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morning walk:
Gracie
Rita
Otto
Shirley
Ernie
Maggie
Ziggy
Molly
Stella
(9)
I took this group for a walk to the northern shack and back along the other side of the charco (Roni-style). Ernie and Stella started on leashes. Ernie came off his leash as we turned north towards the shack, Stella stayed on the long lead for the duration and was good the whole way. Otto and Gracie ran ahead a little at first but they calmed down quickly and in general everyone was excellent the whole way. The bugs weren't as bad as I thought they'd be but it was a bit hot. I brought water for the larger dogs and everyone was fine. Nice walk.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Miles
(1)
Miles took Roni out for a meandering walk to the land bridge so she could play in the abandoned shrimpery pools and forage pasiflora. He did a lot of serious work in the close underbrush, read his pee-mail and Roni sure was cute and well-behaved the whole way. Nice walk with a good companion.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Reggie
Gowron
Amber
Zoot
(4)
Roni took this group for a walk between the land bridges. Reggie left on the leash but came off quickly and was an angel throughout. The pace was fairly high but Reggie kept Zoot's eliptical orbits much closer - he's the proton to the Amber/Zoot electrons (maybe two protons). Amber was on the leash late coming home and was good about it. Everyone had a blast and behaved themselves.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Rita
Molly
Maggie
Ziggy
Twiggy
Stella
Linda
(9)
I took this group for a walk to the shack and back on the other side of the charco; I had never taken this route home but Roni has done it a bunch of times recently and I wanted to try it for a change. Everyone loves this way because there's lots of stuff to sniff and rummage around in; the dogs that like the charco can easily go down and jump in and the dogs that like to avoid the salt (Rita) have a nice trail. We started with Molly and Stella on leashes but Molly came off quickly and was good throughout; I left Stella on the long leash and she was really good and enjoyed herself the whole way. I hooked Molly up at the shrimpery coming back to keep her from running too far ahead. Twiggy was good and didn't harass Linda or get into other mischief; I reminded her that I was watching a few times early on and that was that. A very nice group on a pretty, quiet morning.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Jack
Luna
Xmul
Mega
Steve McQueen
Murci
Cookie
Roxy
(9)
Au Soleil Couchant and beyond via the swimming hole: ~8k. I put Roxy on the second leash at the shrimpery as usual, and had Xmul on her normal leash for the duration; both of them were really good. We took the blue.bag trail for once, since we had just had a rain and I doubted very much anyone was out early on a Saturday working in the bugs. I was right - there was noone there and it looks like maybe they're done working on that road for a little while. The swimming hole was worthy of the name again and everyone had a blast jumping in and horsing around. We took the Au Soleil Couchant access road to the beach, headed north for a while, turned around and came home via the tortuga sign the usual way. Everyone swam a lot on the beach, behaved themselves very well and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swim #1:
Greta
(1)
She's an angel and had a good time. The conditions were excellent: the bluff isn't too high, the water drops off in depth quickly from the shore and becomes comfortably deep and it was warm and clear. She did well over many laps.
GRADE: A
morning swim #2:
Archie
(1)
I mainly carried him in and made him swim to shore a lot but we walked around and sniffed stuff a bit near the house. What a good boy he is.
GRADE: A
morning swim #3:
Junebug
Zoila
(2)
Roni and I went down to the beach together for some work with the pups on how to hang out in front of the house and swim in the ocean. June looks like she's more of a water dog than Zoila; she was unsure at first but then remembered that she's totally got this swimming thing and did okay. Zoila needed coaxing but wasn't bad. They both listened well about sticking close and going back in.
GRADE: A
morning swim #4:
Amber
Zoila
(2)
Roni went for an extended swim since it was so nice. She thought Amber would really like some one-on-one time on the beach since she loves the water so much, but she was hell to convince. Roni went out first and I worked on Amber until I could get her out. I carried her down to the beach but once she realized Roni was way out in the water there was no problem and she swam out to get her. She more or less stayed in the water the entire time she was out with Roni. I went back in and a little while later brought Zoila out to join in. She did better this time in the water and let Amber's enthusiasm for swimming carry her into the water a couple of times on her own instead of being carried in. I went back in to deal with the others while those two swam and hung out with Roni for a while. They were both good and had a good time, especially Amber.
