Monday, January 31, 2011

31.01.11

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Monkey
Molly
(8)

Funny group. We went north first, then cut through the shire and took the palapa road all the way south around the middle charcos and back home via the closest road: roughly 8k, perhaps a tiny bit more. This was the best that Lucy has done in a long time; she was raring to go right at the gate, and didn't dawdle or lag. In fact all of the sisters did really well. We passed by a young cow all by itself right at the tortuga road turn, and although Alice was a bit skittish, she had her troops with her and didn't freak out or balk. There are still people clearing at the shrimpery, and nobody barked or behaved poorly, in either direction. The biggest news from this run is that Molly ran on the leash for the first time (via the harness). I put her on three times during the course of the run, each time for quite a stretch, and although she doesn't like it, she ran willingly with me and was good about being put on and let off the hook; fantastic progress for her. There were hundreds of huge pelicans everywhere in the middle charcos for some reason, whereas there are none on the beach. Ziggy chased a few a little too enthusiastically, so I put him on the leash for a bit, but that was the only misdemeanor committed (really more of an infraction).
GRADE: A

afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Bette
Tito
Greta
Reggie
Tuesday
(8)

Tuesday was on the hook the whole way, and Bette isn't feeling well. We started out to go to the main intersection via the dirty road, but we turned around a bit past the dead-goat three-way intersection and came back because we thought Bette didn't want to go further. Everyone was stellar, and although the bugs were bad in stretches, it was a pretty pleasant walk.
GRADE: A

afternoon jaunt:
Floyd
(1)

Just a quick one around the cow pasture to keep up on working with him. The bugs were worse now than they were for the last walk, but even so Floyd was a perfect gentleman. He's getting much better about biting the leash, and has no problems whatsoever with people or cows or vehicles. I stood and talked with the owner of the cow pasture/ranch for about a minute when we ran into him on the dirty road, and Floyd waited patiently.
GRADE: A

Sunday, January 30, 2011

30.01.11

afternoon walk:
Floyd
(1)

Bugs were inexplicably bad, but we managed to toddle around the cow pasture. He bit at the leash less than he ever has and behaved himself admirably. I remembered to take the water bottle this time so we could work on that, but the bugs were too terrible for most of the way.
GRADE: A

Saturday, January 29, 2011

29.01.11

morning run:
Gracie
Posey
Godzilla
Frijolita
Eve
Gowron
Stella
Floyd
(8)

This turned out to be a no-nonsense, kick-ass group; we did the long and winding road backwards plus a little extra at the end, and we did it quickly (~10k, perhaps a little more). Floyd never came off the leash, but nonetheless he was stellar. He sat for me when he drank, didn't bolt away before I told him it was okay, slowed down with me when we slowed down and ran like a gazelle when we picked up the pace (which was often). It turns out there were no other dogs on this run that ever want to drink out of the bottle, so I couldn't work with him on his manners with his pack-mates; I should consider that next time. Bette would've normally gone on this one, but she isn't feeling well - she is real water-hog. Stella was an angel, just like she'd done this a hundred times instead of only once. She listens almost as well as Lily already, and seemed to especially like paling around with Posey. Gowron had a blast in the charcos. There were a couple of men clearing and burning at the shrimpery, going both ways, and everyone behaved themselves perfectly. Lots of cool ducks and pelicans (big ones) hanging out in the charcos right now.
GRADE: A

Thursday, January 27, 2011

27.01.11

morning walk:
Alice
Floyd
(2)

Bugs were fairly bad around the cow pasture, but otherwise this was what is becoming a standard short Floyd.jaunt, w/Alice thrown in because she was there and it seemed like a good idea at the time. She's a bit of a pain in the ass, and the bugs again made it difficult to work on specifics with Floyd, but we did do some of that and Alice was mostly good.
GRADE: B

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

26.01.11

morning run:
Shirley
Ginger
Lucy
Truman
Ziggy
Lily
Jack
Molly
(8)

