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morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Gracie
Frijolita
Posey
Monkey
Daisy
Floyd
(8)
Hidden trail to the maginot line: ~8k. We left a little late but it's overcast and a little cooler than usual. Jami came along and everyone was really good about it; there weren't any shy dogs on this crew but even so it's nice to see everyone adjusting to change. Monkey and Daisy were both stand-out runners and swimmers. We've had a few days of rain now so the charcos are starting to fill up again, which afforded many opportunities for water-based hi-jinx and horsing around. We burned through the water and I'm still a little banged up from falling two runs in a row last week, so there was really no question of going out the long and winding road. The ocean was a tad chilly and deep, which made everyone happy when we hit the beach. Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning beach jaunt:
Floyd
Stella
(2)
Ian took these two north on the beach after Tropical Storm Arlene passed over us. Stella misbehaved on the way back in front of the house by running up to a fisherman who walks every day; she wasn't aggressive, but he didn't know that. Right at this moment Jami was getting back from her run in the monte and Stella's bad behavior carried over to Jami's crew, so that was fun. They're all pups and harmless, so I had Ian bring Floyd in and put him away while I went down and talked to the fisherman and made sure there were no hard feelings (there weren't - he likes dogs). So everything this morning was a little disorganized on the beach at the end but it was okay, and you can hardly blame the dogs for being amped up after 3 days of solid rain.
GRADE: B
morning run:
Monkey
Daisy
Xmul
Luna
(4)
Jami took these four into the monte while Ian took Floyd and Stella on the beach. She says they were all good on the run, and that the bugs were getting bad.
GRADE: B
evening walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito*
Mo
Twiggy
(6)
Roni took this crew on a hard-bitten walk through the monte, but not all: Tito went astray immediately upon leaving the gate, charging off in the wrong direction and dragging Mo and Twigs with him. Once he finally got himself turned around we grabbed him and put him in - we'll have to watch him out of the gate next time. The five remaining dogs continued on with Roni in the right direction, around the cow pasture twice in opposite directions. This is quite an accomplishment when the bugs are in their full fury, and they finally are. Mo and Twigs are fun and listen well, although they can be easily influenced by evil-doers (*cough* Tito *cough*). Despite the rough start everyone obviously had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning sprint:
Blue
Posey
Ziggy
Lily
Molly
Floyd
(6)
It's been raining for two days now so there weren't a huge number of takers for a slog through the muck. I waited for a while to see if the rain would lift and when it did a little I took off with this crew, mainly to get Floyd and Ziggy out and tire them a bit. We sprinted a 2.5k loop down the dead goat trail, across the nearest land bridge, along the ridge to the main land bridge and home via the shrimpery. The combination of slick mud and Floyd jet-assist somehow failed to produce a spectacular fall on my part, although I did have to haul back on the leash and make him stop pulling a few times. Ziggy was insufferable before we left so I really wanted to make this faster than his normal pace and tire him out. So far it looks like I succeeded. The bugs were noticeable in places for the first time this year. Everyone had a good time, anyway.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Archie
Chester
Truman
Ernie
Rufus
Jack
Elewah
(8)
Long and winding road backwards: ~10k. Ian and Jami both came along on an overcast day; the humidity was fairly high but at least it wasn't hot and the bugs have not yet started in earnest. We've had some rain so the monte is starting to get a little muddy in places, but all of the trails are still dry. Truman isn't totally sure about Ian and Jami yet but he's getting better, and everyone else had no issues. In the last km down the dead goat trail there was at least one fox in the woods to the south; Jack picked it up so I hung back with the stragglers to make sure it didn't turn into anything ugly. Ian and Jami were about 50m ahead of me, so they didn't see what was going on. We carried on like that until we were on the coco trail where the fox flashed across in front of me and well behind Ian and Jami; Jack saw it and gave chase along with Otto and Rufus. I had to call them out of the woods to the west of the coco trail but they broke it off relatively quickly and we continued on from there. I didn't give Elewah the option of staying out this time and instead picked her up at the end of our trail and carried her home. I think she might've just come in today (it's going to rain) but I didn't feel like screwing around. All in all a nice run.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Ian and Jami took Floyd out directly after we got home. Everyone had a nice time.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Bette
Floyd
(2)
Ian and Jami took these two for a walk on the beach in the early afternoon.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Blue
Frankie
Molly
Stella
Floyd
(8)
North the usual way to the Au Soleil Couchant road, west to the beach, south to the maginot line and home: ~5k. Ian and Jami came with us today for a shorty late on a hot morning. I threw the sisters in again because they all need it and this is their distance. As I had two more pairs of hands along I had Jami bring an extra leash and threw Stella in since she usually needs supervision somewhere near the end of the run, and I threw Frankie in for the second day in a row because she loves Ian and Jami. All of this ended up working out well. Frankie, Stella and Molly were on Ian and Jami's heels the whole way. Frankie usually starts lagging by the tortuga crossroads but with Ian and Jami along she seemed more motivated and was near the front of the pack. This left me to deal with the stragglers (Alice) and Floyd, which was fine with me. I had Jami put Stella on the hook when we got back to the shirmpery as a preventative measure and our homecoming went smoothly. Everyone enjoyed the water and behaved themselves and they're all tired now, as we kept a pretty decent pace.
