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swims:
Twiggy
Shirley
(2)
Twiggy did ten-ish laps and Shirley did about eight, although their styles are different. I insisted that they swim out to me instead of carrying them far out when they weren't interested, so that increases the distance quickly. The bottom is no longer squishy and the sea was calmer but the water itself stinks now as though the gas that was trapped under the surface is now dissolved or just present in the water generally - not fantastic beach weather, but they both had fun and swam a lot.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Rita
Blue
Posey
Archie
Rufus
Elewah
Jack
(8)
North via the dirty road, alternate land bridge and cut-over, through the intersection north to the Au Soleil Couchant road, east and then south on the palapa road all the way around the southern charcos and home via the land-bridge: ~8k. Rufus was a bear at the gate and was on the hook for more than half of the run, at the beginning and the end. I scooped Elewah up at the end. Everyone was really good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Osita
Truman
Chester
Lily
Molly
Daisy
(8)
Southern charcos to the road to no-man's land, the palapa road, the Au Soleil Couchant road and home via the trails behind the tortuga crossroads and the dirty road: ~9k. I had Gracie on the leash out there where I usually do and Molly on the leash at various points just to make sure she stays in line. We ran into a large group of soldiers running west towards doce at the shrimpery intersection just as we were heading out and everyone, dogs and soldiers alike were good; the soldiers actually seemed amused and pleased to see our dogs and our dogs therefore responded in kind - nice to see once in a while. Not even a bark and they all took off with me when I called for them. Other than that we saw nobody and had a good time.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Ten-ish laps in chilly waters that were more surging than choppy, but at least the stink was mostly gone. She chased me around and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
George
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Stella
Luna
(8)
Across the land bridge, along the ridge to the cut-over, the intersection, north on the parallel access road to the Au Soleil Couchant road, east and then south to the swimming hole and home: ~6k. Lucy has a limp now and will have to skip at least one; she seemed a bit limpy at the end but was fine earlier. Ernie is a lunatic but did manage to reign it in a little and listened better than he has recently. I had Stella on the hook almost the whole way; in the brief time I had her off near the intersection she reminded why I generally have her on the leash and I put her back on. Luna worships George as always and is a good girl. We didn't go too fast so Maggie wasn't lagging so much at the end. It's cold and stormy today and the break from the heat and humidity obviously helped everyone.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gowron
Monkey
Zoot
Mega
Lex
Petey
Steve McQueen
Amber
(8)
Hidden trail to the beach, south to the tortuga sign and home via the dirty road: ~8k. At first I was averse to going back to the hidden trail with this crew but the southern charcos are being worked more heavily and I decided I'd just be extra-vigilant near the road and with Mega in general. Also, it was really humid and I had a feeling they would enjoy the ocean. We had no issues getting down to the shore at which point the tribe went ballistic and threw themselves in with wild abandon, to a pup; they are all extremely strong and enthusiastic swimmers. They enjoyed it so much I took us on the beach all the way to the tortuga sign so they could swim more; I went in with them many times much to their delight - they would quickly surround me like little aquatic dervishes. There were some men working just north of the "Y" in the road from the dead goat trail, so I took us up said trail and then cut back along the cow pasture to get to the dirty road. Nobody had trouble with the distance or pace and they're all tired now.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Ten laps this time in the usual stink and chop. The bottom feels like it is mostly covered in rotting seaweed that squishes between your toes and sends bubbles of noxious gas up at you as you walk. Still, Twigs had fun and chased me around a lot.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Ten laps this time in choppy, stinky, shallow water. She's a trooper.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Godzilla
Chester
Archie
Rufus
Elewah
Daisy
Mo
(8)
North to the hidden trail via the swimming hole, but only halfway down the trail to doce (to the sign with the phone number on it), then we turned around and came home via the palapa road all the way around the southern charcos: ~10k. Rufus was loud at the gate and left on the hook again. Everyone was so fired up that we were all across the land-bridge before I really got us oriented; I didn't want to go there, I wanted to go north so I took us along the ridge to the cut-over and the intersection. I was thinking maybe we'd do the long and winding road again because it was overcast and not too hot but when I got to the intersection with the hidden trail I decided what I really wanted to do was get the phone number off of the sign. I didn't want to go all the way to the beach because I thought there might be dog walking peoples there so I turned us around and started home south. It seemed to short to just go back the way we came and once we were on the palapa road everyone really wanted to run so we just kept going. I had Rufus on the hook a couple of times just to make sure he was under control. I thought I'd leave Elewah today but she started to screw around too much around the shrimpery and was obviously planning on skulking off so I grabbed her and put Rufus on the hook to boot. Everyone was good coming home.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Frijolita
Blue
Rita
Ernie
Lily
Molly
(8)
Long and winding road backwards: ~10k. Gracie was on the hook early and out on the long and winding road itself just so she didn't get any ideas; since Ernie has a history of taking off into the woods out there I kept him close verbally. It was windy out there and a lot of the way is still flooded, up to my knees in places. On the way back Molly chased a moto for a few meters where the palapa road meets the Au Soleil Couchant road. The fellow was not amused but seemed placated a bit when I put her on the leash immediately and assured him that none of them bite. Since he took off down the Au Soleil Couchant road we turned onto the palapa road and came home via the bag end land-bridge. It wasn't a very bad offence but she should be over that by now and I left her on the hook the whole way home. Other than that one slip all good.