An odd group, as is usual with Shirley. We went north to the hidden trail, down to the beach, back into the monte at Au Soleil Couchant and home via the monte (around 8k). It was stormy today, and the beach is ugly: mounds of nasty, red seaweed have clogged everything up again, and walking or running on the beach is comically difficult. Lucy and Alice definitely reinforce each others' tendencies to screw around; Lucy kept up much better today without her sister (Ginger is an independent spirit and always keeps up on her own). Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

25.01.11

evening walk:
Floyd
(1)

Bugs were terrible for some reason, right around sunset. Just a quick one around the cow pasture to work on Floyd stuff. The bugs made it a little more difficult than I would've liked, but that's not Floyd's fault.
GRADE: A

Monday, January 24, 2011

24.01.11

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Rufus
Ernie
Blue
Elewah
(8)

Incredibly pressed for time today due to work, but I've been feeling crappy from missing so many days, so we did the long and winding road backwards and came home via the flooded salt charcos directly to the east of the shire, then the land bridge: ~10k. We did it quickly, as everyone was geared up. Anna helped at the gate, which made geting out with Rufus on the harness easier, but that's no long-term solution; I think he was a little better today, but he was really terrible last time. Putting him on the leash in the yard does help... he just needs more leash-time. I left him on for the first 2km for precisely that reason. Archie rolled in unmentionable filth, but otherwise everyone hauled ass and had fun. Elewah ran us around and stayed out an extra 30min at the end, which is getting to be a pain; Roni had to work her magic on her.
GRADE: B

Sunday, January 23, 2011

23.01.11

dusk walk/jog:
Floyd
(1)

Worked with Floyd for 20min by himself on the leash just around the cow pasture. He chewed at the leash less this time out, and although he was enthusiastic about getting out he listened well. We went out the alternate trail to the shrimpery, around the cow pasture counter-clockwise, and home via our normal trail.
GRADE: A

Saturday, January 22, 2011

22.01.11

morning walk:
Zasu
Greta
Reggie
Gowron
Tito
Maggie
Ziggy
Monkey
(8)

A jaunt down the dirty road, down to the circular intersection and back again, with an adorable little crew. We were able to go together for the first time in a while, and it was nice. Greta has a limp now, but she needs the exercise and she has a limp anyway. Reggie and Ziggy both like to run ahead a little too much, but otherwise everyone was really good.
GRADE: A

Friday, January 21, 2011

21.01.11

morning run:
Alice
Posey
Frijolita
Stella
Floyd
(5)

We're changing up with the season and the situation here at dogonomicon. Anna and Bogus, a couple from Poland, have arrived here to help out via Roni's legwork on HelpX.com. This will free up time for Roni and me to do stuff, and although I'm still working an insane amount we are both feeling pretty good physically, and the weather is improving (no bugs). So I'm going to get myself out of the mindset that I have to get every possible dog out on every possible run, with the idea that perhaps I could spend time focusing on specific dogs and specific issues when I take them out, at least some of the time. In this case, Floyd was the issue: he really needs discipline, so going with fewer dogs makes that easier. This was also Stella's first run, and I must say it was amazing: it was like she had been on a hundred runs with me. She listened, stayed with me, had a good time, and came to me when I called her. We did roughly 7-8k, a loop through the Shire (what I used to call my "Shire Training Run"), going out by the dirty road and coming home via the land bridge (still flooded up to your knee in parts). Alice kept up and was pleasant. Floyd is similar to Rufus, and they are at a similar age, I think. For the first 100m he is so wound up and playful that he will not stop grabbing at the leash; I kept us going forward, but he was running with the leash in his mouth a lot of the time. I fought him at first, but since everyone else was being so incredibly good and sticking with us I decided to get his attention on what I wanted him to do instead of trying to force him to stop doing what he was doing. By the time we got to the shrimpery intersection he had stopped. He needs to not do that at all, so that is the goal we must work towards. From that point on he was good, and I made him do a lot of things. He must sit before he gets water (he really likes getting a drink on the run). He has to stay seated until I get the cap back on the water bottle and can't push in on anyone else getting a drink. When I stop he has to walk with me. I reinforced everything with him as we did it with my voice in a consistent way. Although I didn't do a perfect job of all of that, I did better than I have done with him so far and he responded in kind. At the very end, after we had crossed the land bridge, Posey took off up the road like a lunatic, and Frijolita followed. Stella stayed with me, so she gets an extra gold star. That was the only serious misbehavior. Otherwise a very nice run.
GRADE: B

