20.11.13

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