25.12.14

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