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morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Chester
Ernie
Frankie
Rufus
Jack
Twiggy
Molly
(9)
To the swimming hole and home the short way: ~5k. This is a useful route when I have dogs that shouldn't go for a long one and like to swim. We left with nobody on the leash and it stayed that way until we were on our trail coming home, when I put Rufus on just because it was getting late and there are a lot of people around. Everyone was really good and stayed close to me the whole way. We used the alt. land bridge on the way out and the normal land bridge on the way back, both of which are still completely flooded. Chester was very brave about fording deep water in several places; he isn't crazy about swimming but he's also a dirty little dog and needed a few dips in fresh water so I'm glad he complied. Rufus was loud when we were leaving but he kept himself in check and was a good boy the whole way. We ran into the fellow with the garden in the monte right down on the trail that runs next to the shrimpery as we were heading out and he had a dog with him: a Molly-sized dog with a collar on who actually looked quite a bit like Molly to boot. There was some barking and shenanigans but no hostilities and my dogs separated easily from him and his as we took off north. The bugs were noticeable in places but not as bad as I would've expected given how flooded the monte is; we were slogging through salt, mud and water for at least half the way. At least it was cool and overcast so we didn't have brain-boiling heat to contend with.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Tito
Bette
Lucy
Monkey
Bosha
Linda
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk north towards the wooden shack. Bosha kind of threw herself into the mix as Roni was getting ready to go and she seemed okay with everyone so we let her go; she ended up being a good girl, having a good time and getting some hilarious pictures taken of herself... it's difficult to explain to someone who doesn't know her, she's just so strange. Miles did his usual dawdling routine but Roni preempted him on the way home by scooping him up near the base of our trail and carrying him the rest of the way - the bugs were starting to get bad and Miles will just... not... listen... Linda's coat was full of xmuls and Bosha's hovercraft was full of eels - everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Blue
Gowron
Elewah
Lily
Lex
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)
Southern charcos (backwards): ~8k. I thought we might head north for a change but as we got past the swimming hole I reconsidered; we hadn't gone all the way to the Au Soleil Couchant road in a while so we hauled ass north, then east, then south down the palapa road. This was an even higher-energy group than the last one; we left with Murci on the leash and she was absolutely raring to go - I could not get any slack into the leash except when we were fording deep waters. I let her off before the swimming hole and she was great thereafter - she and Hazel stick to each other the whole way. We ran into a person early on the dirty road; the fellow who tends the garden on the dead goat trail was looking for some dead wood to chop up and Lily was an ass and barked at him. He took no offense and commented on how cute they are (and they were) but I was not happy with Lily. She continued to annoy me by not listening to the point where I put her on the leash on the palapa road, and left her on the whole way home. As we were heading towards the 5-way intersection near the southernmost charcos three dogs I've never seen before bolted off south towards the coconut plantation; they appeared to be over a year old and at least one of them was male. Tori, Elewah and Hazel took off after them and gave chase for ~100m; I was glad I had Lily on the leash by then because from what I'd seen earlier I'm sure she would've been all over that. As it was there was no barking or any sign of hostilities and the three that had chased came back. I wish I had brought a second leash because Tori needs to spend some time on it; her on the other end of Lily didn't sound like too much fun so I just reigned everyone in verbally and we took the serpentine home instead of the normal way, to give those dogs a wide berth. I put Murci on the other end with Lily before we got to the dirty road on the way home and they were a handful the whole way home. It was fast and fun but sometimes annoying; at least the conditions were pleasant: cool, a little blustery and overcast. Nice change from the surface of the sun.
GRADE: B
morning run:
Osita
Reggie
Tuesday
Molly
Daisy
Luna
Mega
Petey
Steve McQueen
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. This was a fast group. We left via the land "bridge" and came back via its equally-inundated cousin to the north. Tuesday was really up for it and the pace stayed high throughout; we left with her on the leash but I let her off for a long stretch from just east of the terreno federal road until the bag end crossing. I only put her back on because we were being barked at by an unseen dog in the monte; it sounded like it was in the direction of the swimming hole and everyone took off down the bag end crossing as we got there. They stopped for me about halfway across when I yelled for them and I put Tuesday back on the hook when I caught up to her; she was leading the charge so that helped get everyone back together. I had been planning on going to the swimming hole but instead we cut back south-west on what would normally be the road but which is currently under two feet of water in places. It was a hard slog and I think it helped tire a few of them out... even with four legs instead of two, sliding your way across 100m of that slippery mud in deep water is difficult. We saw one person working in the salt to the south and everyone was perfect; we were already past him before he even saw us. Everyone really had a good time in the soggy monte and the bugs were remarkably bearable.