GRADE: A
early afternoon run:
Rufus
(1)
Tortuga sign: ~3k. We were both really tired but Rufus needed to get out so I managed to get him out late on the beach for a run up to the tortuga sign and back via the maginot line. He was, as always, an angel and we had a good time together.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Rita
Otto
Shirley
Frankie
Daisy
Twiggy
MoMo
Hazel
Cookie
(9)
Up the beach past Au Soleil Couchant: ~6k. We left with Hazel and Daisy on leashes. I switched Daisy for Shirley at the shirmpery to keep her from gassing herself out too early; I let her off when we got to the beach. Hazel came off the leash after we turned north towards the shack. We took our usual northern route to and from the beach. I had to put Frankie on the leash for a spell heading home on the beach because she was too far ahead and wouldn't slow down. I let her off after we entered the monte and she was good from there on. I rinsed Rita's feet after we passed the saltiest spot on the run coming home. They were definitely bothering her but rinsing helped immediately. Everyone did well and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Ginger
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Bette
Tito
Stella
Monkey
Ziggy
(9)
Roni took this group out for a walk to the wooden shack. Miles' dawdling was manageable with this group since there was nobody who would really pump up the pace; we have learned these lessons of walk-group design at some pain. Stella didn't pull and had a good time - this is really her jam, she doesn't like to go too fast for too long. We were worried about Henry recently but he seems fine and was in fine form the whole way, as was Tito. Ziggy is always a dream outside of the fence... ah, the irony. Everyone had a really nice time.
GRADE: A
morning run/walk:
George
Murci
Junebug
Zoila*
(4)
The tortuga sign: ~3k. We wanted to try Zoila and June on a shorty run mostly on the beach. It has been a bit of a puppy tradition here that newbies go running on the beach with George a few times. All pups worship George (who wouldn't?) and he's always a good influence. He also shouldn't go too far and likes to swim a lot. We threw Murci in because she's one of Zoila and Junebug's closest friends and is also always good. Zoila bailed on me early, just as we were crossing the road. Roni and I kind of thought something like this might happen and Zoila ran straight back to the gate - she definitely knows where she lives. Junebug was more adventurous and we all jogged down the trail, with George on the leash to keep him from tearing off at first as is his custom. This went well all along the coco trail - Junebug was happy to stop and walk for a spell and then pick up the pace for a while. I tried her on the leash a bit on the coco trail but didn't push the issue and let her come with on her own until we got near the road again, where I picked her up. A couple dogs at the HoJo barked at us through their fence as we picked our way down the maginot line. June was on her own most of the way. When we got down to the bluff I picked her up again while George and Murci threw themselves into the water. June wasn't sure what to do with that at first, and she seemed a little lost so I put the leash back on her and carried her out into the water a bit; she immediately took to swimming and from there on it got easier. I left her on the leash and worked with her running and then jumping into the water. She is most definitely a water dog and was already swimming well enough after two attempts to fend Murci off when she tried to roughhouse. At some point I saw the light go on and June realized that I was also on the leash and that we were hooked together; her tail went up and she started running more readily and not being so bothered by the leash. I slowed us down a few times to let her get used to walking around and sniffing stuff on the leash but she really wanted to run. I hadn't intended to go as far as the tortuga sign but we were there in no time - George was even lagging a bit. We came back the way we went with Junebug on the leash the whole way, through all of the various changes of the trail. A very succesful outing for June's first time running on the leash and on the beach.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Frijolita
Godzilla
Chester
Luna
Xmul
Lex
Petey
Roxy
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. We hadn't ventured south into the monte in a while so what the hell; also, we left early enough to beat the worst of the heat. I put Roxy on the leash at the shrimpery heading out and she stayed for most of the run. I let her off for a short stretch on the palapa road but she got too far behind screwing around, so I hooked her back up. She doesn't mind the leash and is a good running buddy; this distance is no problem for her, small as she may be. Xmul really wanted to run and we barely slowed down the entire distance. Everyone was really great the whole way, but Petey presented me with a problem late: somewhere between the alt. land bridge and the coco trail he rolled in something awful. My first impulse was to run down to the beach via the maginot line and let him wash himself off, since he loves to swim. Sadly I didn't do this, and instead we had stinky fun dealing with him after we got home. I will not doubt this impulse again. Nobody misbehaved and we all arrived at the gate together.
