come to expect that. Floyd was fine until he came in the yard, and then he started acting the same way, as if he were afraid of something right there in the front of the yard. We cannot figure out what it is. Gracie and Ziggy were good. Lucy begged off almost immediately, and came in by herself on the road-side gate.
GRADE: C
morning swims:
Shirley
Greta
(2)
Shirley did 8 laps and Greta did 7 laps, separately, in mildly choppy water.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Osita
Elewah*
Ziggy
Molly
Stella
Floyd
(8)
We took semana santa weekend off, as we were inundated with people camping on the beach in tents all around us. The dogs were angels throughout, and were less pent-up than you'd think considering... I took this group on a southern route via the terreno federal serpentine, to the beach at the tortuga sign and home all the way on the shore: ~6k. Lucy had a little limp at times, but she shook it off when she realized we were going to the water. Several of them needed to rest under bushes to get out of the heat at various points, and everyone drank all the water. Floyd was especially good this time; he really wanted a drink at several stops but he waited his turn and sat when he was supposed to. Molly listened well throughout. Stella and Elewah were predictably pains in the ass when we got close to home, but not really that bad. Elewah stayed out when everyone else came in, but since I knew I was going out soon again with the pups I just let it be, since there was nobody around.
GRADE: A
morning beach jaunt:
George
Chester
Elewah*
Lily
Daisy
Mo
Una
Twiggy
Xmul
(9)
I took this crew a little past the tortuga sign and back on the beach: ~2k. Elewah picked us up in front of the HoJo and had a good time running around with Lily. The mounds of garbage left behind on the beach by semana santa revelers included many used diapers, which was truly charming... 'nuff said. Despite that, everyone was good and had an absolute blast. Una wins Best Swimming Pup for the day, although Twiggy is not far behind. Daisy jumped in by herself and swam for the first time (that I've seen), inspired by the other pups' example, and Xmul swam more than I've seen her do before. I had to grab Elewah to the south after everyone else came in, but she wasn't really bad about it, she was just having a good time sniffing the garbage.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Gracie
Blue
Frijolita
Rita
Posey
Floyd
(8)
South via the land bridge all the way to the road to no-man's land, then down the palapa road to the cut across the charcos north, through the shire north to the Au Soleil Couchant access road and down to the beach, all the way south to the maginot line and home via the shrimpery: ~9k. Ginger acquitted herself well as usual, but she did want a lot of water. Floyd wanted to lie down under a bush for a few seconds after he got a drink, so it must've been fairly hot. These were some of the reasons I decided to take us down the beach so far, since it refreshes them... Blue also rolled in some horrible poop, so that was a factor as well. It is semana santa and there are a lot of people around, but the maginot line was fine today early; I would not go that far south on the beach over the weekend. Everyone was good, but I had Posey on the other end of the leash with Floyd from the shrimpery to the gate on the way back to make sure she didn't pull one of her jack-rabbit routines on our road; she generally only does that when Truman is with her, but she's a funny one.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Godzilla
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Stella
Floyd
(8)
Yet again we ran the hidden trail, but this time it was planned. 7-8k is long enough to tire out younger dogs but short enough that older dogs can still make it, although Lucy did lag a bit towards the end. We stayed on the beach until the tortuga sign, although at this time of the year running all the way home on the beach is usually an option. I had Stella on the hook from the turn home at the tortuga crossroads because she had been screwing around a little too much and needs leash time, but everyone was really good throughout.
