skip to main |
skip to sidebar
morning run:
Ginger
Osita
Elewah
Ziggy
Molly
Daisy
Luna
Xmul
(8)
The southern charco loop backwards plus a little extra; north out the coco trail to the Au Soleil Couchant road, east and then north like we were going to the long and winding road, turned around at the intersection with the hidden trail and came back south to the palapa road and home via the southern charcos, the main road and the land bridge: ~9k. I thought we might do the long and winding road but the dogs were giving me too much trouble chasing birds and the leash stopped working, hampering my efforts to control them. This was a high-energy group of mostly younger dogs and there were a fair number of flamingos and ducks in the charcos nearby; I should take the long leash that can easily accommodate two dogs for a while until everyone remembers/knows the rules. Osita was bad a couple of times and she should know better; her main sin was not listening to me. Xmul was predictably crazed so I had to improvise a harness by looping the leash around her body and using her collar to keep it in place. She was in that get-up for several kilometers but I let her off at the southern end of the run because she had been so good and she listened well for the remainder. I put Luna on the leash as we were getting near the tar paper shack and she was not so great - backed out of her collar and danced away. I collected her and did the same loop-harness thing at which point she did her best boat anchor impersonation from the tar paper shack until we got home. She's HEAVY. I scooped Elewah up at the shrimpery and we all walked home from there more or less together and under control.
GRADE: B
morning run:
Archie
Truman
Blue
Reggie
Gowron
Rufus
Jack
Xmul
(8)
The southern way I've been taking recently, around the southern charcos but then we went further south to the road to no-man's land, back onto the palapa road and home via the swimming hole, the intersection, the cut-over, the middle land-bridge and the dirty road: ~8k. We didn't see as many flamingos today, probably because we left later; Jack was the one in this group that wanted to chase but he responds quickly to commands. There is a lot of salt-related activity nearby right now, with two semis parked just across the land bridge to the south and clusters of people on motos buzzing around.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Boscha
(1)
Another abortive attempt at taking a walk. We got about as far as the first time, down by the shrimpery, when she got out of her collar. I had been debating the idea of letting her off the leash with myself the whole way, but couldn't shake the feeling that she would just bolt for Kikis' beach house. When she got out of her collar she was a bit confused and I easily grabbed her and put it back on, but in a moment of weakness I decided to not put her on the hook right away and - sure enough - she bolted for Kikis' beach house. It is not particularly fun to get there in bare feet any way but the beach and I didn't go that way. She was more or less fine on the leash for the walk home from there.
GRADE: C
morning run:
Henry
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Frijolita
Maggie
Ziggy
(8)
Almost identical to yesterday except instead of the palapa road we took the slightly closer road that parallels it to the west and cut across the charcos at the land bridge at the southern end of the shire: ~6k. This is the distance for almost all of these dogs; Frijolita and Ziggy are the exceptions but they had a good time. There were flamingos again, close by this time, so there was a bit of discipline involved in keeping anything too awful from happening. Frijolita wanted to chase them, so she went on the leash for a bit. Other than that it was uneventful and everyone behaved themselves perfect. Lucy might have a little limp now, we'll have to watch her.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Chester
Rita
Eve
Posey
Ernie
Molly
(8)
The land bridge to the last turn east, around the southern charcos and down the palapa road all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant road, back south at the first turn, to the watering hole, the shire, the intersection, the cut-over, the dirty road and home: ~8k. There were flamingos just east of the terreno federal road at the first charcos; I was caught unaware and a few of the dogs seem to have forgotten the rules. I ended up with Ernie on the leash for a while to make sure no more of that happened and will be more careful now that they have returned. Other than that it was a nice run.
