skip to main |
skip to sidebar
morning walk:
Zasu
Henry
Ginger
Tito
Blue
Eve
Stella
Monkey
(8)
Roni took this crew out for a walk to the shack to the north, on the coco trail. It was overcast and a bit cooler than normal but still quite humid. Zasu starts slow but always finishes strong; she and Henry both just had their teeth cleaned and are obviously feeling great... Henry was even on point with Ginger for most of the way. Stella was on the leash but barely pulled and Monkey made sure to come home with muddy boots. A pleasant walk in the most agreeable walking weather we've had for a while.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
George
Archie
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Bosha
Roxy
(7)
I took this crew for a shorty between the land bridges. They were perfect and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Chester
Rufus
Linda
Cookie
(6)
To the beach and back at the tortuga sign: ~6k. Rufus and Cookie were both on leashes leavin and Rufus' hijinx were a bit much in the first 10m; too many other dogs got him too wound up. He settled down appreciably by the time we got to the shrimpery and it became less chaotic. Cookie was on the leash to the beach, where I let her off for fun in the water. She ran and swam like a champ all the way to Au Soleil Couchant and back. I had her on the hook again before we left the beach to continue to work with her; there are people and vehicles around now and I don't want her getting any bad habits. Everyone was really good and had a great time on a shorty.
GRADE: B (too crazed at the start)
morning run:
Eve
Posey
Truman
Lily
Xmul
Mega
Lex
Hazel
Murci
(9)
Au Soleil Couchant: ~7k. We took the monte to the beach via the swimming hole, ran north for a bit then turned around and came home via the tortuga sign. Everyone was really good.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Gracie
Godzilla
Gowron
Twiggy
Luna
MoMo
Mega
Lex
(9)
Au Soleil Couchant: ~8k. We took a weird route, effectively doing a ~2k loop in the monte starting and ending at the three-way intersection with the Au Soleil Couchant access road and the parallel road in the monte, then heading to the beach and coming home via the blue bag trail. For once nobody was on the leash; this was good for me, as I felt like I was made of lead for the first 2k... don't know why, just felt thick and slow and had to shake it off. I put Luna and 'Zilla on either ends of the leash at the coco trail coming home because they were the two most likely to misbehave with the strays to the south. This worked out well: everyone listened to me, ignored the barking of the strays and came to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Good girl.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Archie
Shirley
Molly
Maggie
Ziggy
Daisy
Bosha
Roxy
Cookie
(9)
I took this group for a walk from the land bridge to the blue.bag trail. Cookie was on the longer leash for the entire walk and did very well. We started with Shirley on the short leash to keep everyone together to the shrimpery, which worked out perfectly. I let Shirley off there and switched her for Roxy, since there are a lot of salt workers around. I had to keep Shirley close verbally for the rest of the way but she did listen pretty well. As expected, Roxy wanted to bark at some salt workers when she noticed them, but I didn't let her and kept us moving; nobody else cared at all and stayed with me. Shirley, Cookie, Molly, Daisy and Maggie killed the water; Cookie is already an expert at drinking from the bottle. Everyone stayed together all the way to the gate despite getting barked at by the strays to the south.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Blue
Tuesday
Amber
Zoot
(4)
Roni took this group out for a walk in the near monte. Tuesday was on the leash the whole way and was good - didn't pull, was patient when Roni had to adjust her collar. Everyone did well and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
She's an angel.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Truman
Elewah
Lily
Xmul
Lex
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Murci
(9)
North of Au Soliel Couchant: ~8k. We took the long way to the swimming hole (blue bag trail, too), winding our way through many active salt work sites and avoiding traffic, then hit the beach at A.S.C, headed north for a while, turned around and came home via the blue bag trail again. Elewah ran ahead at the end to go bark at the strays south of us; I knew she was going to do it and I tried to get her in range on the coco trail but she felt me and stayed ahead... annoying, but what was more annoying was Frijolita, Truman and Lily joining her after I told them not to. As usual no harm done but not the end I wanted. Everyone else was good.
GRADE: B
morning walk:
Rita
Osita
Ernie
Maggie
Stella
Bosha
Linda
Roxy
(8)
I took this group for a walk between the land bridges. Stella was on a leash the whole way; Ernie started out on one but I let him off early and switched to Roxy, since there are a lot of salt workers around right now. It turns out we didn't see any but you never know and she needs work around other people... she doesn't mind the leash and had a good time. Everyone was really good and had a great time.
