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morning walk:
Miles
Greta
Kevin*
(2.5)
Roni took these two out for a jaunt into the monte around the shrimpery for some fun and to collect passion flower. Kevin the cat (one of Sugar's four kittens) decided to tag along and ended up going the distance, meowing his head off. Neither Greta nor Miles minded and Kevin's naturally intrepid nature led to some pretty cute photo ops. The bugs were horrendous after rain late yesterday and the weather is strange today: extremely humid, overcast, a bit warm. Greta's hip was bothering her a bit past the shrimpery so they didn't go too far but then a walk in the bugs with The Master Dawdler always starts to feel a bit l-o-o-o-n-g once the bugs make your position and start to tuck in in earnest. Roni got a decent amount of passion flower and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Bette
Linda
Amber
Zoot
(4)
Roni took these four out for a walk across the land bridge. It was a good group: nobody ran ahead too far or did much other than have fun and stick with mom. Passion flower continues to impress: we had to do a lot less wrangling at the gate with the ones who stayed behind and the ones who went were not nearly so manic. Very nice.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Eve
Truman
Frijolita
Gowron
Lily
Luna
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(10)
Northern charcos: ~8k. We left with Tori on the leash; Murci's muzzle came off before the shrimpery and Tori came off the leash soon after. We took the northern route out via the blue.bag trail and came back via the intersection and the alt. land bridge. Everyone really behaved themselves well the whole way and ran their asses off. We avoided the swimming hole on the way home because I saw some dudes over there working as we were heading south on the palapa road; instead we took the bag.end crossing to the jeep berm, which we hadn't been to in a while. It was extremely slippery out there in spots as the monte continues to dry out and more slimy mud becomes exposed; I had to pick my way forward carefully once or twice to keep from falling. I decided to get Frijoloita, Truman and Tori on leashes coming home; both Frijolita and Truman have leadership status among the other dogs and frequently like to screw around close to home and Frijolita needed some time on the leash anyway, just as a reminder. This worked out well: no unauthorized greeting parties or sorties and we all arrived at the gate together.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Posey
Godzilla
George
Archie
Shirley
Stella
Murci
Roxy
(9)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~5k. This was a shorty for Shirley and Archie with the dual purpose of getting Roxy out on a run. She has so much energy now that she's over both ehrlichiosis and heartworm that walks aren't enough. Alice convinced me to let her come at the last second and didn't make me regret it; she lagged a little but kept up and had a great time. We took the blue.bag trail heading out. There was a solitary old dude working in the charco just to the north of the crossing and I noticed Roxy looked like she wanted to bark at him; he was far enough away and we were moving quickly enough that I just had to call her a couple of times and she forgot about it but I decided I should get her on a leash sooner than later... we're still getting to know her but she was definitely a barky little stray before she came on board. I managed to get her on the long leash and switch Stella to the short one well before we turned towards the beach and they stayed that way for the rest of the run. The ocean was churned up and stinky; the tide was low and large mounds of rotting seaweed were strewn everywhere. This suited the dogs just fine and they had a blast on the stretch south between Au Soleil Couchant and the tortuga sign. Alice doesn't give a crap about waves and swam to her heart's content. As we cleared the sign and started east I was assaulted by an awful, nauseating smell. Too late I realized it was a large pile of fish offal and filth some cosmic comedian had dumped in a hollow to the north of the road. Godzilla had already rolled enthusiastically in it before I knew what was happening; I had to pick fish bones out of her tail before we could continue, and the vertiginous, retching horror haunted us for the rest of the run. Whenever Godzilla came near my eyes would start to water; she was extremely pleased with herself. The rest of the run was a bit of a blur; Roxy was perfect on the leash when we ran by that fellow on the way back. I put Murci on the other end of the long leash with her on the coco trail and everyone was good to the gate. Good girl Roxy! Zilla got a bath immediately upon arrival.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Otto
Tuesday
Frankie
Daisy
Twiggy
Monkey
Steve McQueen
Hazel
(9)
Northern loop: ~7k. Tuesday was on the leash the whole way as usual and was stellar; Daisy left on the short leash but came off early at the turn north to the wooden shack. The pace was high for the first 3k: Tuesday was only interested in running and everyone else, even Monkey, agreed. I was trying to decide which northern route we should take as we were getting out to the border between what I call the southern and northern charcos when I noticed I only had eight. It took me a few seconds to realize it was Monkey who was missing: I had just seen her minutes before when I looked behind me to make sure we were all together. Somewhere between the road that goes to the swimming hole and the turn onto the palapa road she decided to ditch us and head home. I wasn't sure of that at the time, of course, and spent 20 minutes dragging everyone else around calling and looking for her, running various awful scenarios through my head. In the end the area in which she might be was pretty small, we exhausted most of it and it was obvious that she was not in hailing range. I took us home via the most direct way (the swimming hole) and, sure enough, she had beaten us home by 15-20 minutes. I don't know what got into her. It was deliciously cool and overcast, which she normally prefers for a run. There weren't a lot of bugs. We were on a route she's run many times before... still, she isn't talking so I guess we'll never know. Everyone else was perfect and stayed with me through the whole thing. If not for that it would've been a perfect, high-paced run.
