05.10.12

new arrival:
Hazel
(1)

This happened last night but blogger's craptastic new interface no longer appears to give one the option of setting the date and time on a post so I'll cram it in here. I saw this pathetic puppy in the Zocolo and near Fernanda's a couple of weeks ago and I didn't grab it because I didn't want to always be that sucker, but I had a feeling about it; it is probably the offspring of my buddy the police dog - she has his coat and a lot of his face. I regretted not grabbing her when I saw her even though that's crazy talk and had been internally conflicted over it since. Coming home from Merida yesterday I saw her lying almost in the road by the crosswalk in front of the central market. I thought she might be dead but she was just weak, so I grabbed her; I called Roni and we decided to prepare for incoming wounded. She's downstairs with Roni as I write this, having had a night to herself in the bodega. We're thinking "Hazel" now but we're also thinking we might find her a home.
GRADE: A

morning run:
Alice
Rita
Osita
Posey
George
Molly
Twiggy
Mega
(8)

To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~7k. Mega is always a challenge because of his incredible speed and energy. I had him on the other end of the leash with Molly for most of the run and it worked out well enough. I let them both off near the swimming hole and they were still off as we were heading to the beach when some old geezer in a VW bug turned off of doce and started towards us; he's one of the "professionals" who hang out at Julio's and drink until he stops giving them ponies. My troops were spread out a bit and I was concerned more about Molly at first but as he got closer I realized that she was fine and it was Mega who was getting freaked out. Before I could get to him to get him on the leash the VW was upon us and although I shouted to the driver to stop for a second he just smiled and hit the gas - jackass. Mega was caught on the other side of him and ran off east back into the monte. I gathered my remaining dogs and headed off after him; he made it all the way to the turn to the hidden trail before he came back so this run was nearly ~8k after all of that. I put him on the hook when I got to him and we headed for the beach; by the time we got there he was fine again - he is scared of vehicles. I put Mega and Molly back on the leash as we got off of the beach and that's how it stayed until we got home. Everyone else did really well with all of the shenanigans.
GRADE: A

morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Lucy
Tito
Blue
Greta
Lily
(8)

Roni took this crew out for what turned out to be a walk to the charcos around the land-bridge and back again; Miles made it take ~45min to go just that far with all of his screwing around and dawdling. He can be so infuriating at times it is hard to explain in words. This was Greta's first walk in a while and she was on the black leash to keep her from running too much. She is nearly as big of a pain in the ass as Miles on her own but together the combination of his dawdling and hanging back and her charging ahead and screwing around is a greater pain in the ass than the sum of its pain-in-the-ass parts. Highlights from Roni's debriefing: she had to go into the muck nearly up to her knees to fish Greta out of a charco, Miles ran across the land bridge after dawdling ~200m behind for half the walk and then lagged behind on the way back until Roni couldn't stand it and made him walk in front of her, the bugs were awful and Greta does not listen very well. Blue and Zasu were their usual angelic selves. Henry has had a limp recently but seems to be over it and did well. Lucy was just jazzed to be on the show. Lily was good for the most part. Greta and Miles should not go together.
GRADE: C-