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morning run:
Gracie
Blue
Posey
Gowron
Elewah
Lily
Mo
Xmul
(8)
Long and winding road backwards: ~10k. It's a rainy/overcast day so I thought we could go for a long one early. Xmul was only off the hook for a stretch way out where we finally turn south and run next to the big salt flats; she was good on and off the leash, although she did chase a marmot for a minute in the bushes just west of the dog-leg to no-man's land. Gracie and Blue didn't jump into the bushes after her but everyone else did, although it was obvious they had no chance whatsoever. I was proud of Gracie; I swear I thought she looked at me as if to say "See? I told you I was reformed" (not buying it but cute). There were tons of crabs at the swimming hole and all the other little spots favored by them. A couple of bushberry-related misdemeanors notwithstanding this was a good, fast run.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Lucy
Bette
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Frankie
Bosha
(8)
First I took Lucy and Bette out on a walk around the cow pasture (yay), both on the hook the whole way (boo). They were both angels. Then Roni took Zasu, Miles, Henry, Tito, Frankie and Bosha out as it was starting to get muggy and hot; Bosha was the only one on the hook and she stayed on the whole way. Frankie ran ahead some initially but quickly tired herself out and everyone else did well, even with Miles dawdling a little at the start. At the very end Tito insisted on running ahead and into the road just when there was some traffic; Roni was not pleased with him and he obviously has to be carried across the road from now on. Otherwise good.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Alice(2)
Henry
Tito
Maggie(2)
Bosha
Linda
Buddy
Otto
Twiggy
(9)
First I took Alice, Henry, Tito, Maggie, Bosha, Linda and Buddy around the cow pasture the long way. Bosha was on the hook the whole way. I had to go get Buddy turned around the right way on the dead goat trail coming home but he did extremely well in general and everyone else was good. Next I took Otto and Twigs, both on the leash; Alice and Mags were in the yard still and they are both chubby and loud so I threw them in on the second walk. It was getting a little hot by then and Maggie wanted to hang out under bushes a couple of times but in general the second crew also did really well and had a good time on the same route as the first.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Rita
George
Alice
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Daisy
(8)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant and home via the tortuga sign: ~6k. This was more or less a repeat of yesterday's crew sans Ginger and it went much better this time. Molly was on the hook the entire way; I also put Ernie on for a spell (speeding, idiot) but there were no behavioral issues. Molly did a little bit of her boat-anchor impersonation on the tortuga crossroads as we were leaving the beach but she got over it.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu*
Henry*
Eve*
Tito*
Tuesday
(5)
Roni had a frustrating time with this crew. Eve is an angel but she's become conditioned to take off running to the shrimpery because that's what we do on runs; the last time Roni took her out on a walk she left on the leash but today Tuesday was on the leash and Eve took off, hauling Henry and Tito with her. She came back to get Roni on the trail but then she ran off again, etc. Clearly the running dogs need to get some attention on the leash on walks so that they are good walking dogs as well. Eve ended up running home because Roni put the leash on her (only to take it off because Eve wouldn't walk) and this cascaded into Henry, Tito and eventually Zasu coming back as well; after all was said and done Roni ended up coming almost the whole way back home, turning around and going for a walk with Tuesday on the leash. Tuesday was good. Everyone else could've been better.
GRADE: C
morning swims:
Greta
Shirley
(2)
Great is really doing well on swims; I just wish I could convince her to be a bit more interactive so I didn't have to drag her out every time. Shirley and I went north a bit on the beach and got barked at by the strays; we went into the water south of the soldiers and I made her swim home in two long trips... she's just too fixated on searching the beach for lizards to keep her in the water the whole time. The tabanos were terrible on the beach.
GRADE: A
morning whatever:
Alice
Ginger
George
Gowron
Ernie
Maggie
Molly
(7)
Around the cow pasture the short way: ~1k. My plan was to take the fatties for a brief run to the tortuga sign and back again but Ginger crapped on it by disappearing with Alice for 10 minutes on the dirty road. I know Alice would've been on my hip if it wasn't for Ginger; as it was Alice heard me yelling for Ginger and ran home, so I had to bring us all back. Ginger spent the morning in the box and is no longer going to be "thrown in" on runs - her behavior was inexcusable. She crapped on the morning and will not be trusted for a long time. Everyone but the sisters behaved more or less and got short-changed.
