13.09.13

morning run:
Blue
Gowron
Ernie
Ziggy
Stella
Linda
Lex
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Otto*
Shirley*
Truman*
Twiggy*
(13)

To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant via the swimming hole: ~7k. I left with the first nine; Stella was on the leash until the swimming hole and everyone else was really good. I let Stella off the leash around the swimming hole and left her off until we got to the tortuga sign, where we were greeted by Otto. I knew that something must be up but I saw no other dogs down the beach; I now know that there were some dogs down there but they were probably up in the bushes or otherwise not visible to me there. After running into Otto I really wanted to get home fast so we cut across the charcos to the north of the wooden shack instead of going around; while in those charcos we picked up Truman, Twiggy and Shirley. I had been making more noise than usual to attract any other dogs of ours in the monte since it seemed likely if Otto was out there were others. Keeping 13 of them on track and focused on getting home was a challenge but we managed, with Stella on the hook and Lex on the other end of the leash. The nine I left with were good the whole way and the four we picked up on the way home were also good coming home with us, whatever else their crimes were.
GRADE: A (if only because we were clueless)

morning dogmageddon:
Daisy
Murci
Luna
MoMo
Xmul
Lily
Amber
Rufus*
Jack*
Frijolita*
Molly**
(11)

After I left Roni opened the beach side of the porch; the gate onto the beach must have not been shut completely and we didn't notice because she saw a large group of them rush out. She went out onto the beach to round them up and got many to come in with her or soon after; in the process she really smashed her toe on a concrete block in the yard. Many of our dogs were angels and didn't even try to go out; most of the ones who did came back on their own in a couple of minutes. By the time I got home Roni had recovered everyone but the ones with stars after their names. After I got my swollen group back in the yard I went out on the beach to the north and rounded up Rufus, Frijolita and Jack, so effectively I ran 7+2=9k with a total of 17 dogs - must be some kind of record. Roni dealt with the majority of the chaos quickly in spite of being injured... kind of funny to note that Murci did bolt out but then wanted no part of the larger world and came back quickly on her own. Molly was the last one; we were still taking census and trying to assure ourselves that we had everyone when she came up to the road-side gate. Although the whole debacle should not have happened I should note that yesterday there was a stray bitch in heat dragging a large group of males (some of them all the way from town - I recognized them) all around our house; I know it still smells of her around here because my group this morning told me so quite plainly. Our dogs were really great in spite of the insane and deeply disturbing noise and spectacle all around us but they have definitely been on edge, so it isn't surprising they were a bit loony today. It's been a long time since something like this has happened and now we're both pretty drained.