Thursday, January 20, 2011

20.01.11

mid-day walk:
Bette
Shirley
Ziggy
Tito
(4)

Bogus and Anna (visitors from Poland) took these four on a walk down to the charco behind Shrimpery.

afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
(3)

Roni took these little dreamboats for a walk around the cow pasture via the coco trail, down to the concrete markers by the charco and back the same way.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

18.01.11

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Gowron
Frankie
Molly
Floyd
(7)

We did the long and winding road with no extras or shortcuts, so perhaps a little more than 10k. Molly likes to charge ahead a little too much; she does listen when called back, but not right away. She has to get some one-on-one time. I made her wear the harness, but as Floyd was on the hook the entire run the harness never got used. Everyone was good. We left early, and saw no people, but did see lots of egrets and seabirds waking up. Floyd was really good on the leash, and had a great time.
GRADE: A

Saturday, January 15, 2011

15.01.11

morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Molly
Floyd
(4)

I had to go to MĂ©rida early this morning, so I just wanted to get Floyd out to calm him down a little. We left very early and didn't go far (4k): out the dirty road, to the intersection via the shortest path, down all the way to the three-way intersection at the tree just past the land bridge and home. We did it quickly, and everyone was stellar. Alice is a lot less pokey with Ginger than she is when Lucy is around.
GRADE: A

Thursday, January 13, 2011

13.01.11

morning run:
Shirley
Osita
Frijolita
Eve
Blue
Godzilla
Ernie
Elewah
(8)

Elewah and Shirley really pushed up the pace; I had Shirley on the leash for a bit and was constantly reining Elewah in. We went south at first and the all the way to the long and winding road, roughly 13k. It didn't seem to touch Elewah at all. I fell out near the start of the LAWR, where the mud first begins; we had rain yesterday, so it was extra slippery. No harm done, I just arrived home a little filthier than usual. We ran into two dudes on motos way out there and nobody even so much as barked. Elewah ran me around a little after we got back but finally did come in without being grabbed, so I guess I'll call that a win.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

11.01.11

morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
Maggie
Ziggy
Monkey
Molly
Floyd
(8)

Good group, went 8-9k via southern trails. Floyd never came off of the leash. Amazingly enough, Alice drank out of the bottle without human intervention for the first time today. I don't understand how that happened. Maggie and Ziggy have new haircuts (along with their psycho-sister April), so xmul wasn't a worry, which was nice. Molly wore the harness but I never had her on the hook; she was good about coming back to me the whole way, at least.
GRADE: A

Sunday, January 9, 2011

09.01.11

morning run:
Oscar
Otto
Archie
Chester
Truman
Rufus
Jack
Lily
(8)

Rufus was terrible at the gate, even with the harness. He was just too wound up, and even though he calmed down by the shrimpery intersection I left him on the leash for at least 3k. We did the same 13k route that the last group did, for much the same reasons. We saw nobody, but way out on the last bit of the long and winding road we heard someone running a salt loader in a nearby charco. Lily took off to investigate, and I sprinted to catch her, which really tired me out; we had probably run 8k by that point, and I felt noticeably crappier after that than I did before. We left and came home via the land bridge, which is drying out but still too wet to drive over. I had Lily on the leash for a couple of long stretches because she's getting too used to running ahead when she wants to. She was good about it, but she could've been better about waiting for me to get her on the leash. Jack is slowly getting the hang of drinking from the bottle.
GRADE: B

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

05.01.11

morning run:
Bette
Gracie
Posey
Rita
Frankie
Elewah
Monkey
Floyd
(8)