GRADE: B
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Eight-ish laps again in what I can only describe as less than pleasant circumstances: shallow, stinky, cloudy, brown and cold. If she didn't really need to go out a lot right now for rehab purposes I would not have taken her out. She was not thrilled and had to be coaxed into the water to get her started but once in she had a good time and chased me around.
GRADE: A
evening walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
(3)
Roni took this crew down to the water on this side of the land bridge at dust. They saw a little dog on the land bridge, which Zasu naturally ran up to and greeted; it was okay with dogs but ran across the land-bridge away from Roni. The chaquistes were terrible.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Eve
George
Maggie
Ziggy
Luna
Steve McQueen
(8)
To the swimming hole via the land-bridge, the ridge and the intersection, north to the Au Soleil Couchant road, east and then south down the palapa road to the bag-end land bridge and home more or less the way we came (alternate land-bridge and dirty road instead of land bridge): ~7k. Everyone really behaved themselves very well. Maggie lagged a bit and got a lot of the water. Steve hardly left my ankle.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Roughly eight laps again in more or less the same conditions she's been going out in all week: cold, muddy, shallow, a little stinky. Her use of that leg took a noticeable jump since yesterday; the non-operated leg is now clearly the gimpy one. She swam really well and just walking around with her on the beach was better because she hardly stumbles at all now.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gowron
Monkey
Daisy
Linda
Zoot
Petey
Mega
Amber
(8)
Southern charcos, palapa road, across the berm to the swimming hole, home via the intersection, cut-over and dirty road: ~7k. Steve and Lex sat this one out for a little more balance... six pups can be hard to keep track of all at once as evidenced by our last outing. Everyone was perfect throughout. I had no intention of going the extra 1-2km by going south to the road to no-man's land anyway but there are now people actively working that charco so I'll probably try more northern routes generally.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Eight-ish laps again. Chilly and a bit shallow but she ended up having fun after she got over herself. She chased me far out on the last two trips and really wanted to catch me. Cute.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Osita
Posey
Truman
Archie
Reggie
Rufus
Elewah
(8)
Southern charcos, road to no-man's land, palapa road, Au Soleil Couchant road, home via the trails behind the tortuga cross-roads: ~9k, exactly the same as last time. Rufus was better getting out of the gate today; I put him on the hook from the shrimpery to the turn east into the monte and he was fine for the whole run. At the very end I also put him on the hook on our trail because of what happened the last time but he wasn't so crazed on the way home today and there was nobody around. Everyone else was excellent and had a great time the whole way. I still scooped Elewah up at the end even though I'm starting to get the feeling it isn't necessary... just didn't want any drama at the end. Foot still hurts a bit from that spine so we didn't set any speed records but it was a good run anyway.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Eight laps more or less, in chilly, cloudy, churned-up water. She's showing visible signs of improvement every day.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Twigs did 8 laps more or less, swimming out on each one and chasing me down. She's really using that leg more now and it looks good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Eve
Godzilla
Chester
Lily
Molly
Luna
(8)
Southern charcos to the road to no-man's land, north on the palapa road all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant road and home via the middle access road and the trails behind the tortuga road crossing: ~9k. We left late-ish but it was chilly and a bit windy, heading towards overcast. My foot is not 100% better yet but we kept a good pace. I had Gracie on the hook out in the middle of nowhere where she likes to hunt; she showed no signs of wanting to bolt but I played it safe with her until the Au Soleil Couchant road. I put Molly on just on the trail home but really everyone was excellent and never gave me any cause for grief.