GRADE: A
beach jaunt:
George
April
Lily
Twiggy
Mo
Una
Xmul
(7)
A short run up the beach to Au Soleil Couchant and back (3-4k). Lily was thrown in at the last minute by happenstance but it turned out to be a good idea, as she was a good influence on the pups. She listens well, likes the pups and was constantly engaged with them; she got most of them to start jumping into the water and swimming on their own by the end of the run. Amazing. George had a good time; this is a good distance for him if you keep the pace up, and he likes to swim. Xmul found a nasty dead fish on the way home and had a good time fending off all comers the whole way back; she is obviously smart and has good powers of concentration for a puppy, because she never forgot it or gave it up to anyone.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Ernie
Jack
(8)
The usual crew. My intention was to do the long and winding road forwards and hit the hidden trail at the end, but I turned north early and then realized when I got to the turn for the hidden trail that I was not up for the long and winding road, in either direction. We left a little later than we should've, I guess, and I just wasn't feeling it, so we went to the beach via the hidden trail, then straight back into the monte at Au Soleil Couchant and home: ~8k. Everyone was stellar and had a good time. Jack seems to especially like the little hidden bit between doce and the beach.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Rita
Godzilla
Frankie
Elewah
Lily
Stella
Floyd
(8)
Strange group. We did a slightly longer than normal route to the hidden trail, down the beach to the tortuga sign and home in the monte: ~8k. We went north across the alternate land bridge and cut-over, through the intersection and the shire; everybody was really moving through those kilometers, we pretty much ran it the whole way. The beach was nice up north where the hidden trail lets out, but between Au Soleil Couchant and the tortuga sign the seaweed was so thick that we only had a narrow strip to run on, between bluff on the left and the piles of grossness on the right. We still managed to jump in the ocean a lot, especially Floyd, and Frankie tortured everyone else with a huge fish-head for most of the way. Stella, Lily and Elewah screwed around a bit too much just on the other side of doce; Elewah did her usual sniffing around routine, but Lily and Stella followed her and ignored me. I tracked them down separately on the beach down south a bit, which irritated me. Other than the last five minutes, though, everyone was really good.
GRADE: B
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Seven laps in shallow, calm waters. She knew what was up this time and didn't want to go - I had to carry her from the gate to the water, a distance of approx. 10km... or so it felt. She is HEAVY. Still, once we were in she swam well and was breathing heavily by the end of the seventh lap.
GRADE: A
morning beach run:
Alice
Lucy
Ziggy
Molly
Floyd
(5)
To the beach via the tortuga sign and home: ~3k. About 100m north of the HoJo we found a beached marlin, almost 4m long... it must've weighed 400kg, maybe double that, and was untouched; its spear-like snout was completely intact, and it didn't look like the birds had picked it over at all yet. The dogs didn't seem the least bit interested in it, but I was fascinated. We swam a dozen times between the tortuga sign and home. The seaweed was piled up and disgusting in some spots and not noticeable in others. Everyone ran fast, swam hard and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Seven laps in calm, shallow water. She was breathing hard after the last lap, and had a good attitude the whole time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Osita
Frijolita
Eve
Gowron
Floyd
(9)
One too many at the gate, too much trouble to fix it so I just went with it; I believe Frijolita was the dog I lost track of, on the veranda where she usually hides. We left a little later than I wanted to, so instead of going long we hit the beach: north to the hidden trail, south on the beach to the tortuga sign and home in the monte: 7.6k. Everyone was stellar. Floyd sat well and ran hard. Ginger had a blast, as usual, and had no trouble keeping up. We swam many times between the hidden trail and the tortuga sign; Floyd and Gowron were especially enthusiastic. There are some workers next door to the south preparing the little concrete house for semana santa; as we were coming home Bette and most of Gracie's pups ran up to them, but I only said a single word and they all turned on their heels and came back to me... did us proud.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Monkey
Twiggy
Una (was Mellon)
Xmul
(8)
Roni took this crew on a quick walk to get the pups out for photo ops and generally allow little dogs to screw around in the monte. They went down to the shrimpery and back. Monkey can be a bad influence on the pups; she listens well, but leads them on a bit. Zasu had a little limp on the way back, and the pups were a bit too rough with Tito at times. There were some soldiers rummaging around in the back ponds at the shrimpery, so it was cut a little short, but everyone had a good time anyway. Xmul is getting big! She's all paws right now.