GRADE: C
morning walk #1:
Lucy
(1)
Lucy really wanted to go on the earlier outing but she can't because she's just not allowed to run - she immediately gets a limp. Since she was still out in the yard I took just her down the coco trail to the maginot line and the beach and then made her swim pretty much the whole way from there to in front of our house. She had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk #2:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Reggie
Ziggy
Linda
(6)
Roni took this crew out after I got back with Lucy; the theme for the morning seemed to be: ASSHOLES. On the first outing it was Ginger. On this one it was Ziggy; at least Ziggy has the excuse of his extreme stupidity to explain his behavior whereas Ginger does not. Ziggy just ran straight to the shrimpery out of the gate, dragging Linda with him. He needs work on the leash to be better on walks because he's so used to leaving on runs but honestly we're not sure any amount of work on the leash will help with him - Alex and Alex took him on umpteen walks, always on the leash, and yet he still does the same stupid thing when he gets a chance. Once Roni caught up with him things got better but there was still a lot of screwing around; Miles dawdling certainly didn't help. Roni said that once she got Ziggy on the leash things improved and that everyone had a fine time; she came home holding Linda in her arms but only as a preventative measure.
GRADE: A
swim:
Greta
(1)
Once again she swam a ton. Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Eve
Godzilla
Archie
Reggie
Lily
Daisy
Xmul
Luna
(8)
Hidden trail: ~8k. Reggie was yippy and nuts for the first ~2km but settled down and had a nice time. I thought we might go 10k but when we got to the turn for the hidden trail I saw we had already ripped through most of the water; I also wanted to get home sooner than later for walks etc., so we just went to the beach. I let Xmul off the hook on the beach but she was on everywhere else - she was a good girl. Archie screwed around a bit too much sniffing pee-mail on the coco trail so I put him on for the last ~100m as a reminder.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Zasu
Henry
Tito
Bosha
Linda
Buddy
Miles
Otto
Twiggy
(9)
Roni took out Zasu, Henry, Tito, Bosha, Linda and Buddy on a walk around the cow pasture. Bosha is getting better on the leash and Buddy is really good so long as you make sure he stays with you. I then took Otto, Twiggy and Miles out on more or less the same route. It was starting to get a little hot but they were troopers and Miles ended up ahead of us on the coco trail after some initial dawdling. All good.
GRADE: A
morning swims:
Greta
Lucy
Shirley
(3)
Puppy.liebling swam more than she ever has, I think - she is doing much better every time. Lucy was more interactive and chased me around in the water a lot. She wanted to horse around on the beach some so we ran a little bit north and then I made her swim all the way home. I did similar stuff with Shirley, but she likes chasing me in the water less than Lucy does. Still she had a good time and was a good girl.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Osita
Monkey
Zoot
Amber
Steve McQueen
Mega
Lex
(8)
Hidden trail: ~8k. Zoot is a nut and still hasn't checked out on the leash - he got out of his collar when I tried him today; I got his collar back on when we got to the ocean but we'll have to work on the leash. Amber and Mega were both on the hook at various points to keep the pace down but there was no bad behavior except at the end, when Monkey decided to wander around near the house somewhere and turned her ears off. She spent some time in the box after the run as a result.