GRADE: C (at least we all came home)
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Bette
Rita
Ernie
Molly
Maggie
Ziggy
Bosha
Roxy
(10)
I took this group for a walk between the land bridges. We left with Ernie and Bette on leashes. Bette is an angel and came off right across the road; Ernie stayed on until we crossed the land bridge heading out. Roxy is obviously feeling good now; she was way ahead of the rest of us the whole way out across the land bridge, so much so that I had to run to get ahead so I could catch her once I let Ernie off the leash... I think she should go on a few short runs with Shirley and Archie. I did finally get ahead of her as she forded a charco and once on the leash she was her usual self: happy to be along and into everything with everyone. We came home on the coco trail. I left Roxy on the whole way home and had Ernie on the short leash by the time we got to the shrimpery and they were all perfect to the gate: stayed with me, crossed the road together, ignored barking and noises from other dogs. Nice, short walk on an oddly cloudy day.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Eve
Truman
Osita
Chester
Rufus
Jack
Tori
Murci
(9)
Northern loop: ~8k. I hurt my right ankle on Saturday while basically doing nothing: I just slipped a little while making an awkward, dog-related movement and was instantly in so much pain it made me queasy. Luckily Roni is a pro at this kind of thing and wrapped my ankle like she does hers; that plus an icebag, two ibuprofin and another day's rest seems to have restored it completely. Roni re-wrapped it before I ran and it held up to the stress just fine. I was a little ginger on it at first but it felt good on the run and it was a fast one. Rufus was the only one who left on the leash; Murci had her muzzle on for the first 200 meters. I took us out north via the blue.bag trail but I wasn't settled our route until I was sure my ankle was fine and everyone was doing well; we left a little late and it was a bit hot in the direct sun. It turned out everyone really wanted to run but I didn't want to push the distance so instead we pushed the pace on several long stretches. We looped around north to the head of the palapa road and crossed at the bag.end land bridge to the swimming hole. Everyone was really good the whole way; they drank a lot from the bottle and stayed close to me. We came home via the dirty road. I had Tori and Truman on either ends of the long leash and Rufus on the short one by the time we got to the final trail. I chose those dogs because they're the ones with a propensity to charge off in chase of some stray within 200m of the house and it turned out to be the correct call: we got barked at by a stray up near the soldiers' as we crossed the road (I think the one we got sterilized) and another to the south just on our road; if those three had been off the leash they would've formed a greeting party for sure but instead everyone else stuck with me and we all arrived at the gate together. Good run.
GRADE: A
departure:
Xmul*
(1)
Xmul had a nice visit and good run. She was elated to see Nicole on the beach. Such a sweet, lucky dog.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Eve
Frijolita
Posey
Gowron
Elewah
Lily
Xmul
Hazel
(9)
Northern charcos (backwards): ~8k. Xmul had a sleep-over last night so naturally we wanted to get her out for a run; she was on the leash as usual and a good girl the whole way. Everyone else was similarly good. We ran into an older fellow on a bike heading north as we were heading south towards the hidden trail and everyone behaved themselves; Elewah ran ahead and barked a couple of times but stopped when I told her to and Otto even let him pet him on the head a little. We took the blue.bag trail in both directions to avoid areas that have been the scene of recent freak-outs by Elewah and this worked well. At the very end, just 20m from our house we spied the little brown stray that hangs out to the south of us; she was in the intersection sniffing around and got chased by Elewah and Lily, mainly. There was a lot of barking but no hostilities; in the end Elewah and Lily came back reasonably quickly. The pace was high today; everyone was really up for it. The monte was beautiful and quiet and the bugs were not noticeable.
GRADE: A
morning walk #1:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Ginger
Blue
Greta
(7)
Roni took this crew on a walk to the land bridge and environs. Miles was his usual infuriating self, not so much on the way out as on the way back. Greta was an angel; she left on the leash but came off quickly and stuck close to her human the whole way. It has not been so brain-crushingly hot of late and the bugs have not been that bad but it still was a bit hot and a bit buggy. Henry was happy to go in his new haircut and arrived home xmul-free, both a real relief and a testament to Roni's dog-hair-cutting skills. Cute group.