GRADE: B
rehab swim:
Greta
(1)
She did six laps in mild seas and shallow water. Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning beach jaunt:
Alice
Lucy
Gracie
Godzilla
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Floyd
(8)
To the tortuga sign via the dead goat trail and home on the beach: ~3k. I'm in a hurry (trip to Merida), so we did that really fast, even with Alice and Lucy along. Molly wins "Most Enthusiastic Swimmer" - she was hysterically funny in the water, and was in it more than anyone. We probably swam half a dozen times between the tortuga sign and the house. Everyone was stellar and had a blast.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Truman
Reggie
Jack
(8)
Long and winding road backwards, plus a bit on the beach between Au Soleil Couchant and the tortuga sign: ~11k. Reggie was yippy and enthusiastic early on, but is a little out of shape; he needs to go with the brothers regularly for a while to get his mojo back. Past about the 6th or 7th km he was dragging a little, and drank most of the water, but he's a gamer and was having fun anyway. Because of the time of year, the fact that Reggie needed to cool down and the fact that Oscar had managed to completely coat his entire body in a mixture of mud and various species of excrement I decided we should hit the beach on the way home; the stench coming off of Oscar was hideous. The ocean is pleasantly chilly and although the seaweed is bad in spots it was still nice, and it helped Reggie recover enough to get home. I would've taken us home on the beach the whole way but for that little chihuahua we saw in front of the HoJo yesterday; then I only had four, but today I had eight and I didn't want to deal with any problems, so I cut back in to the monte at the tortuga sign. We should've left a bit earlier. All in all a long, hard, fun run.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt:
Alice
Lucy
Frankie
Elewah*
Stella
Floyd
(6)
The typical Floyd+whoever is in the yard jaunt. Since all of these dogs love swimming in the ocean so much, we just went down the coco trail to the maginot line and into the ocean north of the HoJo, mindful that there might be a little dog around. We then basically walked home on the beach, jumping in the water several times along the way. Floyd swam the most, but Stella also really loves it, Elewah stayed out when everyone else came in; I had a feeling she wanted to poke around a little, and it's a quiet day.
GRADE: A
mid-morning jaunt:
Lucy
Gracie
Lily
Floyd
(4)
These were the dogs that were out, so I took them with Floyd for a late morning run to the beach at the tortuga sign (~3k). We came home on the beach, watching out for Weltin and various other hazards. There was a chihuahua roaming around loose in front of the HoJo; it had a collar on and didn't seem too concerned about us, but I was glad I only had four with me. Lily saw it right away but listened to me and stuck by my side. Floyd, naturally, had no clue. Gracie didn't care, and Lucy didn't notice until we were well past. Floyd is an excellent swimmer, and went out at every opportunity farther than everyone else. Lily now jumps in and swims like a champ with no coaxing, and Gracie swam a lot for her. Water is pleasantly chilly and clear, and there are spots on the beach that are mostly clear of seaweed, but also long stretches where it is thick enough that it is unpleasant to go in there.
GRADE: A
morning run #1:
Alice
Lucy
George
Chester
Gowron
Ernie
Molly
(8)
A relatively quick one, south to the terreno federal serpentine, east across the short cut, west and then north through the intersection and home via the tortuga road... a little over 5k. Molly was on the hook the whole way and was really good. George lagged at times but kept up well in general, drank most of the water and had a good time. Chester was a wild man; he sort of talked his way onto the run with a blast of crazed enthusiasm on the porch, so what the hell.