GRADE: A
swims:
Greta
Shirley
(2)
Yesterday I briefed Ian on Greta's little mermaid routine so today I let him take her for her swim, which was nice; Jami took care of Shirley. I'm not sure how many laps everyone did but they were both tired when they came back in.
GRADE: A
beach patrol:
Zasu
Miles
Gowron
Mo
(4)
Zasu, PupG and Mo swam like lunatics with Roni and me while Miles read his pee-mail.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Gowron
Frankie
Maggie
Ziggy
Floyd
(8)
Typical quickie to the torgua sign via the monte and home via the maginot line: ~3k. Everyone swam a ton when we hit the beach, so we dawdled for a while and came south to the line slowly so there could be as much swimming as possible. Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swims:
Greta
Shirley
(2)
Ian came out with me and took Shirley swimming while I did Greta. They both did 8 laps in fine form.
GRADE: A
evening walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tuesday
Reggie
Tito
Monkey
(7)
A nice little walk around the monte to the north, down the dead goat trail, across the nearest land bridge, down the hidden path, on the "shore" of the charcos just east of the ridge, back west to the regular land bridge and home: ~2k. Roni and I got to go together for once, while Ian and Jami held down the fort at home. Everyone had a good time and behaved themselves in a strange and salty landscape.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Eve
Osita
Godzilla
Lily
Daisy
Mo
(8)
Hidden trail the normal way: ~8k. This was Mo's first run and she was perfect, like all of her classmates before her. In fact the entire run was nothing short of perfect until we got all the way back to the dead goat three-way near the coco trail. Lily decided to take off back towards the charcos oin the trail next to the cow pasture, where some men were working in the salt. Everyone else stayed with me, but I had to yell for her a few times to get her to come back. Not good. She went on the leash from there on, which wasn't far; I've never seen her do anything like that before. Mo did extremely well. She drank from the bottle, kept up, didn't do anything bad and had a good time. Daisy was also similarly good, and those two paled around a lot and swam a lot when we were on the beach.
GRADE: B (Lily)
mid-morning jaunt:
Lucy
Molly
Floyd
(3)
To the tortuga sign via the monte, into the water for a nice swim and then right back into the monte at the sign and home the way we came: ~3k. Just a quickie to get Floyd out and tire out a couple of loud-mouths. Molly still wants to chase vehicles sometimes and although she does break it off when I tell her to I shouldn't have to tell her so much. I had her on the other end of the leash with Floyd for the last 1km just to work on that. Everyone was good and wanted to swim more.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
Gowron
(2)
Greta did 7 laps in mild seas and PupG swam with us nearly the entire time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
Stella
(2)
Ian and Jami took Floyd and Stella on a walk up the beach, on a slow morning here. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Archie
Chester
Truman
Rufus
Ernie
Jack
Luna (was Una)
(8)
Long and winding road backwards: ~10k. We've decided to call the black pup previously named "Una" "Luna"; it sounds nicer and is easier to explain (nobody but us knows who Una Merkel was anymore). This was her inaugural run, and she was perfect and looked adorable in an orange collar to boot; Oscar is just starting a course of doxycycline for Ehrlichiosis, so he had to skip and Luna got his spot. Jami came along so I figured we'd either do the hidden trail or, if everyone was feeling good and looked up to it we could continue along there and hit the long and winding road, which we haven't been on in a couple of months. Even Ernie was raring to go at the hidden trail turn, and we had barely touched the water so we just kept heading north. There were a fair number of people working in the charcos including the ones way out to the north near the end of the long and winding road, and everyone was perfect. Luna really acquitted herself well: she listened, kept up, drank from the bottle, didn't react badly to random people or vehicles and had a good time. The distance did not bother her. We hit the beach at Au Soleil Couchant to let everyone (Ernie) cool down and went back into the monte at the tortuga sign. All in all a good run.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Ian took Floyd to the tortuga sign and back while we were running.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt:
Alice
Ziggy
Floyd
(3)
To the tortuga sign in the monte, jumped in the water for a swim, turned around and came home the same way: ~3k. Quickie to get Floyd out. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Frijolita
Elewah
Floyd
Xmul
(8)
Hidden trail the standard way: 8k. This was Xmul's inaugural run and she was nearly perfect; she barked a tiny bit at some salt workers, but more in an excited way than aggressively, and she stopped when I told her to. Other than Floyd nobody was on the hook. Ian, Jami and their friend Funk came along today, and the pace was high due to Floyd. It was beautiful out, and there were a lot of people working in the salt. Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
(1)
Jami took Oscar out for a quick one in the monte, and said he didn't seem to be in good form today. We noticed a little limp afterwards, and he does seem to be a little out of sorts. We'll watch him for a couple of weeks. P.S. It turns out he has a touch of Ehrlichiosis, so he started doxycycline Saturday.
