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morning walk:
Lucy
Bette
Bosha
Linda
(4)
I took this little squad up the beach to the tortuga sign mainly to get Bette and Bosha out. The ocean is cold, muddy and a bit stinky and there are piles of rotting seaweed on the beach; in other words: perfectly fun for dogs. Bette, Linda and Lucy all had fun in the water and Bosha waded in up to her nips several times.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Archie
Reggie
Gowron
Rufus
Lily
Luna
Mega
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. Once again Roni pulled rodeo duty and helped at the gate which smoothed over our exit; Rufus wasn't too bad in the launch-pad because Roni and I managed the process well. I threw Mega in because he's been annoying the last couple of days and I was hoping to tire him out. He was on point nearly the entire run but listened well generally. He did misbehave a little as we were heading to the southernmost turn; a man my age was coming towards us on a bike and Mega surged forward and barked like a lunatic, frightening him. Rufus followed him and I had to yell at them both to get back with me. I apologized to the fellow, who thought it was funny when he realized I was there and they weren't wild dogs; Mega went on the leash from there until we got home. I didn't think he'd do something like that - it's usually his sister who has all the ideas in that regard. Other than that nothing of note happened. It was a bit windy and chilly and everyone had a nice time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Chester
Frankie
Ernie
Ziggy
Jack
Stella
Twiggy
(8)
To the swimming hole: ~7k. A strange group of loud freaks with a couple angels mixed in; Ernie, Ziggy, Stella and Frankie really needed to get out and it was a little late and hot so I didn't want to take anyone too heavy or slow. We went out the parallel road, looped around to the swimming hole and came home via the cut-over for the first time in a while. Stella was on the leash the entire way; I put Twiggy on the other end at the base of our trail to keep her from wandering over to the rotting corpse a couple of meters away. Everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Lucy
Tito
Reggie
Linda
Hazel
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk in the monte. From the outset Miles made it clear he would be dawdling; the combination of his behavior and Hazel's running ahead and not listening made it a fairly unpleasant walk for Roni. In general they were rowdy and a bit undisciplined; Reggie and Henry both could've listened better, Tito insisted on frolicking in the grossness, Hazel was out of her mind and turned her ears off for the most part resulting in her having to be carried home from the base of the trail at the end (along with Tito), and Miles dawdled to a criminal degree. It is truly irritating to go on a walk with one who won't catch up and one who won't slow down and that's what this became, punctuated with various misdemeanors. Zasu and Linda were both uniformly good and Lucy was good for the most part.
GRADE: D
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Godzilla
Posey
Truman
Elewah
Molly
Daisy
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. We left with Molly off the leash and she was only on a little bit near the end; I think she may be turning the corner behaviorally but I still put her on the leash when we're near vehicles or people. At some point I'll have to test her out there and see how she does. I scooped Elewah up when we got back to the shrimpery. She's been feeling "special" recently and we are a bit worried about it; we're going to take her to the vet but for now I keep a close eye on her when we're out there just because there are so many stray males around. All in all they were angels and had a great time.
GRADE: A
morning walk #1:
Zasu
Miles
Tito
Lucy
Blue
Frijolita
Reggie
(7)
Roni took this crew out for a walk around the monte. Frijolita and Blue immediately rolled in the grossness at the end of the trail; they got baths when they came home and felt absolutely no shame about it. Henry sat this one out with a limp - again. Reggie is an angel.
