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morning run:
Gracie
Posey
Blue
Eve
Rufus
Jack
Luna
Twiggy
Xmul
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. It was a bit chaotic getting out - Rufus was crazed and they were all pretty excited. Once we got going they calmed down almost immediately. I had Rufus on the black leash and Xmul on the long one for the first kilometer and we pretty much hauled ass until we made the turn into the monte. Once Rufus came off the leash he was great - no taking runs at anyone, just a lot of happy horsing around and running. I tried to keep slack in Xmul's leash the whole way and everyone else was happy to oblige. For a change we crossed from the palapa road to the swimming hole via the berm but then cut back and continued north to the road instead of heading home from the swimming hole; I saw a truck with a bunch of salt workers in the distance from the palapa road and our normal route would've taken us right by them. This group had no bad actors but I didn't feel like dealing with the other issues (ahem) and everyone was really up for running so what the hell... we took the interior route in the monte to the blue bag trail. I put Jack on the black leash near the wooden shack just to continue to work with him on being better about going on the leash and he was indeed better. He just needs a reminder once in a while. Everyone was good to the gate and had a great time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Chester
Tuesday
Gowron
Daisy
MoMo
Lex
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)
Hidden trail: ~8k. We left and came back via the blue.bag trail. Tuesday and Daisy were both on the leash until we turned north on the road to the tortuga crossroads, where I let Daisy off. She was good the rest of the way. We started out fast and got to the turn west quickly, especially given that we went the long way and not via the swimming hole. Past that point Tuesday didn't feel like running as fast and the pace dragged a little for the last half of the run. Perhaps she didn't like the heat... when we weren't under a bit of cloud-cover it started to get quite hot and the humidity was ridiculous regardless. The slog through the overgrown path to the beach was slow and spiny but once on the beach everyone had a great time. Tuesday kept wanting to go into the water even though she doesn't swim all that much; I obliged her most of the time and nobody else minded. I ended up with Tori on the other end of the leash with Tuesday and Hazel on the black leash by the time we got to the coco trail; Hazel was still too far ahead by that point and it's always a good idea to have Tori under control when we're getting close to home. Everyone was really good the whole way and was tired afterwards. The bugs were bad in spots.
GRADE: A
morning jaunt:
Alice
Otto
Rita
Truman
Osita
George
Archie
Shirley
Frankie
(9)
To the beach at the tortuga sign and back: ~5k. I didn't want to go too far because Alice had a limp last time and Archie shouldn't go very far anyway. Instead of heading to the beach at Au Soleil Couchant we went to the tortuga sign and ran up the beach a bit, turned around and came home via the blue.bag trail. We ran slowly for most of the way, stopping to walk and screw around here and there where the bugs weren't so bad. Everyone swam a lot in the ocean and had a good time horsing around. I put Shirley on the leash on the coco trail coming home because she was still too far ahead. Otherwise everyone was off the leash the whole way. Good group on a shorty to the beach.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Amber
Zoot
(2)
Roni took these two out to just work with them by themselves and maybe pick some passion flower. This worked out very well on both accounts. Amber and Zoot had a blast and were picture-perfect, listening and staying with their human the whole way despite all the crazy smells from the moist monte and the bugs. Roni also came back with a decent amount of passion flower so hurray there as well.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Frijolita
Osita
Elewah
Lily
Luna
Steve McQueen
Tori
Murci
(9)
Southern charcos: ~9k. This was a fast group to put it mildly. We left with Tori on the leash so she didn't harass Lily; I let her off at the turn into the monte proper and she was good the rest of the way. It was nearly a perfect run. We hauled ass the entire way, only stopping for water three times. Since we were making such good time and there was nobody along with issues we ran the whole length of the palapa road, west all the way to the beach and came home via the blue bag trail. Everyone listened and it was fun to spend most of the run with nobody on the leash. We encountered one (surprised) salt worker parking their moto on the palapa road; nobody so much as sniffed at him and I barely managed a "nice morning!" as we shot by. I had Tori and Murci on either ends of the leash by the time we got to the shrimpery but sadly that wasn't enough: the spoiler was Elewah. She decided to skulk off into the monte directly to the north of the last trail home and would not come out for a solid 5 minutes, after everyone else was with me. She finally came back covered in something disgusting and spent some time in the box upon arrival. Her shenanigans gave Luna ideas and she bolted for the beach at the last turn, so I had to put everyone else back in and then go fish her out of the surf with the leash. I should always bring the black leash with me, it's perfect for collar-less dogs like Elewah. Other than the last 5 minutes it was a really great run.