GRADE: A
late morning run:
Frijolita
Godzilla
Lily
Monkey
Daisy
Xmul
(6)
East out the land bridge, south and then east to the terreno federal serpentine, the short-cut to the intersection and home via the cut-over, the middle land bridge and the dirty road: ~6k. At the very end as we were crossing doce a mototaxi stalled about 20m south of us; Xmul and Lily went over to bark a bit but cleaned their act up and came with me quickly. We were home before the driver managed to get his vehicle started again.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Eve
Rita
Reggie
Stella
Daisy
Mo
(8)
Out the dirty road to the middle land bridge, the cut over, the intersection, the first trail south around the southern charcos, the palapa road, the north land bridge to the swimming hole, the shire, the intersection, the cut over and middle land bridge again but this time north to the dead goat three-way and home via the coco trail: ~8k(?). We would've come home exactly the way we went out down the dirty road but Reggie balked at some salt workers loading a huge truck on the way back; he went right by them on the way out, so I was a little surprised, but I guess we came upon them too suddenly on the way out for him to think about it. Other than that everyone was perfect. Stella was on the leash the whole way and will remain leash-bound on runs until I feel like trying to trust her again. Daisy and Mo were incredibly energetic and more or less sold me on hitting the papala road instead of coming home via the main road, which was my original plan. Reggie and Gracie also did their parts to sell me on a longer run, as they were all wiggly and playful when we got to the four-way crossroads down south where I had to decide. I really didn't feel like going out today after such a crappy yesterday but the natural optimism and joyfulness of dogs is hard to beat.
GRADE: A
final run:
Floyd
(1)
Floyd was simply too aggressive to be part of our pack. He was sweet, fun, affectionate and energetic, and we really tried to find a way to make it work; he also weighed almost 70lbs, had bad eyesight and could be the devil to handle. In the end it was clear that there were certain things that couldn't change. We could argue nature/nurture but it doesn't matter, the fact is that he was a danger to many of his pack-mates and could've harmed our reputation by doing something terrible. He didn't do anything truly terrible while with us but only due to super-human effort on our part, and frequently just by inches... if only we'd had him when he was a pup things might've been different. We both loved him and wanted him to stay but there just isn't enough of us, enough space, enough anything. I had to take him to be put down. Roni and I are beside ourselves with sadness. He was a good boy to the end. It can't always end happily. Although it was often unspeakably hard to have him here I know I will miss him.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt:
Ginger
Gowron
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Floyd
(6)
Out the dirty road, over the middle land bridge, the cut-over to the parallel road back to the tortuga crossing and home south via the dirty road again (basically a figure eight): ~4k. We really ran it except for Maggie, who kept lagging and having to rest. Still everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt #2 (abortive):
Henry
Linda
(2)
My plan was a little jog directly around the cow pasture. Instead we got halfway there, to the midpoint of the road that runs along the northern end of the pasture, when I noticed that Linda was lagging back about 20m and looking to bolt the opposite way. Sure enough, that's what she did. Until that point she had been no farther than a meter from my heel. For some reason she just decided that was far enough from home and would not stop. I was 90% certain she would come straight home and 10% worried that she would try to run to Kikis', so naturally the 10% won and I sprinted for 700m trying to catch her (the last 100m more on principle than anything else). Henry was a trooper as always. I guess the whole thing was roughly 1.6km, half at a mild jog and half at a crazy gallop.