GRADE: A
morning beach dash:
Shirley
Rufus
Jack
Tori
(4)
Up the beach to the tortuga sign and back: ~2k. Just a quickie with Rufus, who was off the leash the whole way and was really great about it; he calmed down before we even got to the soldiers and listened well. I took the black leash along as a spare and had Shirley on the regular leash the whole way. The beach was really high, there was some actual surf and it was almost all seashells and seaweed for a long stretch to the north of the HoJo - not easy going on the beach, we just charged through the surf and braced ourselves until we got past it. The recent storms have changed the beach a lot up near the tortuga sign; we ended up swimming in a huge tidal pool that's formed because of the high surf - it came up to my chest in places, which was rather unpexected (and fun for the dogs). On the way back I put Jack on the black leash because he's the least trustworthy of the four; I ended up putting Tori on the other end of Rufus' leash because she ran up to the HoJo on the way south to say hi to one of their dogs... she was okay about coming back to me but she needs to not go up there to begin with so she should be on a leash around there.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Lucy
George
Archie
Bosha
Stella
Twiggy
Monkey
Tori
Murci
(9)
To the swimming hole and back: ~5k. I wanted a shorty because Lucy and Archie were coming so we went south instead of north from the swimming hole, cut back across the charcos there and wound our way through the banks and berms of the salt-works directly to the south of the swimming hole, taking the alt. land bridge and dirty road in both directions. I had Stella on the leash until it was getting really soggy near the swimming hole but I put her back on soon after; Murci gave me a bit of trouble dancing away from me when I wanted to put her on the leash as we were heading home, so she stayed on the other leash until the very end. I also put Tori on the other end with Stella at the shirmpery because she made a charge at doce when she saw bikers pass through the intersection to the west; she wasn't very serious about it and didn't get very far up that road but I didn't like that she even thought about it. Archie is a little stiff now a few hours after the run; Lucy seems fine. There were lots of opportunities for swimming and horsing around and everyone took full advantage of them, even Bosha.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Rita
Frijolita
Gowron
Daisy
MoMo
Xmul
Linda
Hazel
Murci
(9)
Southern charcos, short version: ~7k. We took the same route as last Thursday; we left a bit late and I didn't want to be gone so long or go so far with Linda, who really wanted to go. I took two leashes this time to make it slightly easier on myself; we left with Xmul on one hook and the other unoccupied. I thought Rita went lame on me before we even got to the land bridge but it turned out to be a particularly nasty xmul stuck in her paw; it hurt when I pulled it out and it was obviously tender for a few hundred meters but she shook it off and did well the rest of the way. Xmul was off the leash for a while where the flooding is worst both to let her play in the water and to reduce the chances that she would drag me down in the slippery mud. This is probably Xmul's last run with us for a while as her Canadian moms are back in town... we'll miss her and I wanted her to have a good time today. She was an angel, let me get her back on the leash easily and had a great time playing with her pack-mates. I put Murci on the other leash when I heard machinery in the distance and it turned out to be a good idea. We didn't end up running into the salt workers who were running the machine but we did run into a couple of photographers on the berm we use to cross the middle charcos; I gathered us all and decided to give it a shot, since I had Murci on the leash. Our first attempt ended up with everyone except Linda making it across; she surprised me by going all shy and backing down the trail to the north instead of following us. Murci sort of freaked out at first but came along, albeit clumsily, and ran past the people once, but when it became obvious that we had to go back for Linda she balked and I carried her back by the photogs the second time. Mo for some reason also decided she didn't want to go back but she's good so I let her hang around on the other side of the berm while the rest of us went back; I collected Linda and carried her across and everyone else was good. By this time the two people had moved a bit so Murci wasn't quite so stubborn and once I put Linda down on the other side we all took off, caught up with Mo and continued home. Not picture-perfect but good practice for Murci on the leash with people around and she did make some progress. Everyone was good the rest of the way. Linda dragged half of the xmuls in the monte back in her coat; if Roni hadn't trimmed her face before we left she would've looked like some kind of crazy Cat O' Nine Tails.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Eve
Posey
Truman
Chester
Tuesday
Elewah
Lily
Tori
(9)