GRADE: A
morning beach jaunt:
Rufus
Cookie
(2)
Tortuga sign: ~2k. Rufus was so worked up we just had to get him out somehow, and since he can always use some one-on-one time a little jaunt up the beach seemed like the thing; it was already getting too hot out for anything but the beach anyway. Instead of taking the usual route through the monte I just turned north from our gate and tried to get down to the beach without drawing too much heat from the dogs at home; Roni dealt with them very quickly and it went smoothly. Once on the beach Cookie hewed to Rufus most adorably; once I let them off their leashes (just past the HoJo) she basically worshiped him non-stop when they were running. Cookie is without doubt a water dog and swam like a nut, even more than Rufus. She's still a bit unsure of what to do with waves but she's game and already strong in the water once past them. We ran and swam without pausing all the way to the tortuga sign. Cookie showed the slightest hint of dancing away from me when I wanted to put her back on the leash so I made a point of catching her and putting her back on right away; I don't want her developing any bad habits and she's already entering her assertive/contrarian phase. She doesn't mind the leash at all; she totally gets it and runs alongside me like a champ. This was a good experience for everyone; sometimes you just have to take fewer dogs.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Blue
George
Archie
Molly
Twiggy
Monkey
Cookie
(8)
Au Soleil Couchant: ~5k. We took the blue bag trail to the tortuga sign and then ran up and down the beach to Au Soleil Couchant. Cookie was on a leash for a lot of it but I let her run free on the beach. I had to pick her up and plop her in the shallows at first but she immediately decided she's a water dog and charged in and out of the sea frequently after that, improving every time. Everyone else was good and had a blast.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
Good girl
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Bette
Rita
Ernie
Stella
Ziggy
Maggie
Roxy
(9)
I took this group for a walk between the land bridges. Stella was on a leash the whole way and Roxy on the second leash for most of it... Ernie started out on a leash just to keep him sane but he came off at the land bridge and was good. Everyone behaved themselves and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Chester
Shirley
Frankie
Lily
Xmul
Mega
Hazel
Murci
(9)
Au Soleil Couchant via the swimming hole: ~7k. Had to get some runners out. Frankie threw herself in at the last second but it was my fault because I didn't see her in the yard. She lagged a bit at times but was a good girl. I took us to the beach mainly for Shirley, which perked her right up; she drank a lot of the water but did well the whole way.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Tito
Henry
Eve
Blue
Ziggy
Cookie
(7)
Roni took this group for a walk around the cow pasture. Eve was a little too far ahead at the start - too used to runs, we have to put the brakes on that with everyone and make them start slower for both walks and runs. Cookie did well. It was hot but Zasu is a trooper and Tito is feeling great since his teeth cleaning and course of doxycycline.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Ginger
Bette
Gowron
Archie*
Monkey
Amber
Zoot
Linda
Cookie
(9)
Neither one of us felt like doing anything this morning but Roni got this group out for a walk anyway. Cookie was on the leash a fair amount of the time. Archie came back early on for some reason - we're not sure why, he didn't seem hurt. Everyone else had a good time on a loop in the monte. Ginger's mischief is a bit of a pain sometimes and a bad influence on Cookie, who is already starting to feel her oats and become more assertive. At least she always wants to be near her human when outside the fence. Roni had to run a fair bit to keep everyone together, always annoying.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Godzilla
Rufus
Jack
Mega
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Murci
Tori
(9)
Hidden Trail: ~10+k. This was one of the worst days of my life. I'm finally writing this now 5 days after and I can barely stand to do it. This was a typical run on the hidden trail, like we've done many times recently. It was a bit of a slog between the road and the beach but no different than the last time. Tori was trailing me by at most 10m in the thickest part when I heard her cry out. She made it to me when I called her but just barely - her rear legs were not working right. It became obvious quickly that she could not continue, we were still a solid 2km from home if we stuck to the beach and we weren't even to the beach yet - still 50m to go, with the thickest woods still in front of us. I had to carry Tori through the spines and brush all the way down to the water. She could not stand, her pupils were dilated and her breathing was heavy and rough, as was mine after getting her down to the shore. Clearly something had happened but I wasn't sure what yet - it turned out to be a snake bite. It is now the driest time of the year and I didn't think snakes should be much of an issue as there is very little prey for them now but obviously I was wrong. I saw Julie and P-O far to the south, just getting close to the tortuga sign - it was at least 1km away but I decided to chance it and get as close to them as I could to get their attention. This led to an all-out sprint on my part after having carried Tori (40kg) to the beach. I over-estimated my capabilities