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morning run:
Posey
Lily
Mega
Lex
Steve McQueen
Murci
Cookie
Roxy
Junebug
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. June was on the leash the whole way and was a good girl; I kept the pace high enough for most of the way that she wasn't pulling terribly. It was also all new to her, since she's never been on a run in the monte before - only the beach. She had a great time jumping in the charcos and running through the sloggy bits with water up to her chest. I put Roxy on the other leash at the shrimpery as we were heading out and she also stayed on for the whole run from there. I had a hard time with Roxy and June both on leashes on a previous walk but it was easier on a run, since we move faster and there's less opportunity for them to get crossed up. It worked out well enough and Roxy really needed to burn off some of that manic energy of hers. Everyone else was exemplary: no waterfowl were chased and everyone stayed close and listened well. All in all a nice run and a positive experience for June.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Gracie
Rita
Ernie
Molly
Twiggy
Stella
Maggie
Ziggy
(10)
I took this group for a walk in the monte, with Stella on the leash the whole way. We went across the land bridge and south, looped around a bit on the shore of the charco and came home the way we went. Everyone was really great and had a good time.
GRADE: A
mid-day swim:
Greta
(1)
I took Greta for a bit of a swim in less than ideal conditions: shallow, muddy, slightly choppy. She did well anyway and had a good time.
GRADE: A
mid-day walk:
Archie
(1)
I thought I'd take Archie up the beach a bit and back on the leash but the dogs at the army encampment were unusually aggressive in their barking and attitude and closed us off from behind a bit as we were walking north. I changed plans and took the maginot line to get home via the monte. Since Roni was expecting me to come back on the beach I took a little detour up doce two corners to come down to the beach to the north; there was no traffic and we hot-footed it up doce. Archie was good about everything and had a good time.
GRADE: A
vet trip:
Osita
Nikki*
(2)
Osita had some kind of wound on her belly and a swolen, red area near it, so she went today instead of the twins (who have to be next). I also took Nikki for her third chemo treatment for CTVT. Both of them were really good on the road and at the vet's office. Osita's wound seems to have come from a snake or some other creature that leaves two puncture marks; she's on prednisone and antibiotics now. It was an exhausting day for me and for Roni with the pack at home.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Eve
Luna
MoMo
Mega
Lex
Murci
Cookie
Roxy
Zoila
(9)
Past Au Soleil Couchant: ~8k. Zoila left on the leash - she's too hard to wrangle once we leave and Roni and I both thought it would be best that way. This worked out well: she was swept up in the excitement of leaving and was good on the leash the whole way. She does pull but she got better as the run went on. She also just likes to run fast and had the best time when we were hauling ass as fast as we could up the beach. I wanted to take the blue.bag trail to the beach but she balked at crossing the bridge, so we took the shorter way instead. I had Roxy on the other leash from and to the beach; she was good off the leash on the beach but I wanted her under control in the monte. Everyone else was great and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Godzilla
Otto
Shirley
Rufus
Junebug
(5)
Au Soleil Couchant: ~6k. Everyone left off the leash but I hooked June up at the shrimpery and she stayed on for the duration. She had a great time and was good on the leash the whole way. Everyone else was also good and had a good time.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Ginger
Blue
Bette
Monkey
Linda
Stella
Amber
Zoot
(8)
Roni took this group out for a walk in the monte. I'm catching up on posting this now several days after the fact so the details are a bit fuzzy, but Stella was on the leash the whole way and everyone was good.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Bette
Osita
George
Ernie
Molly
Maggie
Junebug
(9)
I took this group for what turned out to be a fairly quick walk around the cow pasture plus a little more. I had thought to go across the land bridge and head south but there were salt workers right across the bridge bagging one of the huge mountains of salt right in our path. June was already being a little skittish so intead I took us north along the shore of the charco, up onto the dirty road and around to the coco trail. June definitely was wary of me and didn't want to let me get her on the leash, but I persevered and managed to get her at the northern end of the coco trail, just after we turned. I had wanted to continue on to the beach but by that point a couple of them were tired from the pace (Ernie, George) and the bugs were starting to get bad. June was okay on the leash but she pulled quite a bit; she didn't try to get off or give me any attitude, she just needs more practice and time. We made it home pretty quickly from the point where I put her on the leash and everyone stayed together and listened. Osita deserves special mention for staying with the group and listening, two things she has not been good at recently.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Posey
Truman
Xmul
Mega
Lex
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Murci
Cookie
(9)
Southern charcos: ~8k. This is Xmul's last run before she goes back to Marie and Nicole for six months; they're picking her up at 9am and I wanted to give her a good send-off. This was a perfect group of running dogs. They all listened, they all behaved and they all wanted to run their asses off. I am happy to report there was slack in Xmul's leash for most of the way but it wasn't easy. We even ran through the sloggy bits for the most part. It is still too flooded to get anything larger than a moto in through the southern approach to the charcos and we saw nobody working out there. There were a ton of flamingos everywhere, some of them very close and nobody made any move towards them, although I stayed on Posey and Murci pretty closely verbally through those stretches. The bugs were starting to get bad as we neared the northern end of the palapa road so I took us across the wide berm instead of going the whole way. There were three very large flamingos more or less in our path at the other end of the berm and everyone was very good about staying with me, approaching slowly and letting them walk calmly out of our way and into the water. The swimming hole was fun and everyone had a good time generally. We'll miss you, Xmul!