Southern charcos (backwards): ~8k. We went to the swimming hole first; I thought we might head north from there but I didn't want to be gone so long so instead we took the bag-end crossing southeast to the palapa road and came home over the land bridge, which is if anything even more under water than the last time I was there. Heading out we took the alt. land bridge via the dirty road and it, too, was completely under water. Tuesday left on the leash but I let her off before the swimming hole and she stayed off all the way until the terreno federal track, where I put her on just to be safe. She's been better and better and I think maybe soon she'll just come home off the leash. Everyone was really great on this run. We kept a high pace (Tuesday kicks ass on or off the leash) and spent a lot of time charging through mud and water up to my knees. There were lots of flamingos and other waterfowl everywhere and they were all good about it.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Ginger
Rufus
Jack
Molly
Bosha
Lex
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)
Short swampy loop: ~4k. We started to go out via the land bridge but Bosha didn't want to ford it - she's not used to it and it is deep in places, so I turned us around and we crossed at the alt. land bridge instead. We just went to the intersection, which doubles as a nearer swimming hole than the one we usually go to, headed north to the tortuga crossroads and came home via the blue bag trail. As we got to the 4-way intersection with the tortuga road we ran into two cows, fairly young ones; they were in full flight running up the tortuga road to get away from us and Tori, Molly and Rufus were all delighted to chase them... I had to charge off and reel them all in, leaving the cows in the bushes a little freaked out but otherwise unharmed. What the hell is wrong with people around here that they just let livestock wander like that unattended... I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. Whatever: our dogs were good and are clearly smarter than the humans responsible for those creatures. I had Murci on the leash leaving, let her off for most of the run and put her back on before we got to the blue bag trail. She was really good throughout, listened well and had fun, as did everyone else, although I did have to go get Molly off the beach when we got home; my fault and she was reasonably good about it.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Godzilla
Gowron
Frankie
Ernie
Twiggy
Daisy
Tori
Murci
(8)
Southern charcos, short version: ~7k. Since I had Ernie and Twigs with me and we were leaving late to boot I decided a curtailed southern route would be in order; we took the middle road through the southern charcos heading north instead of heading east to the palapa road. I also don't want Murci going too far yet since she's still relatively little, although not to hear her tell it; she left and came home on the hook but I let her off for a long stretch of the run starting where it really gets flooded heading into the charcos. She was a good girl throughout and was good about going back on the leash. We went out over the main land bridge and came back via the cut over and the alt. land bridge, both of which were completely flooded. The hard rain yesterday knocked back some of the bugs because they weren't that noticeable in spite of the soggy state of the realm. Frankie lagged a lot but out of choice; she just doesn't like to let Daisy get behind her and she knows she can catch us whenever she wants, so I let her hang back as long as she listened and caught up when I asked her to. Everyone really behaved themselves and had a great time swimming and horsing around everywhere. I'm posting this many hours later and Ernie has had a limp all day since we went. He might just be getting old and get a little sore after a run but we'll watch him and see how he is tomorrow.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Posey
Truman
Reggie
Luna
Xmul
Lex
Steve McQueen
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. Of course Xmul slipped her collar at the gate but it was easily dealt with and it went smoothly after that; I let her off to horse around at the swimming hole but kept her on otherwise because of all the waterfowl. This was a high-paced group but they listened really well; I did stay on Gracie verbally when we were on the palapa road, aka Gracie's Favorite Hunting Grounds... she put her ears back at me but listened and made no move to dart off on one of her old hunting trails so I left her off the leash. Everyone was generally enthusiastic and had a great time horsing around in the charcos, which were swollen to overflowing and blocking all of the roads. The dew was still heavy on all of the brush when we left and the morning light lit it up like a crazy fallen chandelier, with occasional dark clouds to the east turning the lights on and off as we ran through it. Somehow the bugs weren't bad... must've been taking a few hours off. I'm sure they'll be back in force soon: the dragonflies are all around us now so there are sure to be mosquitoes.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
It was stinky, cloudy, a little chilly and deep. Not perfect but she's a trooper and had fun.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Osita
Eve
Rufus
Lily
Jack
Amber
Mega
Petey
Tori
(9)
Short southern loop: ~5k. This one was mainly for Rufus; my foot is still not 100% so I also wanted to keep it short for that reason. The last time we went south it was nice so this time I decided to go south but cut back north on the "terreno federal" road instead of heading into the charcos and that worked out well. There was a lot of swimming and everyone really had a good time. I put Amber on the leash when we got to the tree at the end of the secret trail between charcos and she was a good girl.