GRADE: A
beach walk:
Floyd
(1)
Jami took Floyd out a little later for a morning constitutional on the beach.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Lucy
Eve
Rita
Blue
Jack
Molly
Daisy
Twiggy
(8)
Hidden trail the standard way: ~8k. This was Twiggy's first run, and she was perfect: she listened, didn't bark at anyone, didn't shy away from people or noise and even drank from the bottle the first time. Everyone else was similarly good, and Lucy kept up well. Both Ian and Jami came on this one, and everyone was good about that, too. It is notable that Daisy no longer shies away from trucks and noise, like she did the first time I took her out. Nice to see.
GRADE: A
morning walk/run #1:
Floyd
(1)
Ian took Floyd up the beach and back home in the monte. They walked to the tortuga sign and ran home from there in the monte the usual way: ~2k.
GRADE: A
morning walk #2:
Una
Mo
Xmul
(3)
Jami took these three the opposite way from Floyd, into the monte for a loop. They were a little scattered at first, but straightened up and listened after that.
GRADE: A
morning swims:
Greta
Shirley
(2)
While Floyd and the rest of the pups were away I took Greta out for 8 laps, and then Shirley for 7. The water was calm and warm, and pleasantly deep relatively close to shore. Both girls were angels.
GRADE: A
evening walk:
Floyd
Stella
(2)
Ian and Jami took these two out on leashes for a walk in the monte, returning home on the beach. They are both excellent on the leash, and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Osita
Godzilla
Frijolita
Ziggy
Floyd
(7)
Cut short because Godzilla balked and bolted home after ~2k. Jami came with us, and although 'Zilla seemed fine with her to start with she was a little skittish and obviously got more so as we went on. I thought she would get over it but just shy of the 2km mark I noticed she wasn't with us, and when I looked back I saw her bolt for home. We were past the turn onto the tortuga sign road. I thought maybe we could cut her off by taking the beach to the maginot line, but she beat us home. We didn't go more than 4k or so, but we did it quickly. Other than 'Zilla, everyone was good.
GRADE: C
morning run:
Alice
Truman
Gowron
Rufus
Lily
Jack
Molly
Daisy
(8)
Strange group. Ian, one of our new HelpX'ers, came with us today for the first time. We took the land bridge to the last turn east, went straight into the monte and around the southern charcos via the palapa road, but instead of going all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant road that way we took the first cut across the charcos after the three-way intersection, headed through the shire past the concrete hut and picked up the Au Soleil Couchant road slightly farther to the wast, then to the beach, the tortuga sign and home the usual way: ~7k (maybe just barely 8k). Alice was starting to drag a bit out on the palapa road, so I took that short-cut instead of going the usual way, but it was no big deal. We ran into some salt workers who had a dog with them on the palapa road, which I didn't realize at first because it looked a bit like Molly and it fooled me. Jack barked a little at him, but he was nice and I shut Jack up quickly; everyone else was curious but nice, and we just kept going. At the end we ran into the garbage men at home, who had arrived just as we were getting there; Molly wanted to chase their truck when they pulled away, but she came back to me when I yelled for her.
GRADE: B
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Ian and Jami took Floyd out for a walk on the beach after the run. He's a good boy on the leash and everyone had a nice time.