GRADE: A
morning run #2:
Ginger
Gowron*
Ziggy
Maggie
Molly*
Stella
Floyd
(7)
Quick one to get Floyd out: the dead goat road to the trails north of the tortuga crossroads, then south on the main road to the intersection and home via the cut-over and the alternate land bridge: ~4k. This group flew for the distance. I let Molly go again because she needs the exercise. She was off the leash the whole time on this one, and was really good and listened well. Gowron also went again due to her puckish charm and the fact that I didn't want to screw around too much between runs. I had to put Stella on the other end of the leash with Floyd because she insisted on going down the dirty road on the way home, which was not the route I had planned; I put her on the hook immediately when she starts to misbehave now, it's the only way. Other than that slight misdemeanor everyone was great and had a good time. Floyd once again looked like he might be getting "sit", and behaved himself well about the water.
GRADE: A
morning pup sortie:
Xmul
Twiggy
Mo
Mellon
(4)
This was sadly the last walk with Nicole for a while, as they are going back to Canada tomorrow. Xmul will stay with us until they return in November. Everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Osita
Blue
Elewah*
Lily
Stella
Floyd
(8)
We managed to leave early and did the long and winding road backwards (10k). This time we used the trails north of the tortuga crossroads in both directions, since they are popular with the troops and keep us off the busy road for a while. Floyd was a bit tired in spots, and drank the majority of the water; he behaved himself very well. We ran into several vehicles going in both directions and although I was absolutely sure to not give him any chance to misbehave, he did not try. Elewah did not come in with everyone else, and was obviously hanging around nearby afterwards.
GRADE: A
morning pup outing:
Twiggy
Mellon
Xmul
(3)
Enthusiastic little crew accompanied Nicole, Marie and their two terriers. When they see Roni or I on the beach in front of the house waiting for them to come back they run up to us with comic enthusiasm. Xmul is staying with us today, as Nicole and Marie have something to do late. This is all very good for the pups.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Gowron
Mo
Elewah*
(7)
Elewah picked Roni and her crew up almost immediately and accompanied them on a walk across the land bridge. Mo had a blast, and Elewah was her usual crazed self; Roni got some nice video of her running around like a lunatic. Miles and Tito were both very good, and Gowron was completely filthy when she arrived home, so she obviously had a good time. Elewah came in with Roni at the gate as sweetly as you please.
GRADE: A
morning pup sortie:
Mo
Mellon
Xmul
(2)
This time Nicole and Marie took two. Xmul came back in with her sisters this time.
GRADE: A
morning puppy walk:
Xmul*
Twiggy
(2)
Xmul was already with Nicole, having stayed over last night. We'd like them all to bond as much as they can while they're still here (they go back to Canada in a week). Our current deal is that every morning when Nicole comes by Roni runs another puppy out to her to go on their walk, which has been working out well. Tomorrow we might try two. Xmul went on home with Nicole and her crew after they passed by, but she came up to the fence and said hi to everyone.
GRADE: A
mid-morning walk:
Lucy
Greta
Floyd
(3)
Much too hot to go far, but we did make it around the cow pasture the long way and take a dip in the deepest charco while we were out there. Everyone was good. Floyd did his best "sit" on command ever near the end. Just once, but I do see small, slow signs of progress on that front, for what it's worth.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Frijolita
Rita
Gowron
Maggie
Ziggy
Elewah
Floyd
(8)
Another strange group, but again it worked out. Even with the time change we left reasonably early, but this group was not built for speed or distance, so we took it relatively easy. We went north to the Au Soleil Couchant road, then south at the first turn into the shire, to the cross-roads east of the intersection, south to the short-cut, down the terreno federal serpentine, but only to the charco with the shack, and then home via the land bridge. I'm not sure but I think that's about 7k, I'll have to check. Everyone had a blast and did well with people around, since there were plenty working the charco near the cross-roads. It was really humid.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Truman
Jack
(8)