GRADE: B
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Our little mermaid swam well.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Blue
Eve
Godzilla
Rufus
Jack
Xmul
Mega
Lex
Petey
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. As usual I had to trap Mega in a crate and drag it to the edge of the launchpad... he's such a strange dog. We left with Xmul on the long leash and Rufus on the shorter black leash; it's a little like being dragged by a team of horses but they were really good in spite of their enthusiasm. I let Rufus off when we turned off of the road into the monte and he was great the rest of the way. I cut the distance a little short this time, turning off of the palapa road onto the berm and hitting the swimming hole instead of going the whole way around; this was mainly for Petey because he's had a limp after going out the last couple of times. Mega was really happy and had a blast on point most of the way; he even did a cannonball at the swimming hole and drank from the bottle several times with everyone else. There were salt workers at the charcos nearest to home on the way back and everyone was really good. I put Rufus on the black leash again at the shrimpery just to make sure we all arrived home together and it worked out just that way. Good group.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Ginger
Otto
Bette
Shirley
Archie
Molly
Maggie
Ziggy
Bosha
Linda
(10)
I took this group for a walk from the land bridge to the blue bag trail via the intersection. Molly left on the leash; I let her off across the land bridge. I finally had to put Shirley on the leash out by the wooden shack to keep the pace down - she's just nuts and works herself into a lather. The hard rain yesterday left the charcos slightly less salty (Linda said so). They were a cute little crew and behaved themselves the whole way.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Tuesday
Gowron
Daisy
Twiggy
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)
Hidden trail: ~8k. We left via the coco trail and the blue bag trail for once. Some dude was out at the wooden shack; he comically hauled ass to get inside the shack when he saw us coming even though I told him repeatedly that nobody bites or is mean... he probably won't move that fast again all day. The dogs were angels, of course, and paid no attention to him whatsoever. We skipped the swimming hole this time so the distance was a little longer but nobody seemed to mind. Tuesday was in a mood to run early on and we made ridiculous time to the turn for the hidden trail. The hidden part of the trail across doce was really overgrown; if you didn't know there was a trail there you would swear we were just bashing our way through the brush but we carefully picked our way down to the beach without injuries. Everyone was really up for it and swam and ran like lunatics the whole way. We came home the way we left; the guy at the wooden shack was gone on the way home. I put Hazel on the other end of the leash with Tuesday on the coco trail and Tori on the black leash as well just to keep us all together. Nice run, happy dogs.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Ginger
Otto
Bette
Ernie
Molly
Maggie
April
Ziggy
Linda
(9)
I took this group for a walk out to the wooden shack to the north. I left Ernie on the leash until we were on the way home and he seemed a little less crazed than normal when I let him off. I had April on a separate leash the whole way; she had a good time but there's no way I'd let her off around here, she'd be chasing some marmot through the monte in a hot second. Ernie had a limp hours after the walk and got a pain pill; if he's okay tomorrow then I call that a win. They really were all very good.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Greta
Tito
(3)
Roni wanted to take Greta out with her while she walked down the trail and found places to gather passion flower. Naturally, Zasu talked herself onto the team as well as Tito. Tito and Greta were really good but Zasu was awful at the end: she turned her ears off coming back home on the trail to go investigate a vehicle and ended up acting like an idiot in the road too far ahead for Roni to get to her. Really, really irritating. She's going to have to spend some quality time on the leash for the next few walks at least... I don't hope that she'll change her mind but maybe she will change her behavior a little. Otherwise a nice and successful outing on two fronts: (1) passion flower picked, (2) Greta didn't have a limp afterwards and had a good time.