GRADE: A (is there an emoji for Stinky Pete?)
morning walk:
Ginger
Blue
Bette
Tuesday
Gowron
Monkey
Linda
Amber
Zoot
(9)
Roni took this group out for a fast walk to the shack and environs. Zoot really kept the pace high and Tuesday pulled a lot. Everyone had a good time on a hot day.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Truman
Otto
Rufus
Elewah
Mega
Steve McQueen
Lex
Murci
Cookie
(9)
Up the beach past Au Soleil Couchant: ~6k. Most of these dogs are used to longer runs but we really wanted to get Rufus out and Otto also should probably not go on the longest runs anymore. For these reasons I decided to run a middle disance on the beach from the tortuga sign northwards as I've been doing with other groups recently. Everyone was fine with this and did well the whole way. The only exception was Elewah, who knew from the beginning that I would try to scoop her up at the shrimpery coming home. As we were heading south on the coco trail she was already giving me that attitude she gives me when she wants to run all the way to the gate by herself, and I was countering by picking up the pace slowly behind her when out of nowhere a fairly large rabbit jumped out into the intersection, waggled its butt at Elewah (who was on point) and took off into the brush to the west. Elewah could simply not resist and shot off after it, despite my calls. Everyone else was perfect and stayed with me, which for most people would be considered a minor miracle (dogs not chasing rabbits? living with cats? mass hysteria!). I tried to get her to come back to me but after a minute or two it was obvious she had ditched me and would meet me at home. Around this time a salt work overseer I happen to know pulled up on their moto and stopped to make sure the dogs were friendly; I chatted with him for a minute and the remaining eight dogs were perfect the whole time. Finally, as we were nearing doce on the final trail home I saw Elewah already across the street on our road, looking sheepish and yet unapologetic, as if to say "where were you guys?"... she obviously did not catch her rabbit. We all arrived at the gate together.
GRADE: B (can't be an A)
morning walk:
Alice
Gracie
Rita
Shirley
Ernie
Daisy
Maggie
Ziggy
Hazel
(9)
I took this group for a walk to the wooden shack and back. It was getting hot and Rita didn't want to go all the way around the charco so we turned around on the little "bridge" that starts the blue bag trail. Hazel was on the leash to begin with to keep her from bailing and so I could watch her and see what was going on; it turns out it really is her fungal issue, even if it doesn't look at as bad as it gets it still bothers her and she stops frequently to lick it. Once we were past the shrimpery this seemed to stop, so maybe once she gets warmed up it doesn't bother her as much. I let her off the leash out north and she was fine coming back, or seemed so. She needs to get her meds very frequently for a few more days. Ernie was also on the leash as we left; I let him off after we turned north from the dead goat intersection and he was fine. Everyone had a great time sniffing stuff after yesterday's rain. The bugs were noticeable on the way back.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Ginger
Blue
Gowron
Lily
Monkey
Amber
Zoot
(7)
Roni took this group for a fast walk in the monte to the north. Lily was on the leash leaving to keep her from charging off like she was on a run; she was good on the leash and came off quickly. Amber was on the leash coming home and she was reasonably good about it. Everyone was harmonious and had a good time.