GRADE: A
morning jog:
Alice
Rita
Frijolita
Ziggy
Molly
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(8)
Swampy loop: ~3k. Today is the first day I could consider doing anything after injuring my foot on Sunday; I didn't want to go fast or far but I did want to get Murci out since she's a bit of a nut and needs work on the leash. We took a leisurely route across the land "bridge", to the circular intersection via the main road, north along the road on the eastern side of the nearest charcos to the tortuga crossroads and home via the blue bag trail and the coco trail. Rita chose to swim across where it was deep at the land bridge; she was cute and the charcos are full of fresh water so it probably felt good on her sore spots as well. In general everyone swam a lot everywhere, especially Tori and Hazel. Murci was on the leash the whole way; I thought we might run into people near the wooden shack and was planning on using the opportunity to work with her but we saw nobody the entire way - only flamingos and other waterfowl. We kept a steady pace, not too fast and frequently breaking to walk so everyone could screw around and/or catch up from screwing around too much already (mostly Alice). Murci was really good on the leash and did whatever I did with relish: fording deep charcos, cutting through high grass, hauling ass on the blue bag trail, ... once she gets over her wildling stage she will be great, just like Hazel (who was perfect today).
GRADE: A
morning beach walk #1:
Frankie
Stella
(2)
Martina took these two out with Frankie off the leash and Stella on and everything went fine. They all had fun on a windy day.
GRADE: A
morning beach walk #2:
Ernie
(1)
Ernie is definitely a two-hands kind of dog: this time Martina had her hand on his collar as well as his leash wound around her arm and I handled the gate for her. Even so Ernie's enthusiasm can be surprising but now that she was prepared everything went fine. They had a nice time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Bette
Lucy
Eve
Blue
Frijolita
Gowron
Monkey
(8)
Roni took this group out for a jaunt to the north not quite to the wooden shack. She only had to use the leash at the very end to round Monkey up on our road. The three sisters (Eve, Blue, Frijolita) had a blast running around together; Gracie's pups are always so good on walks and runs. The bugs were bad in spots but not as bad as they have been, even with the recent rain.
GRADE: A
morning beach walk:
Ernie
Xmul
(2)
Martina took these two out for a walk on the beach. Once again Ernie pulled his usual chucklehead routine and slipped his collar at the gate to head east; he is oddly shaped and a regular collar sort of slides off of him if he thrashes around too much. I called him back and he ran by everyone down to the beach, where I caught up with him and put him back on his collar. He was just confused and perhaps a little bit whacko... Martina caught up with us eventually and they carried on. She said the chaquistes were bad on the beach but the dogs were good and had fun.
GRADE: A
morning beach walk:
Twiggy
Luna
MoMo
(3)
Martina took these three out for a walk on the beach with Twigs and Luna on leashes out of the gate; they were all good and had a great time.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt:
Lucy
Rita
Rufus
Bosha
Tori
(5)
To the tortuga sign via the monte and home on the beach: ~3k. The original idea was a normal beach dash but the dogs were all wound up and making it difficult, so instead of leaving by the beach I left on the road, went north past the wooden shack, through the charcos to the north and then to the beach at the tortuga sign. I was expecting there to be some beach-goers to the south but the beach was empty. We did a lot of swimming on the way south; Bosha kept lagging to roll in stuff and I had to take us all back to round her up at one point (I think her eyesight is not the best). Everyone was good the whole way until the very end; Rita charged up the road north of the beige house, apparently because she saw Stella snooping around there; I hurt my foot attempting to help deal with Stella and Rita as we were all coming and going at once, and in the process lost track of Bosha. She ended up sniffing around in the bushes near the house; Roni let her in an hour or so later. This is sort of inexcusable on my part... I got careless and distracted. Bosha is sensible and probably enjoyed herself but I am not happy about it anyway.