GRADE: A
rehab swim:
Twiggy
(1)
It was chilly but not so churned up so we went for a longer dip this time. She did something like 7 laps, but it's hard to say exactly because she kept swimming around with me. She is already faster in the water than I am again - I cannot get away from her if she really wants to catch me. She's using that leg a lot more and it's starting to look like the leg that was operated on is increasingly the good leg and the one that's left is the not-so-good one.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
Osita
George
Gowron
Ernie
Ziggy
Jack
(8)
Southern charcos to the westernmost serpentine on the other side, the intersection and home via the cut-over and the dirty road: ~6k. My foot still hurts but it was good enough for a short one; we took it slow as well which was fine with Alice and Lucy. I had Ernie on the leash early because I knew I wouldn't be able to deal with his shenanigans if he got too far ahead of me. I put Jack on the leash after we crossed the middle land bridge because he was too far ahead and he needs work on the leash anyway; he was really good and is obviously getting better at it. It's a bit stormy today and the sky was strange and beautiful; the sun kept bursting through the pallor dramatically only to be beaten back.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Twiggy
(1)
I've had a hurt foot since the last run and the seas have been stormy so today was the first day I could get Twigs out (foot not quite okay yet but getting better). It was churned up and shallow again but she swam for about 15min and had a good time, coming out to get me faster than I could get away at least once. Her use of the leg that was operated on is improving every day.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Monkey
Linda
Steve McQueen
Amber
Zoot
Mega
Petey
Lex
(8)
Out to the hidden trail and down to the beach but then right back again home the way we went: ~8k. A truck was going north up doce just as we were getting to it on the hidden trail... I don't understand how that road can be completely empty 99% of the time and yet it seems like whenever I come to a crossing there's a truck. Mega must've gotten spooked because when I took count of us on the other side of doce he was missing. I spent the next 15min looking for him. First I took us down to the beach to make sure he hadn't bolted for the water, since he's been on the hidden trail before; I saw Nicole, Xmul and their two terriers south in the distance but no Mega, so I turned us around and went back to the crossing at doce. Along the way I managed to get myself into a cactus patch that had been cut down some months ago; the dogs were fine but I caught a few spectacular old spines that had apparently been lying there just for me. Once back at the junction with doce I kept us just east of it and shouted for Mega for a solid 10min, maybe longer. I knew that he must be hiding somewhere and that there was no point in my trying to find him; sure enough he appeared sheepishly at the head of the trail and came running back to us once he saw us. The little puppy.celebration that ensued was priceless. I didn't want to head to the beach at that point so I turned us around and we came home just as we had gone out via the swimming hole and the cut-over (but not the ridge and the land bridge). Mega was very happy to be back among us the whole way home. Lex distinguished himself as a fearless leader and good listener. I, on the other hand, was completely whipped on the way home; apparently shouting "MEGA MONSTER" at the top of your lungs for 15min straight is more taxing than running for the same amount of time because I was about ready to puke by the time we got back to the dirty road and I haven't puked since the first time I ran 15k. Still in the end I can't fault Mega for being freaked out and everyone else really helped by sticking with me and listening. Linda had more Xmuls in her coat than I have ever seen on a dog since the day we met Henry.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Twiggy
(1)
Twiggy's first rehab swim since her hip surgery. The water was comically shallow so we had to go out a ways for her to swim and the water was chilly and muddy; she didn't care and was thrilled to be out. We did something like 5-6 "laps" according to my old scoring system, but mainly the point is that she's in the next phase of rehab now and doing much better every day.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Frijolita
Posey
Truman
Blue
Lily
Molly
Daisy
(8)
Around the southern charcos to the Au Soleil Couchant road via the palapa road and home via the trails behind the tortuga sign crossing and the dirty road: ~8k. I had Gracie on the hook out near her happy hunting grounds on the palapa road etc. but I gave her a break everywhere else; if I didn't know better I'd say she was putting on her most winning whimper-and-grovel routine to butter me up at various points but dogs just aren't that disingenuous. Blue and Truman had a roll in a pile of rotting fish someone dumped in the monte just across the land-bridge nearest to us but I managed to keep them off the decomposing dead dog out near the southern charcos. I had Molly and Posey on opposite ends of the leash on the trail back to make sure there was no jack-rabbiting, since our weed-whacker-and-headphones neighbour to the north was here and I didn't want him to get surprised, but of course it was completely unnecessary.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Eve
Godzilla
Chester
Rufus
Elewah
Jack
(7)
Long and winding road backwards: ~10k. Rufus was so fired up that I had to physically restrain him for a full 5min at the gate before he calmed down to an acceptable level. We left with him on the hook and I managed to keep him on it while closing the gate. It was early and cold outside; I could barely feel my feet for the first couple of km's. We kept a brisk pace throughout partly due to the cold and partly due to Elewah, who is out of her tiny little mind; she kicked my ass the entire 10k. Once we were out of the yard everyone was excellent until we were just arriving home. The fisherman who walks frequently happened to be about 30m north of us on doce as we were crossing. For some reason that I cannot fathom Rufus decided it would be a fine idea to charge off north in his direction and dragged nearly everyone with him; the fellow naturally grabbed a stick as I yelled for my dogs - I was plenty angry with them and apologised to him at a distance. The dogs realised the error of their ways within a few seconds and ran back to me but the fact that they did it at all really irked me. Rufus is never aggressive or even interested in people normally; we frequently run across gaggles of salt workers who yell stuff and whistle and he doesn't flinch. He wasn't really aggressive but he was overly interested and behaving stupidly and I can see how if you didn't know him you would find it off-putting. The actual run was beautiful and fine; there was nobody out there and the cold made the air feel brilliant all around us. They were all so engaged and we ran like blazes. It sucked to have it all come crashing down to reality in such a stupid way.