GRADE: A
late morning jaunt:
Godzilla
Rufus
Twiggy
Luna
(4)
To the tortuga sign: ~3k. Rufus left on the muzzle again, to good effect. Osita left with us but didn't want to go past the road for some reason... it was either the heat or Rufus' crazed reaction to having the muzzle on, but I saw her turn around and knew she was just going home. Rufus does get a bit nuts about the muzzle at first but by the time we're passing the shrimpery he's better, and when I take it off he's fine: no more barking or lunging at the other dogs in excitement. It does amp things up in the launchpad before we leave a little so it's good I haven't been taking him with as many other dogs. This was a good group; everyone had fun running together and swam a ton. We took the coco trail to the maginot line, where we were barked at by the grey dog that hangs out at the army camp; even though we came nowhere near him he would not shut up and kept barking at us from the south in front of the HoJo until we were almost 500m away. I figured he'd be waiting for us if we came back that way so we ran up the beach to the tortuga sign and then came home in the monte the back way via the wooden shack. Everyone swam a ton while on the beach. I didn't bring any water for such a short distance so we kept the pace high when we were moving and I let them stop to chew grass and sniff around in the shade when they wanted to. I had Rufus and Luna on either ends of the leash by the time we got to the last trail home and everyone was good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Eve
Frankie
MoMo
Xmul
Lex
Murci
Cookie
Roxy
(8)
Up the beach: ~7k. Hazel was slated to go but again pulled out just as we left the gate; I thought she was fine on her last beach jaunt but her fungal issue keeps coming back even after we've medicated it for days... we're going to try putting the Elizabethan collar on her every night with meds for a week and see if we can finally knock it out. The eight remaining dogs were raring to go so we took the pace up and kept it there for most of the run. We left and came back via the charcos to the north of the wooden shack and the tortuga sign. Other than that little bit in the monte we stayed on the beach and just went farther than we have in a while: we could clearly see the buildings at Playa Maya when we stopped heading north and turned around. Everyone swam and horsed around on the beach a lot the whole way. We saw no people except the old man at the wooden shack; I think we woke him up on our way out but he was fixing the tar-paper roof on the shack by the time we were coming back. Xmul was great on the leash the whole way and everyone else was similarly good.
GRADE: A
mid-day beach jaunt:
Chester
Rufus
Linda
Hazel
(4)
Up the beach to the sign: ~3k. It was late but I will probably go to Merida tomorrow and Rufus really wanted to go out, so I took this rag-tag crew out for a run up the beach and home via the monte. There was nobody around, not even a soldier on watch at their encampment. The tide was coming in so those of us inclined to swim had to slog around the brush that's fallen off the bluff into the ocean and the rest of us (Chester) picked their way around on the top of the bluff. Linda was really happy to come and swam like a little mermaid... a tiny, hairy mermaid. Hazel's skin issue looked to have cleared up a lot so this was a test to see if she was okay to run and swim and she was fine; she didn't hesitate once to jump in the water and didn't have to stop to lick herself or look uncomfortable at all while running. We ran up the beach to the tortuga sign (or what's left of it), went into the monte and came home the usual way. A very cute group.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Bette
Blue
Tuesday
Gowron
Monkey
Amber
Zoot
Zoila
Junebug
(9)
Roni took this group out for a walk around the cow pasture, as it turned out... she had intended to go a little farther but was blocked at several points by unexpected salt-workers. Zoot kept the pace high; Zoila was especially good about coming back to her human but Junebug was okay as well - just a tad more independent. PupG just had to dip herself in the filthiest possible puddle. Tuesday's tendency to pull on the leash was mitigated by Roni's wrapping the leash into a harness around her chest; at the end she had both Amber and Tuesday on leashes and that's a little annoying at times. Roni saw the legs of another dog (maybe Big Red) towards the southern end of the dirty road but none of her charges saw so she steered back towards the shrimpery and they all came with. Everyone had a good time and the pups got some more big-dog walk time with a pretty good group.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Gracie
Rita
Twiggy
Molly
Stella
Maggie
Ziggy
Roxy
(10)
I took this group for a walk between the land bridges. At first we headed north towards to the wooden shack but then we've done that so much lately I thought we'd head east to the alt. land bridge instead. I couldn't hear anyone there and I hadn't seen anyone working there on the last couple of runs. It turned out that there wasn't anyone around and everyone had a great time on the ridge after a little break. I started with Molly and Stella on leashes but switched Molly for Roxy early on and that's how they stayed until the end, when I put Molly back on the other end of the leash with Roxy for the walk home from the shrimpery. The only bad behavior was at the very end, when we were crossing the road coming home. There was a vehicle coming south fast and I had to yell at both Rita and Ginger to get out of the road and stop acting like idiots; everyone else was fine. Other than that no surprises and a nice walk with a mellow group.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Truman
Godzilla
Otto
Jack
Daisy
Xmul
Mega
Murci
Cookie
(9)
Up the beach past Au Soliel Couchant: ~6k. We went and came home via the tortuga sign, taking the short cut that avoids the blue bag trail... this last bit is probably not necessary any more, I don't think they have been working up there for at least a week. Everyone was really good the whole way. At least half of the run was on the beach and everyone was really into swimming. Daisy must've thrown herself in every 20m for a lot of the way. I only had Xmul on the leash the whole way and everyone was really good.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Miles
Henry
Tito
Bette
Blue
Ernie
Monkey
Linda
(9)
Roni took this group out for a walk to the wooden shack and back. Ernie was on the long leash for a lot of the walk; Roni fashioned the excess leash into a harness, which works well and looks stylish to boot. He's just such a nut we're always afraid he'll hurt himself, but he was off the leash coming home and was good. Bette started on the and came off almost immediately, as usual. Miles kept up really well but Roni let him lag in a couple spots, knowing she'd be coming back that way; this makes it better for everyone, since his dawdling doesn't hold anyone else back. He kept up well in spots, too. Everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning swim #1:
Greta
(1)
She swam like a champ for many long laps.