GRADE: F (for me... A for the dogs)
morning beach walk:
Shirley
Frankie
Stella
(3)
Martina took these three out for a walk on the beach just as I was arriving home from a run, on the beach for once. She left with Stella off the leash which is always a mistake; Stella took off to the north, probably to check out the garbage left by construction workers last week. I saw Frankie hit the beach just north of us and she was a good girl; she knew she was going on a walk with Martina and just waited there for her to catch up; Martina had been yelling for Stella - always an exercise in futility. Shirley was on the leash and her enthusiasm dragged Martina down to Frankie, by which point Rita and Stella had met, exchanged handshakes and gone on their separate ways. Martina said that Shirley was out of her mind when she let her off the leash to the north of the HoJo. She had a hell of a time running her down and getting her back on the leash... apparently those lizards don't chase themselves.
GRADE: B
late morning beach outing:
Linda
(1)
Martina took Linda out for some swimming in the rough seas. Linda is one of the littlest dogs but is fierce in the water and likes swimming in all weather. She had fun.
GRADE: A
morning beach walk:
Archie
Xmul
(2)
Martina took these two out on leashes up the beach. It was perfect until the very end when Xmul jerked away from Martina as she was let off the leash to take a victory lap around the block but she didn't do anything dumb (people around on a holiday weekend) and came back right away. Otherwise they were both good and had a good time swimming.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
The ocean was too rough for her but she toughed it out and made up in degree of difficulty what was lacking in number of laps; she was breathing heavily when we got out, anyway, and we had a good time fighting the swells together.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Truman
Godzilla
Chester
Tuesday
Daisy
Lex
Tori
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. A great group and a fun, fast run through a flooded, muddy wilderness inhabited solely by waterfowl and marmots. Since there have been so many people working on the salt piles directly to the north and east of us I decided to head south today. The land "bridge" as we call it is completely under water after recent rains, but since we all know it so well we know where to step; an observer watching us run across might've come to the conclusion that we were running on top of the water. The way in to the southern charcos from the main road was flooded in many places, some up to my knees, and the combination of flooding and mud means there's no way any kind of vehicle can get in there. There were lots of flamingos in all of the charcos and everyone was good about leaving them alone. Tuesday was on the leash the whole way and was a good girl; I will let her off on the palapa road next time we're out there and see how she does. We took the bag-end crossing to the swimming hole just because everyone loves it so much but there were constant opportunities for swimming the whole way; the rains have left the charcos mostly full of fresh water so it isn't so horrible when the hairier dogs go for a dip like it is in March when they're almost dried out and stink. Tori listened well and had a blast horsing around with everyone. I brought us back all the way to the land bridge from the circular intersection via the main road, which was empty because there's nowhere to go - the "intersection" is completely flooded and impassable except on foot. I put Lex on the other end of the leash when we got over the land bridge coming home to keep him from bolting and we all arrived at the gate together.
GRADE: A
morning beach walk #1:
Otto
Frankie
Ernie
(3)
Martina took these three out for a nice walk on the beach. The wheels came off a little bit early on as Ernie slipped his collar and took off like he was going for a run; Frankie followed him but I caught them before they crossed doce and convinced them to turn around. There were a few shenanigans getting everyone back on their collars and leashes but in the end they all got pointed in the right direction and had a nice time.
GRADE: A
morning beach walk #2:
April
Twiggy
(2)
April likes Martina a lot so I thought she would enjoy a break from truck.dog duty to go on a beach outing instead; Twiggy is always reliable outside of the fence so this was a good pair. April had a great time and is busily picking xmuls out of her coat and Twiggy always likes the beach and really wanted to go with Martina today. The little fluffy white dog and the big black dog with the broken tail made a cute couple.
GRADE: A
