29.08.14

morning run:
Gracie
Frijolita
Eve
Gowron
Elewah
Xmul
Petey
Mega
Murci
(9)

Hidden trail: ~8k. We started well with Xmul on the leash. I trapped Mega in a crate to get him to the launchpad but Petey just put himself out there... he hadn't done that in a while so I was happy to throw him in. Everyone else was relatively quiet at the gate (with Murci muzzled for the first 50m). As we were heading north along the ridge some little dog over by the road barked at us. There were a bunch of salt workers in those charcos so it may have been with them but it was more likely sneaking around and eating the food they leave all over the place after they have breakfast. Most of my charges went to investigate although it should be noted that Murci stayed with me the whole time - she has really become a good girl on runs. In the end Elewah and Frijolita were the worst: everyone else came back to me quickly but those two forced me to double back on the road to collect them. I just wanted to get out of there so we used the road to get to the intersection by which point everyone had calmed down. I made sure to be on top of Elewah at all the places she's usually bad for the rest of the way. Mega was on point with Murci for most of the run and they both listened well and held up when I told them to. The slog through to the beach on the last bit of the hidden trail was perhaps a bit easier because we've been there twice recently. I still have to be extremely careful about not stepping on spines but the path is at least visible now once you get a few meters west of the road. We took the blue bag trail home and there were no surprises the rest of the way. It was humid as hell out there but thankfully not so incredibly hot. The bugs were only noticeable in a few spots when I stopped to give them water. Petey had a bad limp about an hour after we got home; he's had a pain pill and we'll watch him.
GRADE: A