07.09.12

morning run:
Ginger
Eve
Rita
Chester
Tuesday
Rufus
Twiggy
Lex
(8)

To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~7k. This was an eclectic group but it turned out to be good. I left with Rufus on the leash and Tuesday loose because it's Rufus that needs to be forced to focus on running in the first km more than Tuesday. This worked well enough to the shrimpery and I thought I'd switch them there but Rufus was so loud on the coco trail when I let him off and put Tuesday on that I recanted and put Rufus on the other end of the leash before we got to the turn and left them both on until we got past the 1km mark; this turns out to be a pretty good simulation of putting a small horse on the leash - they are both extremely strong and fast. Nonetheless we survived it and I had Rufus loose and Tuesday on the leash until the swimming hole, where I let her off to play and run free for a bit. She was back on by the time we got to the road and I left her on the rest of the way. She got a little paranoid with me on the coco trail coming home but it doesn't seem as bad as it used to be. I put Twigs on the other end of the leash on the trail home to keep her from heading for the beach when we got near the gate. Besides the leash work it was a high-paced run - Tuesday can really move. There were flamingos in the charcos past the intersection heading to the swimming hole but everyone was pretty good about it. Lex is coming into his own and is a good boy on runs with the big dogs.
GRADE: A