GRADE: A
morning walk #2:
Amber
Zoot
(2)
This walk was basically due to Miles: it is too aggravating to have these two along when Miles is in full dawdle-mode. They were both good about being left behind on the first walk and equally good about going out on the second walk. They really are a little dog-electron cloud around Roni: even when they're excited at the gate they never orbit but so far away from her as they leave. Roni managed to pick a bag full of passion flower on the way until the bugs finally made her position and started attacking in earnest. Zoot and Amber had a great time.
GRADE: A
arrival:
Xmul*
(1)
Xmul came over for a visit; she'll be here until Saturday morning.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Reggie
Daisy
Luna
MoMo
Mega
Steve McQueen
Tori
Murci
(8)
Southern charcos: ~8k. This group came together suddenly when I realized I could trap Mega and Steve in the launchpad easily; I let them in with Murci, Daisy and Mo all in a rush and then Roni and I wrangled everyone else. Daisy left on the leash and stayed on until we were heading east into the monte proper; she was a good girl throughout. On the road south from the land bridge we got barked at again by dogs across the charcos to the west; Tori, Mo and Luna ran across to do a little meet and greet but came back quickly to me. Other than that we didn't run into anyone or anything. We ran the whole palapa road, circled back around to the swimming hole and came home via the alt. land bridge. I had Tori and Luna on either ends of the long leash and Reggie on the short one just at the shrimpery and everyone was perfect to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Rita
Osita
Molly
Stella
Maggie
Linda
Bosha
Roxy
(10)
I took this group for a walk between the land bridges and a little more. Since Ernie was not along it was my intention to go all the way around to the blue.bag trail but Roxy scotched this plan. The other walks she's gone on have always been between the land bridges so this time she dutifully darted across the alt. land bridge before I could get to her to put her on the leash; I can't blame her, she was just aiming to please. I hooked her up on the other side and she was an angel the rest of the way. Since we didn't go the way I'd planned I took us up towards the coco trail; we took a short diversion towards the wooden shack to the north just to give them all some more time to screw around, then turned back and came home via the coco trail as normal. Everyone was great and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Godzilla
Frijolita
George
Archie
Shirley
Monkey
Lex
Hazel
(9)
Northern charcos: ~7k. We took a slightly shorter route through the northern charcos today to keep the distance down for Shirley and Archie. Archie will probably have a little limp later but he enjoys it so much it seems worth it; he hasn't had a limp the day after in a while as long as we don't go too far. George also likes this distance although today he could've gone longer. It was still chilly when we left and the cold invigorates the larger dogs, especially George with his magnificent coat. We ran to the turn for the hidden trail but then looped right back around to the south onto the palapa road, crossed at the bag.end land bridge and hit the swimming hole coming home. We left with nobody on the leash. I put Shirley on for a little while when we were far out in the monte because she just wouldn't slow down; she came off in a kilometer and stayed a bit closer from there on. Hazel and Shirley were on either ends of the leash at the shrimpery to keep everyone together on the last trail home and it worked out perfectly. A happy and surprisingly up-tempo group on a bright, chilly morning.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Blue
Posey
Chester
Rufus
Jack
Frankie
Twiggy
Tori
Murci
(10)
Northern charcos: ~8k. Blue got thrown in as 10th dog at the last minute; she's always good and really wanted to go. We left via the land bridge and came home via the blue.bag trail, taking the more or less usual route through the northern charcos. Rufus left on the leash and came off around the main intersection heading out; he was a good boy the whole way. I had Tori and Murci on the long leash and Rufus on the short black one by the time we got to the shrimpery coming home and everyone was perfect to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Bette
Ernie
Molly
Magie
Ziggy
Bosha
Linda
(9)
I took this little crew for a walk from the land bridge to the blue.bag trail. I was only going to go between the land bridges because of Ernie but he was having such a good time that I didn't want to cut it so short. Instead I had him on the leash for much of it to keep him from running so fast and so far ahead... he needs a pain pill now but I think he'll be alright tomorrow. Everyone was angelic the whole way and had a blast.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Eve
George
Archie
Tuesday
Monkey
MoMo
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)
Northern loop: ~7k. This group sort of came together strangely. I didn't bring the second leash so it was Tuesday the whole way and she was really good; she likes this distance now. It was getting a bit hot towards the end but George did well anyway; he drank a lot of water but kept up and had a good time swimming wherever there was water. The swimming hole is still decent at least and everyone but Tuesday did their fair share of frolicking. We didn't take the long way home this time and used the alt. land bridge instead, mainly for George and Archie. Everyone did well and ran hard. Archie needed a pain pill later but I think he'll be alright tomorrow.