GRADE: B
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
She's getting more capable and starting to lose a little weight from swimming. Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Miles
Henry
Bette
Tito
Buddy
(5)
I took these out for a shorty around the cow pasture. There was some cloud cover when we left but it was hot anyway so a longer one was out of the question. Buddy was really good; he ran a bit on the trail which is always amusing. He never left my side and obviously had a good time. Miles was his usual irritating self but did pick it up a little on the trail home so I didn't have to yell for him quite as much at the end.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Going to Merida, wanted to at least get puppy.liebling out. Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Gowron
Maggie
Bosha
Linda
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Otto
Posey
(9)
I took PupG, Maggie, Bosha and Linda for a walk around the cow pasture the long way. I let Bosha off once we turned the corner at the shrimpery and she remained off until we got back to the shrimpery via the coco trail - all good though I did have to sprint to catch up to Bosha on the coco trail and make sure she didn't get any strange ideas. Roni then took Zasu, Miles, Henry, Otto and Posey for a walk around the cow pasture. Miles dawdled a little, Posey ran ahead a bit too much and Otto pulled on the leash more than he should've but it was nice that Roni got out with Posey and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Eve
Godzilla
Truman
Chester
Ernie
Elewah
(8)
Long and winding road backwards: ~10k. High pace. Ernie was on the hook from the shrimpery to just before the turn for the hidden trail - he is just a chuckle-head, that's all. Other than that nobody was on the hook and everyone had a good time, ran their asses off and behaved.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Blue
Maggie
Buddy
(6)
Roni took this crew out for a walk around the cow pasture but it was cut short by Maggie's bad behavior: it was hot and she had ran around like a lunatic so by the time they got past the shrimpery she was tired and bolted for home. Even so everyone had fun. Roni got more video of Buddy RUNNING, not just walking, and running well at that. Blue was an angel.
GRADE: B (damnit Maggie)
swim:
Greta
(1)
It was rough out so I carried her out past the waves for a few laps and called it a day. She's a trooper.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Henry
Alice
George
Gowron
Frankie
Molly
Daisy
Linda
(8)
To the beach at the tortuga sign and back the way we came: ~4k. Molly is simply awful - maybe the worst. She's only good so long as she's doing what she wants; otherwise she's a boat-anchor on the end of the leash. I had her on the entire way and was obliged to drag her fat ass half a kilometre on the way back. She turned what would've been a nice quick jaunt to the beach into a pain in the ass. She can be on walks for a while - I don't want her on a run. Everyone else was good.
GRADE: C
morning walks:
Bette
Shirley
Maggie
Alice
Lucy
Otto
Twiggy
Ziggy
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Frijolita
Bosha
Linda
(14)
First I took Bette, Shirley and Maggie around the cow pasture the long way; the boobles were on the hook and Maggie was an angel loose. Next I took Alice, Lucy, Otto, Twiggy and Ziggy, again around the cow pasture the long way. Otto and Twigs were on the whole way. Ziggy was a bit of a pain in the ass with the noise at the gate but otherwise everyone was good. We got barked at by a stray near the shrimpery on the way home and everyone behaved well. Roni then took Zasu, Miles, Henry, Frijolita, Bosha and Linda around the cow pasture the short way. Miles dawdled and Bosha is a bit irritating on the leash, but otherwise pretty good. She had Frijolita on the leash to start and to end but otherwise she was off. Nice walks.
GRADE: A
morning swims:
Greta
Gowron
(2)
I had to keep PupG close verbally a little more than I would've liked but really they were pretty good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ziggy
Daisy
Xmul
Amber
Lex
Zoot
(6)
Hidden trail: ~8k. Xmul was on the hook from gate to gate and was a good girl the whole way. Amber chased a moto out where the road from the swimming hole runs into the Au Soleil Couchant road, so I had her on the other end of the hook to the ocean and then again at the tortuga sign. Other than that everyone was good. Lex and Zoot listened well.
GRADE: A
swims:
Greta
Lucy
(2)
They were both their usual selves. Good girls.
GRADE: A
walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Eve
Buddy
(5)
Roni took these five around the cow pasture, much to their delight. She has video of Buddy running and reading from the bible - amazing. Eve was an angel and everyone had a blast.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Gracie
Osita
Frijolita
Rita
Rufus
Lily
Jack
(8)
Hidden trail: ~8k. Everyone was really good and kept a high pace. I had Rufus on the hook from the shrimpery to the swimming hole and Lily on the hook several times to keep us all together but it was purely preventative - no worries.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Good girl puppy.liebschen.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Godzilla
George
Archie
Gowron
Xmul
(7)
Southern charcos to the middle road, across the closer berm south of the swimming hole and home via the dirty road: ~6k. It was cloudy but humid. We left relatively early. I wanted to take Xmul with a bunch of good dogs and go where there were people so we could work on her behavior while she was on the leash; I took us the southern way because there were tons of salt workers there yesterday but today there was nobody - not a single person other than the one old man who is always working the charco near the land bridge on the way out. Still Xmul was good and we kept a high pace. I thought we might go to the beach at Au Soleil Couchant but when we ran that ~200m to the intersection coming west George was lagging too much so I decided to just come home. We ran into a bird trapper at the shrimpery on the way home. PupG barked at him and obviously needs work on that - she did come to me when I called her at least. Xmul barked when she saw him but shut up when I told her to.