GRADE: A
morning walk #2:
Alice
Otto
Lily
Bosha
Linda
Petey
Hazel
(7)
I took these out for what was probably an identical route to Roni's. Petey rolled in the same grossness and was a real freak about getting washed off when we returned; he had to be separated from everyone for a bit while he calmed down. Hazel barked at a guy on a bike at the shrimpery coming home and I had to pick her up to make her stop. Bosha was off the leash the whole way and a really good girl. She gets crazed before we leave and acts out in the launch-pad but once we're out there she's fine. In general everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Rita
Monkey
Mo
Mega
Lex
Zoot
Amber
Steve McQueen
(8)
Hidden trail: ~8k. Petey sat this one out due to logistical considerations: (a) he's a freak, (b) there were too many wound-up dogs between him and the door, (c) he's a FREAK. I haven't been taking all six of them at once lately anyway but some mornings it seems like it's just impossible. The idea was to get as many of the tribe out as possible to tire them out / shut them up today so 5/6 was good enough. I decided to hit the hidden trail right as we were at the turn north from the Au Soleil Couchant road; I have been doing the southern routes more recently to avoid the gringo-laden beach (and because I like it out there) but the tribe love the ocean so much that they sort of talked me into it. I had Amber on the hook the entire run and she was really good about it. We ran into Xmul and her human/pack on the beach just south of where we come out on the hidden trail; Xmul chased Mega into the water and ran around like a lunatic while Nicole wrangled her terriers but we separated amicably and quickly. I put Mega on the other end of the leash as we turned south from the tortuga road to keep the pace down in the last ~2km and keep us all together. Everyone listened and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Osita
Eve
Chester
Archie
Rufus
Jack
Molly
Twiggy
(8)
Southern charcos via the northern route: ~8k. Same route as the last two times. Roni had to open the gate for us to leave but Rufus was a bit calmer and was an angel otherwise. I put Molly on the leash on the way back near the tar-paper shack and had Rufus on the other end of the leash at the shrimpery. I managed to keep them out of the filth at the base of the trail and kept us moving on the way home. No surprises, no incidents, everyone ran well.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Lucy
Frijolita
Blue
Bosha
Linda
Monkey
Hazel
(8)
I took this crew for a walk in the monte on a chilly morning. It turns out the nastiness that several of them have rolled in right near the end of our trail is a dead dog that was dumped in a black plastic garbage bag; this makes it difficult for the carrion birds to find and dispose of it as they normally would and ensures it is as disgusting as possible for as long as possible: perfect for our dogs to roll in. A big cosmic "fuck you" to whatever toothless moron decided it was better to dump their dead dog like this than to bury it like any decent person would've. I'll have to head over there with a shovel and bury whatever is left so that we aren't constantly running afoul of it. Frijolita, Blue and Alice all pointed it out to me in their typically disgusting but enthusiastic way as we were heading out so I had the whole walk to ruminate on the subject, with olfactory punctuation. Other than that it was a nice walk. Nobody was on the leash at all; Bosha did her usual acting-out routing in the launch pad before we left but I was on top of it, and once we left she was really good and had a blast. We jogged a little in spots and she was really happy about it; I think I'll try her on a shorties/fatties run soon. Hazel should also go on such an adventure as she is obviously up to it. She runs around like a lunatic and is always grappling with Linda. Alice really had a great time... this was more her speed. We crossed the alternate land bridge and looped around on the road to come back over the standard land bridge on the way home. I had to bathe Frijolita, Blue and Alice when we got home or the stench would've knocked us (humans) out but I don't blame the dogs.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Tuesday
Gowron
Daisy
Mega
Lex
Zoot
Petey
Steve McQueen
(8)
Southern charcos via the northern route: ~8k. We took the same route as yesterday but it felt like it took half the time; we were at the turn to no-man's land in what seemed like less than half an hour. As is usual when Tuesday is around we did not stop until almost the ~3km mark; I didn't let her off the leash this time because we kept running into people and I was getting the feeling she might go a little paranoid on me but she didn't seem to mind as long as I kept up with her. Zoot was a little difficult to wrangle into the launch-pad but once we left he was really good: he listened, he didn't dawdle, he didn't freak out when we saw people. I put Mega on the other end of the leash just inside 1km from home because I wanted to start dialing the pace down a bit and that's impossible with him on point; this trick works almost immediately and by the time I got to the land bridge they were all around me in a little cluster. The only two flamingos we saw were right there at the land bridge on the way home and everyone was good about it. A nice, fast run on a sunny, chilly morning.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
George
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Luna
Amber
(8)
Southern charcos via the northern route: ~8k. It was a bad idea to bring Maggie on this one but she hadn't gone in a while and I thought she could do it. She could and she did but she lagged a lot; some of it is due to her being a little pudgy and short but she also screws around A LOT. It made the run take much longer than it should've and it was my fault. George was totally up for it and hardly lagged at all until the very end. It was overcast, blustery and even a little cold which made the heavier dogs happy. Amber was on the leash the entire way and was good about it. Maybe in a couple more runs I'll consider letting her off the leash when we're out there. I put Luna on the other end when we were nearing home just to be sure. We went all the way around and came out via the "terreno federal" road to the main road and home via the land bridge, which was high and dry. No flamingos, only a few random people in the monte and everyone was good about it.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Tito
Lucy
Eve
Otto
Reggie
Monkey
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk down to the charcos. They ran afoul of some nasty surprises left in the brush by nameless idiots who apparently lack basic training in hygiene; sometimes it seems like the woods are full of this kind of crap and there's no way to avoid it. Reggie and Miles abstained but everyone else jumped in one way or another; Otto had to have a bath immediately upon arrival home. Roni was not pleased - it is an ugly reality at times and although we both blame the shitter for the most part the dogs should still listen a bit better. If a turd falls in the forest you don't HAVE to roll in it.