GRADE: A
mid-day jaunt:
Alice
Ginger
Greta
(3)
I took these three on a meandering walk down to the land bridge and back; the dual purpose was to (a) get Greta out and (b) pick some more passion flower leaves, as things are drying up now and we want to make sure we have enough dried to last us. My three charges were angels and had a great time just sort of screwing around. I ended up gathering a fairly large bag of passion flower leaves before the bugs finally made our position.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Gracie
Rita
Posey
Godzilla
Rufus
Shirley
Daisy
Xmul
(9)
Northern loop: ~7k. Xmul topped off her sleepover with a nice run this morning. I had Rufus on the black leash and Xmul on the long one for the first kilometer or so; Rufus was good once I let him off. We don't want Shirley and Otto going on very long runs but this distance seems to be okay for them as long as they don't do it too often; shorties most of the time with the occasional longer run work out well for them. Shirley was ahead almost the whole way and had a great time. We left via the land bridge, took the ridge north and hit the swimming hole, looped around to the north on the palapa road, cut across at the bag.end land bridge and went by the swimming hole again. We took the slightly longer way home via the blue.bag trail just for some variety. I put Rufus on the black leash again at the shrimpery and everyone was perfect to the gate.
GRADE: A
departure:
Xmul*
(1)
We got back from the run with half an hour to spare before the appointed hour. I walked Xmul down to meet Nicole and her charges on the beach and there wasn't so much as a bark from either Xmul or our dogs back at the house - very nice.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Truman
Chester
Reggie
Gowron
Luna
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)
Northern charcos: ~8k. Nobody left on the leash for once. Both Tori and Murci had their muzzles on to cut down on the crazy barking before we left; they came off even before we got to the shrimpery while we were still on the first trail. Everyone was really up for a run today but I was a bit sluggish for the first couple of kilometers; I finally shook it off as we were getting to the swimming hole and felt okay after that. I was going to head south but there were so many flamingos on the land bridge that I called everyone back to me from the intersection and took the dirty road instead; everyone that had run ahead turned more or less on a dime and came with me - no flamingos were chased. We took the other land bridge instead (flamingo-free) so I just kept heading north. We hit the swimming hole in both directions and made decent time the whole way. I put Tori on the long leash and Hazel on the short one before we got to the shrimpery on the way home and everyone was good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning arrival:
Archie
Linda
Xmul*
(3)
To the tortuga sign on the beach and home via the monte: ~3k. Xmul is having a sleepover with us tonight. We want to bring her back for short visits a little more often this year to make it go smoother when she comes back; she has so many humans looking after her who love her that we actually have to coordinate to adore her properly. I ran down to meet Nicole, Xmul, Mel and Rudolph with Archie on the leash and Linda loose. Pleasantries were exchanged without too much trouble and we separated with me and my three heading north at a reasonable clip (Linda is such a trooper). Archie came off the leash just past the army base. The beach isn't that pleasant right now. There are large mounds of rotting seaweed everywhere that were thrown up onto the beach from recent storms. There's a thick layer of the stuff under the sand in many places which makes footing unsure and frequently disgusting... naturally, the dogs don't mind that. We more or less picked our way through the soggy surf to the tortuga sign and then took the pace up a little. Xmul was good throughout, as were Archie and Linda. We took the blue.bag trail home; I put Archie on the leash at the shrimpery to keep him from lagging and rolling in something disgusting behind my back. Nice shorty with some cuties.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Eve
Blue
Otto
Tuesday
Daisy
Twiggy
Murci
(8)
Northern loop: ~7k. This was another near-perfect run. Tuesday was a good girl on the leash the whole way and showed no signs of her paranoid behavior. We left via the northern route again, took the long way to the palapa road and doubled back home via the bag.end crossing and the swimming hole. It was really quiet in the monte again today: no people, no visible marmots, only a few flamingos. We didn't go quite as far as normal in part because Otto/Twiggy were along and in part because it was starting to get hot after the first 5km. No matter, everyone was happy and had a blast. I put Tori on the black leash coming home and we were all good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Godzilla
Frijolita
Chester
Frankie
Daisy
MoMo
Hazel
Murci
(9)
Northern charcos: ~8k. This group was perfect. We left with Daisy on the leash to keep her from mixing it up with the other dogs in her excitement and this worked out well; as with Tori I leave her on until I feel slack in her leash and then she's fine. We left via the blue bag trail and came back via the alt. land bridge and the dirty road. There were no people in the monte and very little else - it was deadly quiet out there and very pretty. We hit the swimming hole in both directions and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. The pace was high but everyone listened well, especially Murci who was on point for most of the run. I managed to have Murci and Hazel on either ends of the long leash and Mo on the short one by the time we got to the shrimpery and everyone arrived at the gate together with no fuss.
GRADE: A