GRADE: A
morning swim #2:
Archie
(1)
Swimming isn't his favorite thing so I walked with him a bit on the leash up the beach, letting him sniff stuff when he wanted and then picked him up and carried him in to swim many times along the way. The tabanos were bad in places. I know he would rather run but he's such a good boy and such good company that he remained upbeat and cheerful the whole time, only complaining a little when I dragged him in a couple of times (and who wouldn't - how rude). Good boy Archie.
GRADE: A
late morning jaunt:
Osita
George
Rufus
Luna
(4)
To the tortuga sign: ~3k. It was getting late but Rufus really wanted to get out so I took him with few other dogs up to the maginot line via the monte, up the beach past the tortuga sign and home the way we went. This time we used a muzzle with him in the launchpad to try and get his excitement level down more. It was tough putting it on him at first but I managed and we left with less craziness as a result. He didn't like it at all and tried to get it off a couple of times on the first trail from our house, so I let him wear himself out a bit by keeping us running - he generally focused more on running in the first 250m than he did without the muzzle. I took it off as we neared the end of the first trail and he was much better afterwards, but I left him on the leash until we were on the beach anyway. We saw nobody the whole way. Everyone was really good on the beach and swam a lot. I thought I might go farther or come home in the monte at the tortuga sign but it was hot and George is getting older, so I opted to stick to the beach. I had Rufus and Luna on either ends of the leash coming home and everyone was good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Elewah
Lily
Mega
Lex
Petey
Steve McQueen
Murci
Cookie
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. We took another strange route informed mainly by my vague intuitions of where there would be salt workers. I was almost completely correct; there was only one small, quiet group of them out at the northern end of the southern charcos, on the way to no-man's land. I suspected they might be there but couldn't hear them from across the berm; once I realized they were there I kept us moving south on the palapa road and nobody got into any mischief. Other than that the nearby monte was devoid of people. We headed north first, curled around south from the swimming hole and came home back in the monte the same way we went out, via the alt. land bridge. This is the first run in some time where nobody was on the leash from start to finish; I did scoop Elewah up at the shrimpery on the way home but no leash was involved. This was a real running group: everyone was happy and obedient, although in fairness they didn't have too many chances to misbehave. Petey was especially happy and had a good time; I'm going to bring him more, pain in the ass that he is. He didn't clash with his brother Steve at all the whole way. Murci and Cookie are so comical with the little games they play with each other on the run; I'll have to try and get video of it sometime. Other than being mindful of Elewah on the way home everyone was really perfect. We all crossed the road together coming home. Nice run on a mercifully cloudy day.
GRADE: A
morning walk #1:
Blue
Eve
Bette
Gowron
Amber
Junebug
Zoila
(7)
Roni took this group for a long walk to the north: all the way to the shack, around that charco and then down to the dirty road on the way home. June and Zoila wore their big.girl collars for the first time - the puppy ones are too small now. They both did well. Eve misbehaved a bit at first by crossing the road well in advance of everyone else but they were good in general. Roni had Amber on the leash coming home and they were good to the gate.
GRADE: A
morning walk #2:
Miles
(1)
Miles took me out for a little spin, not quite to the land bridge. We meandered and I foraged a large bag of pasiflora while Miles did important work in the surrounding brush. The bugs were not noticeable. Miles is now at least 15 years old by our reckoning and is a great companion for a walk like this.
GRADE: A