GRADE: C
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
A little choppy, a little chilly but puppy.liebschen did her duty and swam like a gazelle. Yes, a gazelle. They can swim, too.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Lucy
Bette
Archie
Gowron
Bosha
Linda
(6)
I took this unit up the beach almost to the tortuga sign with plenty of swimming along the way. Archie kind of talked his way onto the squad on the way out but I had to put him on the other end of the leash with Bette because he runs ahead too far; he's not bad but I had a lot to contend with already and I didn't want to be yelling constantly. He was good about it but it hampered Bette's swimming a bit... kind of funny I had Bette and Archie on the leash, anyway. Bosha was really good once we got under way and enjoys walks like this off the leash much more than anything else. She runs around a lot but never gets far from me. Everyone else was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Truman
Frijolita
Reggie
Archie
Rufus
Lily
Jack
Lex
(8)
Northern loop: ~7k. This was the same route from a couple of days ago: out the parallel road, north to the palapa road, across the bag end land bridge and home via the tortuga road. Rufus was crazed but again I got him hooked up quickly and Roni pulled the rope on the chute and she let us suckers go, so I didn't have to screw with the gate. There is something dead right near the end of our trail to the shrimpery and Frijolita was covered in it within ~30 seconds of leaving; I had to bathe her with soap when we got home. Everyone was really good the whole way. I wanted to get back because the big demo for work was this morning and everyone obliged me by running their asses off. I had Lex and Rufus on the leash at the end but nobody was interested in bolting north. Good run.
GRADE: A
mid-day walk:
Lucy
Shirley
Linda
Bosha
(4)
I took these four up the beach almost to the tortuga sign. Bosha was off the leash the whole way and really did well; she's a freak and a nut-job but she's not dumb and knows where she lives. Shirley, Linda and Lucy all went into the water even though it was choppy and a bit chilly.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Eve
Godzilla
Posey
Chester
Frankie
Lily
Daisy
(8)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant via the swimming hole: ~7k. Left a little late and am still ridiculously pressed for time with work. The run seemed to help lift me a bit as I've been lacking sleep. I didn't want to go too far because of the time; they almost convinced me to go the extra ~1km to the hidden trail but I thought better of it; this group could easily have gone 10k. I tried to keep the pace up at least and everyone did have a good time. We ran into a moto heading towards the intersection and everyone was perfect. I didn't use the leash once until we were getting close to home; Posey has run ahead just as we're getting home and bolted off north on several occasions so I put her on the leash at the shrimpery. I had forgotten that there was some nastiness on the trail home; Roni and I had both run afoul of it recently but I was kind of stupid today and didn't realize what was going on until I had to yell at Lily, Godzilla and Chester to get the hell out of whatever they were into. I ended up washing them all when we got home, they stank to high heaven; I put Lily on the other end with Posey for the last ~50m. I almost can't blame the dogs, although they do know they're not supposed to do that. At least Godzilla and Chester got baths.