GRADE: B (Zasu)
morning run:
Gracie
Blue
Frijolita
Truman
Lily
MoMo
Xmul
Zoot*
Hazel
(9)
Southern charcos: ~9k. Roni and I were surprised that Zoot put himself out there when the dogs were being wrangled; he acted like he wanted to go but he stopped on the trail about halfway to the shrimpery, turned tail and headed home. I knew where he was going when he turned around and I had a feeling Roni would be watching for him (she was) so I just carried on with the other eight. Maybe he'll work his way up to it gradually, who knows - he's a strange one. Everyone else was absolutely perfect the whole way. We took the same route as yesterday: south to the last turn into the monte, north the whole length of the palapa road, west on the Au Soleil Couchant road all the way to the beach and home via the blue bag trail. Xmul was on the leash the whole way and was an angel; we ran fast enough that there was slack in the leash most of the way. I put Hazel on the other end of the leash at the tortuga crossroads coming home because she was too far ahead even after ~8k... she just has huge amounts of energy. Everyone stayed together all the way to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Eve
Rufus
Jack
Lex
Steve McQueen
Tori
Murci
(8)
Southern charcos: ~9k. I took fewer dogs today to pay more attention to Rufus and make it easier to get out. I left Rufus on the leash all the way to the main southern intersection and he was good thereafter. Originally I thought we might go to no-man's land but it seemed to far to me when we got to the decisive turn. Instead we ran the length of the palapa road from south to north. We did it in such good time that I figured we might as well hit the beach and so we ended up going about as long as we would've if we had gone to no-man's land and not hit the beach... we all had thunderbolts for legs today I guess. Everyone was really good the whole way. I had Tori and Murci on either ends of the leash by the time we got to the coco trail; Tori always needs to be kept in check close to home and Murci was not listening as well as I wanted but she wasn't bad, just too energetic. All in all a nice group.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
George
Rita
Archie
Gowron
Shirley
Monkey
Stella
Linda
(9)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~6k. Stella is a pain in the ass on runs. She is actually one of the fastest dogs but she just doesn't like to run on the leash and she can't be trusted off of it. As a result this run felt like dragging a 20kg anchor for 6k from my point of view; everyone else, of course, had a blast. They really were all angels and swam like nuts for the stretch down the beach to the tortuga sign. Alice had a limp a couple hours later and got a pain pill.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
What an angel.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Chester
Tuesday
Reggie
Frankie
Elewah
Daisy
Twiggy
Hazel
Tori
(9)
To the beach via the swimming hole: ~7k. We left with Tuesday and Daisy on separate leashes; I used the shorter black leash for Daisy to keep her in check for the first couple of kilometers. In the past whenever she's been bad about rough-housing with her running mates it has been in the early part of the run when they're all really wound up. I let her off and I thought my plan had worked - she seemed fine once off the leash. We ran into salt workers and some dogs with them (I think) early on and although Daisy was part of the greeting party she came back quickly. We hauled ass to the intersection and kept going to the swimming hole where everyone had a good time. I decided against a longer run before we got to the Au Soleil Couchant road; I didn't want to be gone that long and I was sure everyone would be happy with a run down the beach. As we got to the intersection with the parallel access road Daisy took a run at Elewah so I put her back on the leash and scolded her. Elewah is a bit of a drama queen and made a big deal of limping around but then shook it off in a meter or two once we started towards the beach. Daisy should only go out with bigger dogs for a while and I should make a point of having her on the leash more; she dug her heels in a little as we were getting to the blue bag trail and it was annoying - she's heavy on the leash when she wants to be. She lightened up in a little while and we were all good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Bette
Tito
Ginger
Blue
Ernie
Linda
Amber
Zoot
(9)