and fell short, running as fast as I could for most of that kilometer and yelling my head off for the last 200m only to see them disappear into the woods at the tortuga sign without having noticed me. I realized I was on my own and that I had gassed myself out badly but there was nothing else to do: I turned around and hauled ass back to Tori as fast as I could. There were two dinghies tied up on the shore, left by fishermen who use them in the evenings; they're about 3m long and have no motors or anything else you can really steal. Tori happened to be lying only a couple meters from the nearest one so I pushed it into the water, loaded her into it and started pulling it south through the shallows using the rope it had been tied up with; there was no other way to get it to move, no paddles or poles nearby. The total distance to our house from that point along the shore was something like 2k - I could not even see the poles in the water next to the army base until I got a few hundred meters south. The other eight dogs were all exemplary through the entire ordeal. Many of them chose to swim behind me almost the whole way and they all listened well when we got closer to the soldiers; I had lost the leash in my scramble to get Tori into the boat and get going so I tied Rufus to the rope for the last 200m just to make sure I didn't have to worry about him and the strays at the army camp. I don't know how long it took me to get that boat to our house - we left before 7am and it was at least 9am when I finally was able to carry Tori in. Her breathing had stabilized somewhat but she was still wild-eyed and unable to move herself. I called Sandra and ended up injecting her with Dexametazone and Vitamin K. She was able to walk on her own after a bit but only blood was coming out of her when she tried to go to the bathroom. I had to get the boat back to where it was so I left around 10am; the dingy had drifted out to sea already so I had to swim out and get it. I tried pushing it north with a pole the way the fishermen do but it is much harder than it looks and I ended up giving up and pulling it back. About halfway the fisherman in question and his wife (I think) ran up to me breathlessly on the beach. Someone had seen me with their boat and called them. Since their moto had recently been stolen they thought I was the thief coming to take a boat as well; why they left a moto on the beach is beyond me but I saw no sign of it at all this day. I told them why I was dragging their boat back and that I hadn't seen their moto and they were nice about it once they realized I was only borrowing their boat and taking it back to where it belonged. It took me what seemed like forever to finish dragging the dinghy back and even longer to get it up onto the shore safely and tied up next to the other; if I had been gassed earlier I was now doubly so but somehow I found it in me to run home most of the way. We injected Tori with atropine as well when I got home but it was too late. According to Sandra it is likely that there is nothing we could've done. There are not many venomous snakes in this part of Yucatan but there are a few and they are all capable of killing a full-grown person, with very little to be done. Tori died in my arms a few hours later, and with her a large part of me - larger than anyone but Roni can possibly realize. I probably ran 10k in total and dragged a boat another 4k but in the end it was all for naught. Obviously my common-sense notions of how dangerous the trackless woods around here can be was completely wrong; it might be dry, there might not be prey but there was a deadly snake somewhere there this day that none of us saw. It could've been Rufus or any of the others. It could've been me, and if it had been me Roni might still not know what happened. I don't think I can go to the hidden trail anymore, nor can I be so cavalier about off-roading on runs. I honestly still don't feel like I can carry on at all. Roni and I both had a deep connection with Tori that defies words: I feel as though my heart has been ripped out of my chest. I could always feel my connection to Tori, even when I was away at the city; I can still hear her voice barking for me when she normally would even though she's gone. We buried her overlooking the ocean she adored. She never got to swim before she came to us, never had people who cared about her before Kaya and Olie saved her and brought her to us. I felt as though she was magic, but the woods are the woods and respect no magic. I am always inclined to think that everything is always my fault, for reasons that have nothing to do with any creatures in my life now. Tori's death is certainly my fault in that I took her to the hidden trail but we were always doing that and she loved it. She loved the woods. She loved runs. She loved her pack-mates. She loved Roni. She loved me. We all loved her back and it was so good and so right that she was with us, against all odds, that I cannot descend into "what if" and "why didn't I" when the fact is: it was a killer snake and I'm only a man. Any attempt to take all the blame in some childish fit of grief only cheapens her death, which will truly sting forever. I used to feel like the hidden trail was one of those beautiful, forbidding places that only I and the dogs knew about but of course this was delusion: it is a place in the woods where many things live, far from people. I always called Tori my little monster but there are real monsters in the world and I can only say that I will never forget it again.