GRADE: C
mid-day walk:
Frankie
Stella
(2)
Mark and Lin took the trouble twins out for a long walk on the beach. Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Bette
Archie
(2)
Mark and Lin took them for a long one again... it's nice that they get rewarded sometimes just for being good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Lucy
George
Ernie
Frankie
Ziggy
Luna
Mo
(8)
Around the southern charcos but then immediately back west and north on the nearest serpentine all the way to the swimming hole, north to the Au Soleil Couchant road and home the way I've come the last three times: ~7k. We deviated from our normal southern route because there was a large group of salt workers right at the junction where we cross over east to get to the palapa road and I didn't feel like dealing with it; there were none in this group that would've caused any problems save Ernie and I had him on the leash, but I just wanted to keep moving and I like that other road anyway. We had a noisy time getting out of the yard (Ziggy) so I was annoyed at the beginning but they were all so good that it actually improved my mood by the end. Mo and Luna were both perfect, as was Frankie. Yet again George was really up for it, and Alice and Lucy also did very well.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Bette
Archie
(2)
Up the beach to near the palm tree and back with Mark and Lin. Archie was mostly off the leash but Bette has to be on all the time due to her leg; of course she is good about it and they all had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gowron
Monkey
Daisy
Linda
Amber
Steve McQueen
Mega
Zoot
(8)
To the swimming hole via the land-bridge, ridge, cut-over and intersection, south across the bag-end land bridge, north on the palapa road to the Au Soleil Couchant road, west to the middle north/south access road, south, west and south again to the parallel road and home the way I came home yesterday: ~8k. What a great group. PupG, Monkey and Daisy continue to shine as puppy-guides. This was Daisy and Linda's first outing since surgery and they were both really ready to go, almost comically so. Linda has got to be the cutest thing on the road - on any road, anywhere; even so she's turning into a cardio dog like Ziggy and PupG. Amber, McQueen, Mega and Zoot were all great and had a really good time while still listening well; I made sure to work with all of them on paying attention to me and staying with the group.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Shirley
Buddy
Stella
Mo
(4)
Mark and Lin took Shirley and Buddy out for their morning constitutional and then Stella and Mo out for a slightly longer walk on the beach.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Frijolita
Blue
Posey
Truman
Lily
Jack
Molly
(8)
Around the southern charcos plus the road to no-man's land, north on the palapa road all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant access road, west to the middle north/south access road, south, west and immediately south down the parallel road to the cut-over and home via the dirty road: ~9k (close to 10k). This was a highly energetic group to say the least. Gracie was on the hook early and out near all of her happy hunting grounds, but I let her off about half the way and she was really good. She didn't flinch when we went past the woods where she was hunting last and I know there are mapaches in there; she's tricky, though, so I don't really think she's reformed. Everyone else was really up for it and we ran our asses off, especially on the long stretches. I put Molly on the hook at the very end just because she's a dingbat. All was good.
GRADE: A
morning beach outing:
Twiggy
(1)
We had Kaliman today working on the shower so Mark and Lin just managed to get Twiggy out before he got here just to sit out on the beach and walk around a bit. She is now a week in to recovering from her first hip surgery and it is going better than we expected. She walked around a little and used it but didn't over-do it.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Osita
Rita
Chester
Archie
Rufus
Elewah
Luna
(8)
Around the southern charcos, continuing south to the road to no-man's land, north on the palapa road, across the berm to the swimming hole and home via the dirty road: ~9k. This was an energetic and fun group. I was having a problem with my hip (sore muscles from sleeping in a strange position a few days ago) and wanted to work it out on the road now that it's almost gone so this group was perfect; everyone really wanted to run and had a blast. They tore through all the water (1.5L) due to the humidity but everyone was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed until the end. I scooped Elewah up at the shrimpery and had Luna on the hook as well; Luna backed out of her collar right before the last turn home and got back to the gate ahead of us, so I wasn't happy with her, but at least she no longer seems interested in bolting for the ocean. I think Elewah might've just come with us on her own if I had let her but I definitely didn't have it in me to chase her down if she didn't... next time we'll see.
GRADE: A
