21.09.15

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