I took Floyd today to go on a long one with some real running dogs, since he seems to be inclined that way; it turned out to be 13k, and Floyd absolutely loved it. He was on the leash nearly the whole time, but I did let him off out on the road to Xixim for a while, just so he could air it out. We went south at first and into the monte at the usual place. Just on the other side of the chappa'hai we came upon a bedraggled female dog curled up on an old, ripped-up baseball cap. Our dogs behaved well and were nice, but she was not interested in making friends, although she looked pretty rough. I offered her some water, but she would have none of me. I thought maybe if she followed us we could help her out, but she wasn't interested. Sometimes there's nothing you can do. We continued on to the palapa-on-stilts road north to the road to Xixim, turned west onto the long and winding road and came home via the Au Soleil Couchant access road. There are people working the big charco on the road to Xixim now, about 100m south of the intersection with the long and winding road. Posey ran ahead to say "hi" but was nice about it; the salt dudes thought the dogs were amusing, but she needs a little tightening up on her listening. The long and winding road is drying out steadily but is still impassable for a long stretch unless you're on foot. We ran into two motos full of tourists on the Au Soleil Couchant access road heading out as we were heading back, and although Posey and Elewah ran ahead to greet them there were no shenanigans or barking, and we didn't break step or slow down. Bette, Floyd, Elewah and Monkey drank the lion's share of the water, but I made Rita take several drinks as well. We left a little too late to go that far, but with this group it didn't matter.
GRADE: A

Monday, January 3, 2011

03.01.11

morning run:
Shirley
Blue
Eve
April
Maggie
Ziggy
Floyd
(7)

It's always a strange group with Shirley for some reason. April ran off to chase birds early on, which was extremely irritating. She came back up to her eyeballs in mud almost literally, and then did it again even though I was standing right there telling her not to. Since I have to have Floyd on the leash pretty much the whole way, I put her on the other end of the leash for 1km or so, keeping her very close. Floyd was a dream about it. After that she seemed to settle down and stayed with us. We went out the dead goat trail to the intersection, east a bit and south to all of the southern charcos, including the one on the way to the road to no man's land, which we haven't been on in ages. Lots of waterfowl there. We ran that easternmost access road, but split off back to the palapa on stilts road, took that back through the shire past bag end and home via the land bridge. A decent run, probably 8k, possibly a little more. Except for April everyone was perfect. Floyd and April swam the charco by the land bridge; the rest of us walked across in mostly ankle-deep water.
GRADE: B

evening walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Greta
Tito
(5)

A plucky little crew sallied forth with Roni into the monte, down the coco trail, by the cow pasture to the charco next to the dirty road where those concrete markers are set into the mud. Greta did well, and may be doing a little better with her leg, it's hard to tell sometimes; she definitely still has some kind of hitch when she walks. Miles was irritating but not impossible, and everyone else had a good time checking stuff out. Lots of humans and vehicles around for some reason, and two or three groups of bird-trappers, which means lots of random, loud whistling. In spite of all of this both the dogs on the walk and the dogs at home behaved admirably.
GRADE: A

Saturday, January 1, 2011

01.01.11

morning ambassadorship:
Henry
(1)

Henry accompanied Roni out to greet a couple of future neighbors and their dog on the beach. He larked around effectively, and dealt with all the little ins and outs of the touristy beach season, never leaving his human open to attack from marauding whoseywhats. He's a hell of a guy.
GRADE: A

late morning jaunt:
Alice
Lucy
Ginger
George
Gowron
Monkey
Floyd
(7)

We left very late but it was fine and turned out well. Since it was getting hot we just did a loop out the dirty road to the intersection and back via the land bridge. Floyd was on the leash for most of the way. I let him off for a couple of stretches, and he runs beautifully, if myopically; reminds me of Oscar. He loves water: running through it, swimming in it, splashing around in it, whatever. I'm certain he could run long distances without any problem - he really loves to run. Everyone else was great and had a good time. I made us keep a decent pace since it was such a short distance. They all drank a lot of water.
GRADE: A