GRADE: A (blame the shitter not the shit)
morning run:
Alice
George
Ernie
Ziggy
Molly
Monkey
Twiggy
Steve McQueen
(8)
Northern loop: ~7k. We went out to the north on the parallel access road, east into the monte as usual, took the loop onto the palapa road but then crossed at the bag-end land bridge and came home via the Jeep berm and finally north from the intersection back to the tortuga road. Alice lagged a bit the whole way but caught up frequently and seemed to feel good; she likes to hang back and screw around a lot but I'm worried she might be a step slow besides... need to watch her. Steve McQueen is really good in the absence of his peeps; he's on my heel for the most part and always stops when I call him. Molly was on the leash for most of the way but I let her off when we were getting near the palapa road; there were several motos around and people in a couple places but no flamingos. We ran into a couple of salt workers eating something before they started work just north of the dead goat intersection. Everyone else was good but Twigs kept trying to sneak back to wheedle food out of them; I saw them throw a couple chunks of it at her (giggling all the while) when she lagged back after everyone else had passed so I made her come to me and put her on the other end of the leash; no harm, no foul, and she can't help it she's such a good mooch. A decent run.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Lucy
Tito
Blue
Linda
Hazel
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk to the charcos. Hazel did well. She didn't harass Tito (and in fact seemed to be paling around with him), ran around like a lunatic and mostly listened; Roni said that she went ahead a bit more than she should when everyone else stopped with Roni at the shrimpery for a bit to look around, but she came running back when she heard Roni calling for her. She is definitely becoming more intrepid and needs a collar and some time on the leash soon; it is nice to see that leg getting stronger. Linda likes to run ahead too much once you hit the last trail home and she drags Hazel with her a bit; there was some strange traffic on the road as Roni was getting near and Linda's antics didn't help but Roni's vigilance (and running) kept everyone on track.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Osita
Rita
Chester
Archie
Daisy
Mo
Amber
Lex
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. Amber left on the leash and stayed that way the whole run; she is too smart and willful to be so undisciplined and is going to be a leash-only dog for a while, at least - she'll get over it eventually. She was surprisingly good the whole way and didn't dig in her heels, try to tie me up or do any of the other irritating things that smart dogs who hate the leash tend to do. We ran into a couple of motos heading out as we were coming back towards the intersection and both she and Lex were good (although of course Amber had no choice). Everyone else was perfect. Rita was really up for it after finally getting over her latest ear surgery; at least she's pretty close to over it and she just had to get out. I watched her and made sure she didn't roll in anything or dart off into the brush where she might catch her ear on something. This group wasn't as insanely fast as the last one I took out but the pace was both definitely and defiantly high. No marmots were harmed, no people were barked at, no birds were chased and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Henry
Tito
Lucy
Otto
Frijolita
Reggie
Lily
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk to the charcos before it got too terribly hot, although it was still plenty hot by the time they got back. We switched Lily for Miles at the very last minute when Roni realized that taking Miles with Otto on the leash would be problematic, especially at the start. This was probably a losing proposition; Miles might've been difficult at first but Lily was a pain in the ass mid-way through the walk as it turns out. Lily ran ahead with Frijolita a lot to start with and Otto pulled like a madman; Roni let Otto off when he had calmed and put Lily on instead but she was not very cooperative. Apparently Otto and pals had been thinking of heading off to roll in poo but came back when Roni called them; Lily, on the other hand, didn't listen at all when she was released and took off in the direction they had just come from, spent five quality minutes with some feces and came tearing back after Roni was just about to leave without her. When she was put back on the leash she did her best boat-anchor impersonation all the way home, stinking to high heaven for good measure. Not a good performance by Lily but everyone else was good.
GRADE: B
morning beach jaunt:
Bette
Gowron
Linda
Hazel
(4)
I took these four up the beach past the HoJo, almost to the tortuga sign. The ocean was churned up and chilly but Linda, PupG and Bette didn't mind and they jumped in a lot; Hazel is not so crazy about the water like that but she had a good time on shore and harassed Linda whenever she was on dry land.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Godzilla
Posey
Truman
Tuesday
Elewah
Mega
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. The first ~3km of this run are perhaps the fastest 3km I have ever run in my life. We didn't stop or even slow down once; not at the shrimpery, not at the tortuga road, not all the way until we were heading east on the Au Soleil Couchant road. We couldn't possibly keep that torrid pace the entire way but it was damned fast anyway. I let Tuesday off the leash on the Au Soleil Couchant road near where we head south towards the palapa road but I put her back on at the palapa because I just had a feeling I should and I've learned to pay attention to those feelings. Nothing happened and she didn't seem paranoid at all (for the second time) but you never know. She was a good girl the whole way. I was thinking of letting Elewah come home on her own when we got back to the shrimpery but she started to look like she was going to sneak off towards the soldiers' so I grabber her. Mega ran ahead on the trail home but he kept looking back for us and I knew he would just go to the gate so I didn't bother yelling. They killed almost all of the water. Good run.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
It was chilly and shallow but we persevered. I held her stationary in the water and made her swim against me for long periods since there was no point in going out any "deeper"; it was not even up to my thigh and we at least 30m out so I just went with it. She was breathing heavily when we were done. Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Lucy
Tito
Blue
Lily
Monkey
(8)
Roni took this crew out in the heat for a walk to the charcos. There were some salt workers on the land bridge and nearby there so she avoided them; everyone was good and listened. She said Lily wanted to chase a flamingo that was near to the road once but listened when she called her and broke it off.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
George
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Twiggy
Luna
Frankie
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. We went to the swimming hole as usual via the intersection, then south past the concrete shack, across the berm to the palapa road and home via the first turn north, the jeep berm and the tortuga crossroad; I specifically avoided the cut-over and everything to the south of the intersection. We didn't see that white dog today but I kept an eye out for him and had Molly on the leash when we were close just so that I wasn't caught flat-footed. Everyone did really well and had a blast. Twigs and Luna worshiped George non-stop at every opportunity. Maggie held her own and although she was lagging a bit by the end she obviously had a good time. Alice also lagged for a lot of the way but picked it up and took point for a stretch heading home. Good run.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Henry
Blue
Reggie
Monkey
Linda
Hazel
(7)
Roni took this crew down to the alt. land bridge and environs and came back via the coco trail. Hazel actually ran in the water a bit playing with Linda, a first. Monkey decided to attend to some monkey-business on the other side of the land bridge for a few minutes but she came back just in time to avoid censure. Blue and Reggie are always angels.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
It was a little chilly but otherwise nice; deep enough to swim in and calm. She swam a lot more than I thought she would and was fairly enthusiastic about it. As long as there isn't a storm and it isn't ridiculously shallow I'll try to get her out. She's a trooper. Greta FTW!