Roni took this group out for a walk down to the land bridge. The original motivation was to go out with just one or two dogs to pick some passion flower near the shrimpery but by the time the dogs got done editing her agenda that was pretty much tossed aside. Ernie left on the leash; when Roni let him off he ran ahead like a gibbering lunatic and when she caught up to him and put him back on he pulled non-stop. His shenanigans set the pace high and the humidity has been crazy today but everyone had fun anyway. Linda verified that the charcos still have water in them; the evidence had to be rinsed off of her before she could re-enter hammock-space but her rocking new haircut made it easy.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Osita
Frijolita
Truman
Luna
Xmul
Steve McQueen
Tori
Murci
(9)
Long and winding road: ~10k. Today I had my thunderbolts for legs back again and all the dogs were up for a long one. Gracie, the oldest dog on the run (at least 10 years old), was the one who made the turn north as we were crossing the northern charcos. We had gotten to that point pretty quickly and we still had lots of water so what the hell. Nobody has been all the way out the long and winding road for a long time. They must be leaving those charcos fallow for a while. The recent rain has still not even started filling the charcos out on the interior road to Xixim - the road is clear and people have ridden motos on it recently. We saw no waterfowl out there nor were the bugs bad. It was beautiful and everyone was highly enthusiastic. I let Xmul off the leash when we were way out there and she had a good time being a goon with her friends. She was back on by the time we got to the turn at the end of no-man's land. I put Tori on the other end from the shrimpery home and everyone was good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
George
Archie
Bette
Shirley
Molly
Bosha
Linda
(9)
I took this group for a walk from the land bridge to the blue bag trail via the usual route along the ridge. I had to put Shirley on the hook on the blue bag trail to slow her down and I put Bette on the other end when we got barked at across the charco by Angel's dog, just to be safe. Everyone was really good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Our little mermaid did well.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Blue
Rita
Tuesday
Gowron
Rufus
Lily
Jack
MoMo
(9)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~5k. This was supposed to be a Rufus run to start with but Tuesday really wanted to go so what the hell. I made it long enough for everyone to have fun, and we hit the beach from Au Soleil Couchant down to the tortuga sign so everyone got some quality time in the ocean as well. Since it was a shorty we kept the pace up but not excessively. I left with Tuesday and Rufus both on leashes but Rufus came off quickly. I put Jack on the leash coming home and he was a good boy. It was hot out but everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Eve
Reggie
Daisy
Twiggy
Lex
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Tori
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. A storm blew through here yesterday and its remnants made the morning a bit cooler than it has been recently. We left with Daisy on the leash and this worked well: nobody had any issues and we even got barked at a little by unseen dogs in the monte without anyone taking off to investigate. I let Daisy off the leash once we were clear of the land bridge and she was a good girl the rest of the way. We hadn't run the palapa road for a while but I could see as we rounded the southernmost turn that there were no salt workers around so we took it all the way to where it ends and runs into the Au Soleil Couchant access road. Recent rain has filled a lot of puddles and made the swimming hole worthy of the name again; everyone had a good time jumping in the water and horsing around. We came back via the alt. land bridge. I had Tori and Reggie on either end of the leash by the time we got to the coco trail. Hazel was still a bit too far ahead for me as we neared the shrimpery so I pulled the hook through the ring in Tori's collar and hooked Hazel up next to her for a rare three-on-a-leash routine for the final 200m. Reggie is such a good boy that this was no problem; he was only on the leash to keep him from bolting down the final trail in excitement at coming home to his mom (adorable but annoying). Everyone behaved themselves perfectly and the bugs are still not too bad. Nice run on a cloudy morning.
GRADE: A