GRADE: B
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Bosha
(4)
Roni took this crew around the cow pasture. Bosha turns out to be the perfect walking partner for Miles - they both like a slow pace and Roni said it was the most pleasant walk with Miles in a long time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Blue
Posey
Osita
Ernie
Elewah
Lily
Daisy
(8)
Southern charcos to the Au Soleil Couchant road via the road to no-man's land, home the usual way: ~9k. Everyone was good but I didn't take any chances and had Ernie, Lily and Gracie on the hook at various points to keep everyone together and oriented in the right direction.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Zasu
Henry
Bette
Tito
Linda
Otto
Twiggy
Alice
Buddy
(9)
Roni took Zasu, Henry, Bette, Tito and Linda out first. Everyone was good until they got near home and Linda bolted for the beach via the north road; Roni had intended to take Linda down to the water to let her swim after the walk, so her insubordinate attitude rightly infuriated her and Linda spent an hour in the box. A little while later I took Otto and Twigs out for a quick one around the cow pasture the long way - both good and no limps. Finally we decided to try Buddy on a walk in the monte instead of on the beach. I took him with Alice because we thought it would be good motivation for him (he loves Alice) but as it turns out he didn't need it. He amazed me by walking a straight line the whole way down the trail and even running off the leash on the dirty road with me for a spell. Incredible. He can go on walks with more or less anyone and perhaps can even be off the leash.
GRADE: A
morning swims:
Rufus
Greta
Gowron
Lucy
(4)
Roni went out with Rufus by himself early but the water was too cold and Rufus wasn't really into swimming or chasing the ball in the water... we'll try again soon. He was good about leaving and coming back in and didn't make an insane amount of noise. I then took Greta and PupG out next and they were angels in spite of vehicular shenanigans by some locals. I then took Lucy out; she swam a few laps in front of the house but really wanted to run so I jogged up the beach with her 100m or so, got her into the water and then made her swim all the way home and do a couple laps in front of the house at the end. Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning walks:
Zasu(2)
Henry(2)
Shirley
Tito
Otto
Linda(2)
Bosha
(7)
Roni took out three groups: (1) Zasu, Henry, Shirley and Tito; (2) Zasu, Otto and Linda; (3) Henry, Bosha, Linda. Shirley just about yanked Roni's arm out with enthusiasm but overall everyone was good and had a good time. Zasu did well on two walks and Linda behaved herself enough to get invited on the last one (three would've been too much for Zasu, as it was getting hot).
GRADE: A
swims:
Greta
(1)
Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Eve
Chester
Archie
Frankie
Molly
Stella
Luna
Mo
(8)
Hidden trail: ~8k. If I had just left any ONE of the pain-in-the-ass dogs on this run home it might've been fun but as it stood it was nothing but work from start to end. I left with Molly on the hook so of course Stella was absolutely awful; she flat-out ran the coco trail to the dead goat three-way, ignoring me completely and forcing me to go that way. Of course she was on the hook from that point on and I honestly don't think she will ever be off the leash again - she is simply terrible. Molly was similarly bad in various places and also cannot be trusted off the leash. About halfway down the hidden trail itself Frankie started running much too far ahead, dragging Luna and Mo with her - they were at the beach a full minute before the rest of us. Frankie went on the leash there until we got to the tortuga sign (which is no longer standing). Molly had to go on the hook when we got to the turn off of the tortuga road and Luna also started not listening, so by the time I hit the dead got three-way on the way home I had three dogs on: Stella, Molly and Luna. I mostly walked from that point home I was so angry with them. Chester and Eve were completely faultless but they are the only ones whose names I did not call - even Archie had to get yelled at for screwing around too much. The moral of the story is that only ONE of Molly, Stella, Frankie, Luna or Mo can be on the same run, and not with other dogs that will probably need the leash. The best that can be said is that we all came home together.
GRADE: C
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Bette
Tito
(5)
Roni took this crew out for a walk down to the salt ponds. Miles screwed around a lot and made it unpleasant at points and Roni carried Zasu for a spell because she came up lame after a brief stint running with Bette, who was on the leash the whole way.