GRADE: C (we made it home in one piece at least)
morning run:
Chester
Truman
Blue
Archie
Ernie
Elewah
Jack
Monkey
(8)
North via the dirty road, the middle land bridge, the cut over and the intersection to the swimming hole, continuing north to the Au Soleil Couchant road (north fork), east and then south at the intersection and home via the palapa road, the southern charcos, the main road and the land bridge: ~8k. Out on the palapa road near the bend that curls around the bottom of the southern charcos Jack got a little strange: he simply refused to come along with us, like he had seen a ghost. Everyone else including Elewah was with me but he just stood and barked a little at us until finally a few of the dogs ran back to see what he was on about; there was nothing discernible in the bushes and once we got back to him he was okay and continued on with us. Strange. Just after we turned onto the bend west that heads to the land bridge we ran into four full-grown dogs that I don't recall seeing before: one cream colored one, two black ones and one kind of reddish brown. The all bolted west across the land bridge with Ernie, Jack, Elewah and Truman in pursuit and me, Monkey, Archie and Chester not far behind. There was no barking at all, which I found odd. They dove into the bushes just to the north of the cove formed by the land bridge. I ran ahead to the intersection where the dirty road meets the road to the land bridge and called for our dogs until they came out - it took a couple of minutes for the last straggler to reach me (Elewah). The entire time I heard no barking or signs of a melee, although the dogs to the northwest around the HoJo could be heard faintly in the distance. At this point I scooped Elewah up and walked most of the way home just to avoid any more surprises.
GRADE: B
short jaunt:
Floyd
(1)
Around the cow pasture.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Posey
Rufus
Frankie
Maggie
(8)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant via the dirty road, the middle land bridge, the cut-over, the intersection and the swimming hole, then home via the tortuga sign: ~6k. Rufus has developed a limp in his front right paw after the last few runs, so I took him on a shorter one today with the intention of watching him closely afterwards. The last few times it seems that his limp developed within a day and then went away the next day after that; he shows no signs of problems while on the run so it sounds like perhaps he pulled something originally and it's sore for a while now after runs. Posey got to go because she was due but she irritated me where the road from the swimming hole runs into the Au Soleil Couchant road: the brush to the north had some kind of interesting critter in it and Posey led the charge, but she took her sweet time coming when I called her, and then refused to come all the way to me. She knows better and was going on the leash for sure, but since she didn't come all the way to me and made me come to her she stayed on for the rest of the run. Other than that there were no surprises or mishaps. This is the perfect distance for George, Maggie, Frankie, Alice and Lucy; the other three could run forever but it felt like near 100% humidity and everyone was happy to get home.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Frijolita
Godzilla
Osita
Eve
Molly
Floyd
(8)
Hidden trail more or less the standard way: ~8k. We took the dirty road both ways and used the middle land bridge on the way out, like before. Some stray was down in the bushes near the start of the dirty road again but I couldn't see it; our dogs were interested and barked a little but listened to me and didn't become aggressive. There were salt workers on the dirty road and everyone was good. Other than that we didn't run into anyone or anything else except birds, lizards and bugs. We took the intersection out east to the swimming hole instead of using the Au Soleil Couchant road. It is still deep enough to swim in despite not having had any rain for days. The 1.5 liter water bottle is a good idea when dogs like Bette, Floyd and Molly are along. Everyone behaved themselves and had a nice time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Boscha
(1)
It was her first time on a leash so it was a little rough at first but by the time we were coming back home she was more or less okay. We just went to the shrimpery and back.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Twiggy
(1)
It was starting to get choppy so I only took out Twigs, since she doesn't care at all. She did 10 laps in her usual way.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Rita
Gowron
Ziggy
Lily
Floyd
Daisy
Mo
Xmul
(8)
Hidden trail more or less the standard way: ~8k. We went out the coco trail and came back on the dirty road. The heavens must've had a message of peace and harmony writ in them because from the very beginning everyone was perfect. They waited for me to cross doce and were more or less in a little cloud around me the entire run. We got barked at on the way out at the end of the coco trail by the dogs that hang out near the HoJo and nobody flinched. Floyd had to throw himself under some bushes a few times on the way to the ocean, but I brought a 1.5 liter bottle of water this time instead of the usual 1 liter so I spread it around liberally and everyone was fine. The ocean has a steep drop-off right near the shore, which led Xmul to discover the art of the cannon-ball (she is a natural). Everyone listened well, stayed with me, kept up and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Chester
Blue
Truman
Archie
Rufus
Ernie
Jack
(8)
Hidden trail plus a tiny bit extra: ~9k. We took the dirty road coming and going, and went out the middle land bridge. It was a little late, hot and bright but beautiful and quiet. The only people we saw were some salt workers on the other side of the charco where the road splits to go north. The ocean is a little chilly and there were lots of birds. As we were coming home Rufus, Jack and Truman ran north ~20m from our gate when they saw our neighbor at the white house weed-whacking his part of the road; they all stopped and came back when I called them and he and I waved at each other - he didn't even see them until they were already coming back to me.