GRADE: A
evening walk #1:
Stella
(1)
Sophia took Stella out for a beach walk on her last night here. We'll all miss her, but Frankie and Stella are especially fond of her. There is an extremely low tide tonight, so it will be an interesting walk.
GRADE: A
evening walk #2:
Una
Twiggy
(2)
Ian and Jami took these two for a walk in the monte at dusk. Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Sophia took Floyd out for a walk on the monte and returned on the beach via the tortuga sign.
GRADE: A
afternoon patrol:
Miles
(1)
Roni took Miles out to scout the neighborhood for roustabouts and ne'er-do-wells. None found, but you have to check or you never know. They went down to the shrimpery, back up to doce at the turn, down the first turn to the beach and back on our road.
GRADE: A
dusk walk:
Oscar
(1)
Sophia took Oscar out for a stretch in the monte, more or less the same way she took Floyd earlier.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Floyd
(1)
Kind of a low-key day here at the dog ranch. Sophia took Floyd out late on a little jaunt in the monte instead of the beach for a change.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Eve
Osita
Blue
Elewah
(8)
One of our new crew of HelpX'ers, Jami, is a runner, so she came with us today on an ~8k run through the monte. We took the land-bridge to the last turn east, then straight into the monte and around the southernmost charcos, but then we cut back west at the 4-way crossroads and took the serpentine all the way to the crossroads just east of the intersection, through the shire to the Au Soleil Couchant road, down to the beach, the tortuga sign, back into the monte and home via the shrimpery. There were a ton of people working in the charcos, and everyone behaved themselves perfectly. We ran into Sophia and Floyd on the beach at Au Soleil Couchant, and Floyd also behaved himself very well.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Another in the continuing series of walks that Sophia has taken with Floyd, which have been good for him and have given me a chance to take other dogs running in the mornings. Good job Sophia!
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rita
Truman
Ernie
Jack
(8)
Land bridge, ridge, cut-over, intersection, shire, Au Soleil Couchant, tortuga sign, home: ~7k. I didn't have to use the leash once, and there were people and vehicles almost everywhere we went. Everyone behaved themselves and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Sophia took Floyd for a walk on the beach.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Sophia took Floyd for a walk on the beach. She noted that he was a little more excited than normal, but they both had a good time.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Frankie
(1)
Sophia took Frankie out for a jaunt.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Posey
Godzilla
Frijolita
Ziggy
Lily
Molly
Floyd
(8)
Strange route due to a multitude of salt workers: land bridge to the corner, then north on the main road to the first dog-leg west, onto the ridge and on it to the cut-over all the way to the intersection, then straight north to the Au Soleil Couchant road and home all the way on the beach: ~7k (I think, I'll have to check). We did it fast. Molly definitely has gotten to the point where she breaks off chasing vehicles when you tell her to, which makes it a little more enjoyable to go out with her when there are a lot of people; today there were a ton, and lots of vehicles everywhere. I put Molly on the hook 50m north of the house so that she would come in with the rest of us, and she was good. Everyone else was good the whole way and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning beach run:
Alice
George
Eve
Daisy
Mo
Una
Twiggy
Xmul
(8)
A shorty up the beach past the tortuga sign and back: ~3k. I threw Alice in at the last minute because she was in the yard and she always needs it. George was his usual self, and Eve was a good influence. Everyone did a lot of swimming, and Xmul listened the best she has yet.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Sophia took Floyd out for a long walk again, which has been nice for both of them.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Stella
(1)
Sophia went out with Stella for her walk this evening, which they both enjoyed.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Sophia took Floyd for a long walk north on the beach again.