GRADE: None
morning walk:
Twiggy
Luna
MoMo
Frankie
(4)
Julie and P-O went for what turned out to be their last walk with us (this time, I hope) after I left on my ill-fated run. Their group of dogs behaved perfectly and they had a good time. They bear no blame whatsoever in what happened, although they felt bad that they didn't stop for me but there's no way they could've known it was me at that distance and even if they had stopped I'm don't think there's anything they could've done that would've made a difference. They were a great asset while here. The dogs all loved them and behaved well for them. We wish them all the best and hope to see them again.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Molly
Stella
Bosha
Roxy
(4)
Julie and P-O got back last night from an extended hitchhiking adventure to San Cristobal, Chiapas. Everyone was thrilled to see them again, including us (we worry). This morning started late (everyone was tired) but they still managed to get this quartet out for a long walk to the north on the beach. Roxy really likes to swim and it tires her out wonderfully so she's been quiet all day. They all had a blast and behaved themselves. Welcome back P-O and Julie.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
We really pushed today and she did well. The ocean is beautiful now and it was perfect for a swim.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Otto
Blue
Eve
Chester
Reggie
Tuesday
Frankie
Daisy
Twiggy
(9)
To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~7k. Tuesday was great the whole way on the leash; at this distance she never digs her heels in or wants to stop running. We hit the swimming hole, although even the recent rain wasn't enough to change into anything more than a mud puddle. Everyone really wanted a drink from the bottle under the trees there but it wasn't insanely hot, only noticeably warm. Daisy definitely does better when we go to the ocean and everyone else was doing fine so I took us the slightly longer variant of this route and was rewarded by a deserted beach. Tuesday isn't that into swimming but she still had a good time and everyone else had a blast. The dead sheep wasn't that big of a problem coming home. This group was really harmonious and together - I barely had to say a word the whole way. I put Reggie on the black leash near the shrimpery coming home just to keep him from some mad dash at the end and everyone was perfect to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
George
Archie
Shirley
Molly
Bosha
Linda
Roxy
Cookie
(10)
I took this group on a walk from the land bridge to the tortuga crossroads and home via the blue.bag trail. Cookie started out on the leash but I let her off after we passed the monte.sushi bar at the land bridge and she was an enthusiastic and well-behaved companion, albeit a little crazed at times. She wants to do everything all at once. I managed Roxy on the leash as usual, letting her have her head at first but putting her on relatively early; she was good both on and off the leash and had a great time. We jogged in spots but mostly walked, and killed all the water I brought (only half a bottle). I switched Roxy to the short leash and put Cookie on the long one on the coco trail and they were good that way to the gate, along with everyone else. Cute group.
GRADE: A
morning swim:
Greta
(1)
She swam vigorously and had a nice time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Gracie
Posey
Frijolita
Chester
Gowron
Xmul
Mega
Hazel
Murci
(9)
Hidden trail: ~8k. We had some unseasonably early rain yesterday and overnight. It left the monte in an eerie and beautiful state: it was still a little cool when we left although the sun was bright, there was very little wind and everything smelled crazy, even to me. There are many patches that have been burned recently throughout the monte and if my human nose can detect how crazy it all smells after a rain then I can only imagine what the dogs sense. This was an uptempo group to say the least: Xmul will run flat-out for the whole 8k if I ask her to and everyone else in this group was similarly minded today. It is impressive to see little PupG flowing with the rest of her running-mates as though her legs weren't 1/4 the length of everyone else's - and she swims her heart out in the ocean, even when there's surf like today. Mega won the biggest splash/spazz award by slamming himself face-first into one of the larger waves when I called them all to me to jump in the water on the beach; he's such a scaredy cat in most ways but big surf and vehicles full of hooting salt.workers don't phase him at all for some reason. I was glad he did that because he stank like fish.death from all the fun he'd had rolling in piles of offal on the way to the ocean. The hidden part of the trail is finally getting slightly more manageable and less prickly, but Xmul has so much energy that it is still challenging to leave her on the leash in those last 50m; since I never know what's waiting for us on the beach I don't like to let her off early. I consider this part of my extended martial arts training: catch a tiger by the tail and let her drag you through a forest of pins and needles... I think they do that in the 42nd chamber of Shaolin. I let Xmul off the hook on the (deserted) beach but I didn't like her attitude before we got too far so I had her back on the hook well before we got to the tortuga sign. Now is when creatures like mapaches will be rummaging around in the brush near the beach; Xmul's last run-in with one did not go well and I didn't like how close she was darting to the trees. We saw another dead sea turtle on the beach north of Au Soleil Couchant, obviously there a while; probably dumped by fishermen who caught it in their nets by accident. It was fairly large, a little over one meter in length. Depressing. I managed to keep some of them off of the dead sheep and bathed the rest when we got home. I put Hazel on the other end of the leash with Xmul as we were getting close and everyone was good to the gate.
GRADE: A