GRADE: A
mid-day swims:
Twiggy
Shirley
Greta
Lucy
(4)
The ocean was a tiny bit chilly and mildly choppy. Twiggy did ten "laps" by swimming out with me and back continuously five times; she was very enthusiastic and had a nice time. Shirley did eight laps, but I had to carry her out every time; still she had a good time and swam well. Greta needed to be carried in from the shore and did seven laps. Finally, Lucy came out just because there's no time she couldn't use some more exercise. She did six laps under protest and thought my methods rather rude, but she also had a good time swimming.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Godzilla
Osita
Lily
Monkey
Molly
Floyd
Daisy
(8)
Across the land bridge, last turn east into the monte, around the southern charcos to the palapa road, across the northern land bridge to the swimming hole and the shire, through the intersection west to the cut-over, the middle land bridge, the dirty road and home: ~7k. At the intersection where the dirty road meets the shrimpery we ran into a little dog about the size of Daisy hiding in the bushes. Our dogs were curious but nice about it; the stray didn't want to move, she just wanted to sit there, so we left her alone and kept going. On the way back we ended up going by that spot again and that dog was still hanging around the general area, choosing once again to go sit in the bushes with her back to us; Frijolita was especially interested in her this time and barked a little but it wasn't aggressive and she knocked it off and came when she was called. Other than that not very much happened. The monte is starting to dry out but is still substantially under water in places.
GRADE: A
mid-morning jaunt:
Alice
Lucy
Floyd
(3)
Around the cow pasture the long way: ~2k. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Truman
Rita
Elewah
Jack
Mo
(8)
East over the land bridge, south to the last turn east, around the southern charcos and then further south to the way-out "Y" road, back to the palapa road, north to the northern land bridge to the shire, the swimming hole, the intersection, the cut over to the middle land bridge, the dirty road and home: ~8k. It was overcast and mild, perhaps even a little cool and the monte was flooded many places from recent rains. We ran into critters twice: once at the last good north/west turn coming into the monte around the southern charcos, and once on the palapa road. The first time I didn't get a look at what they were chasing but they lost it quickly in the swampy woods that surround one of those charcos to the south that abuts the coconut plantation. On the palapa road I saw a medium-sized, shaggy, short-tailed marmot shamble into the road about 100m ahead of us and realize what a mistake that was almost immediately; it bolted into the woods to our right and our dogs shot ahead like vipers after a cylon. Of course it was mostly show. The thing almost certainly went up one of the many tall trees there and the dogs were all casting about for it for a solid 45 seconds while Rita and I waited at the base of the palapa platform. I cranked out a fairly impressive sprint for that point in the run so they weren't out of my sight for very long. This played into my decision not to go all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant road but instead head across the land bridge to the shire and hit the swimming hole. I must note an interesting phenomenon: the swimming hole was over-full and at its deepest parts the bottom was really hot - uncomfortably so. Elsewhere the bottom felt like normal sand but there were patches were the water was deepest that were really hot, and it was a cool day with very little sun. I scooped Elewah up on the trail home after she managed to draw Jack into a little misbehavior at the shrimpery corner - that has to be looked after. Posey came home the final 100m on the leash and there were no incidents. Over all a nice run if a bit chaotic at times.
GRADE: B
morning jaunt:
Floyd
(1)
Around the cow pasture the short way: ~1k. It was starting to rain as we reached the end of the dirty road so I cut it shorter than I usually would and picked up the pace.
GRADE: A