GRADE: A
swims:
Greta
Gowron
Shirley
(3)
Greta and PupG went out first. Greta did 8 laps in choppy, chilly waters, and PupG swam like a lunatic almost the whole time. I brought those two in and took Shirley out on her own. She did 6 laps and then we walked a bit, slowly.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk #1:
Ernie
(1)
Sophia took Ernie out for a long watch on the beach, and he was a good boy.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk #2:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Monkey*
(5)
Roni left with this crew for a walk at dusk; Monkey decided to go all terco and ran back to the gate instead of crossing doce with the rest of them, so I let her back in and put her in the pen. Roni went on with everyone else for a nice walk down to the land bridge.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Blue
Osita
Posey
Elewah
Ziggy
Daisy
(8)
Hidden trail to the tortuga sign, home via the monte: ~8k. This was Daisy's longest and her first time on the leash. She was off the hook to start with, but a hundred meters north of the dead goat three-way there were a bunch of salt workers with their truck parked in the road and the radio on. As it turns out Daisy is scared of vehicles and people noise like that, so she balked. I put her on the leash and she almost went past them, but I had to carry her for a few meters. Beyond that I decided to leave her on the hook to see how she did, and she was really good; I also was sure we'd run into more people on the way, and figured she might as well get some more leash time. I kept her on the hook until we got to the turn for the hidden trail, and there were people and vehicles right there, so that worked out well. I let her off down the hidden trail and all the way on the beach and then put her back on at the tortuga sign to go by those salt workers again. Other than working with Daisy on the leash it was uneventful - everyone was good. Elewah stayed out a little longer than I wanted her to, but she came in within 30min, and was mostly hanging under the bushes at the southern corner.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Floyd
(1)
Sophia took Floyd for a long walk on the beach to the north which they both enjoyed immensely.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Godzilla
Maggie
Molly
Floyd
(7)
A shorty before I go to Merida: through the monte to the tortuga sign and home on the beach: ~3k. Everyone was especially good: they waited for me on this side of doce until Floyd and I got around the corner, they waited for me across the road when Floyd had to take a major leak, and the whole way they were with me even though there were a ton of people and vehicles to investigate. When we came in on the beach side Molly once again ran down to the water and sat in the surf until I went down to get her, but she was good about it once I put her on the hook. She just likes to be last.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Frankie
(1)
Sophia, our latest HelpX'er, took Frankie for a walk on the beach. All went well.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Truman
Rufus
Ernie
Jack
(8)
Across the land bridge to the last turn east, into the monte and around the southern charcos to the palapa road, all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant road, down to the beach, back into the monte at the tortuga sign and home: ~8k (closer to 9). We managed to leave a little earlier than we have been and went farther than we have in a while. There are a ton of people working everywhere in the salt charcos right now. None of the dogs was on the leash for a second, not even at the gate, and everyone was stellar. The heat and humidity probably has something to do with it, but this crew has become really good, even Ernie. Jack has finally figured out how to drink from the bottle.
GRADE: A
beach jaunt:
Floyd
Daisy
(2)
I wanted to get Floyd out just to do his business and stretch his legs a little, and threw Daisy in to try and reinforce the last positive experience. Daisy is a little sweet-heart: she was out of the beach gate first, but she turned and waited for me at the end of the path while I screwed around at the gate, and listened well the whole way. We didn't even go as far as the tortuga sign. Daisy was in the water a lot, and was jumping on Floyd, tugging at his leash and otherwise horsing around the whole way, which Floyd tolerated without comment - in fact he even seemed to enjoy it a little.
GRADE: A
morning beach patrol:
Greta
Shirley
Miles
(3)
We're in the throes of multiple visitors plus on-going remodeling/construction madness, so mornings are fairly chaotic and fluid right now. Greta got out first to do 8 laps in clear, chilly waters. She was a champ and ran down to the water for me so I didn't have to wrestle with her so much. Shirley was next and did 7 laps like a trooper. While Shirley was in the water, Roni brought Miles out to read his pee-mail and otherwise patrol the waterfront, which he did with aplomb.
GRADE: A
beach jaunt #1:
Alice
Frijolita
Gowron
Floyd
(4)
Next up was the Floyd crew which went with me almost to the tortuga sign and back: 2k. Frijolita, like all her siblings, is an incredibly good girl: she listens, has fun and looks good doing it. Alice actually ran with enthusiasm and poked around in the scrub a lot. Gowron swam the entire way, and didn't come in afterwards... I think she knew what my plans were, because I wasn't too upset with her. She just swims around in front of the house if left to her own devices... ridiculously cute.
GRADE: A
beach jaunt #2:
Gowron
Mo
Una
Twiggy
Xmul
(5)
I let the pups out, sans Daisy, since she's gone for a real run recently and I wanted to focus on the little ones. We don't want them getting programmed to take off running north the second we let them out the beach gate, like a few of the dogs. Gowron was perfect for this, since she was in the water in front of the house - the pups all immediately ran down to her and started playing in the water, which is what I wanted. Instead of running I just walked north slowly, frequently going into the water and calling them to me. Xmul was of course more interested in finding stuff to eat on the beach, but even she came to the shore and jumped in a lot. The rest of them had a good time jumping into the water and horsing around. We took our time getting to the "pier" and then turned around. There was a little comedy wrangling them at the gate, but at least Gowron and Xmul were good and ran in straight off. Everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