I thought we left reasonably early, but apparently not early enough. We did the long and winding road backwards, but on the way back out in the middle of nowhere Ernie tapped out; he started doing that stiff-legged walk, and needed to stop repeatedly to rest. I don't know why, really, because we did pretty much this exact same route at the same time in the same heat just the other day and he was in front the whole way. Not this time. I gave him the vast majority of the water, and we took several short rests on the way home to get ourselves back in one piece. Up until the point where he started having trouble we were flying, and would've probably broken all records for that route if we had kept up that pace, so maybe that was the problem; everyone else was certainly up for it, and we made it to the road to Xixim in record time. Besides Ernie's troubles everyone was stellar. It was nice having a group with me where none of them were a cause for concern with people or anything else; a truck drove through us going the opposite way as we were on the Au Soleil Couchant road, for instance, and everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do, without so much as a bark, including Ernie.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Godzilla
Frankie
Lily
Molly
Stella
Floyd
(8)
Strange group, but it worked out well. We left too late to go far, so we did the terreno federal serpentine to the intersection: roughly 5k, maybe a little more. It was a bit of a pain in the ass with the leash because I had Molly and Floyd on either end of it for most of the run; Molly needs leash-time, and especially she needs to be let off and put on repeatedly so that she is good about it. Sadly, Molly doesn't yet have the leash-sense that some of the other dogs do and always crosses me up in her excitement. Lucy was lagging a bit as we got to the end of the hidden shortcut, so I bagged any ideas of heading further north through the shire. It was starting to get noticeably hot by that point anyway, and everyone had been running like maniacs. Curiously, we saw no people except for one dude on a moto I think I recognized; last time I ran there were dozens of people working those same southern charcos at that hour, as attested to by the many large pyramids of salt that were piled up everywhere. People or no, everyone had a good time. A lot of the places we ran through today have been burned recently, so there is a lot of good stuff for dogs to smell.
GRADE: A
morning puppy exchange:
Xmul
Twiggy
(2)
Roni took these two out to Nicole as she passed by on the beach, and they went with her and her dogs for an hour-long walk. This is part of our continuing effort to do a little outreach. Xmul came to us from Nicole and Marie, who have expressed an interest in having her live with them for the six months a year they are here. We had her here to de-worm her and to socialize with the other newlings (like Twigs), but since Nicole passes by our house every morning on her walk it seemed like a nice idea for at least Xmul to go out with a totally different crew while they're here. Twiggy gets along so well with Xmul that it was natural to send her along, too. We'll do more of this.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Gracie
Blue
Eve
Rita
Stella
Floyd
(8)
Long and winding road backwards, no shortcuts or extras: 10k. We left early, but the humidity is already noticeable before the sun has properly risen; by the time the sun is high on the horizon it is brutal. Ginger, Rita, Floyd and Bette finished the water with 2.5km to go; I gave most of it to Ginger and Rita as the run wore on, but Floyd was good about it throughout and got his share. Rita definitely has an issue with her toes, especially on her front left foot; I think the salt hurts it sometimes. I used some of the drinking water to rinse out her foot pads a couple of times and watched her the whole way; she's a trooper and had a good time regardless, but it's a continuing issue for her. Ginger had a blast, and everyone was generally good. I thought about going the extra 2.3km north of the long and winding road, but at this time of year you'd almost have to leave when it was still dark to be able to make it before it was too hot and humid.
GRADE: A
mid-day walk:
Greta
Floyd
(2)
It was brain-boilingly hot so we just went around the cow pasture the shortest possible path: ~1km, but it must count for at least 2 in this heat. No other forms of life were stirring except for the occasional lizard and its prey. It was so hot that standing where the sand is black burns the bottoms of your feet. Greta has been on glucosamine for a while now and she hasn't had a noticeable limp, so I thought she should get out on a short one with Floyd. Unfortunately, the one thing that Greta should not do is run, which is precisely the thing she decided to do for the last half of the walk. She does this when she decides she's had enough and wants to be home, and I had no way of stopping her, so that was dumb all around. Floyd and I worked a lot on "sit", and so she left us too far behind on the coco trail and we had to sprint to catch up to her. Greta looked okay when we came in, at least, so maybe she didn't injure herself.
GRADE: B