GRADE: B
morning swims:
Greta
Shirley
Gowron
(3)
All good girls. Still no Internet.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gowron
Monkey
Zoot
Mega
Lex
Petey
Amber
Steve McQueen
(8)
Hidden trail: ~8k. I had Mega, Steve, Lex and Amber on the leash at various points (Mega twice). I tried Petey when we got to the ocean and he almost started to go with me while we were in the shallows but then he went all thrash-o-matic and got out of his collar; I didn't want to freak him out so I let him come home that way and just kept him close verbally. We ran into a guy stopped on a moto in the middle of the road out near the tortuga crossroads and everyone was good: no barking, no screwing around, everyone just went around him and kept moving with me. The pace was high as usual with this group; we barely stopped for water and really ran the first ~5k. Petey came up a bit lame in his back legs after we were home a few minutes so now we have to watch him.
GRADE: A
swims:
Greta
Shirley
(2)
Good girls all around.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Blue
Osita
Truman
Lily
Molly
Monkey
Daisy
(8)
Southern charcos via the land bridge, road to no-man's land, back south instead of north on the palapa road to the greenway and home via the land bridge again: ~7k. Lots of people around working in the salt, we left late and I was tired of Molly doing her best impression of a boat anchor on the end of the leash. I had her on for most of the run because she's just too crazed and I didn't want to get caught flat when she did something stupid; as it turned out she didn't really try, so I guess that's good. I had Lily on the leash, sometimes with Molly, sometimes by herself, mainly to keep the pace down and everyone nearer to me at certain points. It was a strange group but everyone was good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
swim:
Greta
(1)
Puppy.liebschen once again shows that she's a good girl.
GRADE: A
afternoon walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
(4)
Roni took them not quite to the apocalyptic cove. All good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Frijolita
George
Maggie
Ziggy
Bosha
Linda
(8)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant and home via the tortuga sign: ~6k. Bosha's first run - she did well, but I had her on the hook the whole way just to avoid any surprises.
GRADE: A
morning swims:
Lucy
Shirley
Greta
(3)
Everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Godzilla
Truman
Chester
Gowron
Archie
Luna
Xmul
(7)
Hidden trail: ~8k. Another slightly smaller group, this time because I had Xmul and there are so many people around. Everyone was really good, although Xmul was on the hook the entire run so she didn't have any chance to be anything but good. We avoided most of the large groups of workers and machinery, although we could hear them all around us until we got far enough north. Everyone did well and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Good girl.
GRADE: A
NOTE Our Internet connection has been out since the night of 1 May. As of 16 May we still are not back on DSL but we finally do have a 3G modem working, so I'm now slowly catching up... --S
morning run:
Ginger
Eve
Rita
Posey
Ernie
Rufus
Jack
(7)
Southern charcos, Au Soleil Couchant road, home via the swimming hole: ~8k. Rita got stung by tabanos, I think, out where the road to no-man's land lets out onto the palapa road; I got stung twice within 30 seconds out there by the ones that really hurt, and I noticed she was holding her front left paw a little and lagging back more after we left that spot. Her foot was a little swollen when we got home, so she must have the same reaction to those damned things that I do. Two of the solders' dogs were lounging around at the shrimpery intersection as we were coming off of the dirty road. I saw them before anyone else so I had Ernie and Rufus on the hook, but Jack and Posey took off to chase when we got nearer; Posey came back to me pretty quickly but Jack went up close to doce before he turned around. He cut his foot (pad) somewhere along the way when he did that so it took him a bit to get back to me.
GRADE: B
morning jaunt:
Twiggy
(1)
Around the cow pasture the long way: ~2k. Sandra (the vet) had mentioned that she thought Twigs might be able to go on short runs even with just one of her two rear legs operated on and recovered. She's been doing well on walks so today we did something different and I just took Twigs around the "block", effectively, so I could watch her closely. She ran well - the "good" rear leg swings freely when she runs and she avoids carrying too much weight on her bad leg. I wouldn't take her out for much more than that yet but it was nice.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Our little mermaid needs her swim. She's slowly getting in better shape. Good girl.
GRADE: A