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Eve
Chester
Gowron
Rufus
Jack
Lily
Lex
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. In spite of the time off Rufus was surprisingly good at the gate on the way out; I'm not saying he wasn't a bear but I had him hooked up and ready to go in a few seconds and he calmed down relatively quickly. We took the parallel road going north and headed to the palapa road as normal, coming home via the serpentine and the cut-over. Just east of the circular intersection a white dog started following us; male, about Rufus' size, short coat. He seemed inclined to check us out and I thought it strange that none of mine were reacting to him very much; Lily barked at him a little but hardly at all, and I had Lex on the leash so he didn't factor into it. When we crossed into the intersection proper Rufus all of a sudden took note of him and bluff-charged, with Jack on his heels; this made our follower tuck his tail and head north. Rufus was good about coming to me afterwards and we didn't see the white dog again; he could've been out there with people I suppose, as there were salt workers nearby. These same salt workers left some presents under a bush near the cut-over, which put me in the position of having to wrangle them away from said filth while getting Rufus back on the leash, as he was one of the chief investigators. Disgusting, infuriating, etc. I must remember to avoid the cut-over and the region directly south of the intersection for a little while as people seem to be working there regularly and this kind of thing is unpleasant. I came home the rest of the way with Lex and Rufus on either end of the leash - no problems, everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Lucy
Tito
Frijolita
Otto
Linda
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk down to the charcos. Lucy irritated her by taking off down the trail home at the end but she only ran to the gate; Miles' dawdling sort of makes that kind of thing stressful on occasion but this time it wasn't so bad. Linda was especially well-behaved before and after. Yay mom!
GRADE: A
morning run:
Osita
Archie
Ernie
Stella
Daisy
Zoot
Steve McQueen
Petey
(8)
To the swimming hole and home: ~7k. I fell and injured myself last Friday; slashed my head open and banged myself up nicely. Roni has tended to my wound all week and it was clear that I should not go for a run or anything like it; the week has been further spiked by a nice head cold for me, a nice head cold for Roni offset by a couple of days and a wave of general suckitude that wiped us both out and grounded all doggie sorties while we recovered. Today was the first day I could feasibly think about going out; Roni is hopefully only a day or two behind me. I'm noting this in detail now so we can figure out when that was that I sliced my head open like an idiot... This run was challenging. Stella was on the hook the whole way. I was in surprisingly decent shape considering the layoff but the point was really to check things out, blow a bit of goo out of my head and get some of the crazier dogs out before they drive US insane. We ran into a salt worker truck just past the 1km mark. Petey didn't want to go by it so I took us all back and brought us around in the monte to the side; Petey was brave enough to wait for me and follow along. We took the parallel road to the Au Soleil Couchant access road, looped around for the swimming hole and headed home via the cut-over. It would've been perfect if not for Ernie deciding to take a 10 minute roll-in-human-shit break (he claims the union negotiated him that in his contract). I was pissed to put it mildly and he was on the other end of the leash from there on. Other than that everyone was perfect and had a good time.
GRADE: B (f'ing Ernie)
mid-day walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
(4)
Roni took this little crew down to the shrimpery for an executive overview. She wanted to go farther but Tito decided it was too hot or something high-tailed it for home while everyone else was checking things out.
GRADE: A (it's hard to stay mad at Tito)