GRADE: A
morning run:
Frijolita
Otto
Shirley
Rufus
Jack
Daisy
Twiggy
Luna
MoMo
(9)
Au Soleil Couchant: ~5k. We did the blue.bag trail heading out and the short-cut around the charcos heading back; it was on the latter route where Shirley inexplicably lunged after some flamingos in the middle of the charco, dragging Rufus with her. I was not happy that two senior dogs decided to misbehave like that - they both know better and haven't done anything like that in a while. Rufus went back on the leash but I only had the short white one, too short to put her on the other end, so I just stayed on her verbally the rest of the way. The flamingos weren't really in any danger and they just flew a few meters and set down again, but we can't have that kind of thing. Other than that one bit of misbehavior my charges were perfect. It was overcast and not so awfully hot so we kept a high pace throughout.
GRADE: B
incoming:
Tupo
(1)
Today I brought in the first of Solitaria's pups that we're going to take in. He's the last male, the runt of the litter and a little cutie who I've been calling "Tupo" for a while (it means "runt" in Mayan, more or less).
morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Rita
Shirley
Ziggy
Hazel
Cookie
Roxy
Zoila
(9)
I took this crew for a walk in the monte to the south as we've been going lately. The two objectives of getting Roxy out and working with Zoila don't mix, or didn't today. Roxy is normally okay on the leash, at least by herself, but when I put Zoila on with her halfway through she went through every dumb thing and dirty leash trick she could to screw me over: crossing me up from behind, stopping in front of my unexpectedly, tangling the leash in her front paws, etc. Zoila ended up backing out of her collar and running ahead the rest of the way... at least I know she knows where she lives. She never got very far ahead but it was not a good leash-work walk. I won't take Roxy with a pup next time. Even though Zoila wasn't great on the leash she did stay with the group and have a good time. She didn't tear around like a nut in the barbed wire that's lying on the ground everywhere on the road to the land bridge and she played a lot with her companions.
GRADE: B
morning walk:
Ginger
Blue
Bette
Tuesday
Gowron
Monkey
Linda
Amber
Zoot
(9)
Roni took this group for a fast walk in the monte. She wasn't feeling well for a lot of it; she thought she had shaken off a cold that was not quite ready to leave, so she left feeling fine and started to feel not so fine as the walk progressed. Everyone was generally good and although Tuesday and Amber on leashes together is always fun there were no great surprises. Monkey screwed around in the rearguard on the way home but always caught up. Roni gets an A+ for getting out early with dogs on a Merida trip day.
GRADE: A
vet trip:
Frankie
Nikki*
(2)
Today was a vet trip day. Frankie had some growths on her legs and underside that needed to be removed and checked out. Nikki is our friend Jackie's dog. She is a fellow CADA member and was instrumental in helping make the clinics we've sponsored a success. Nikki was sterilized at our second clinic but sadly her humans didn't want her anymore after her surgery, so Jackie took her in. At her surgery Dra. Sandra discovered that she has CTVT and needed chemotherapy. Today was her second treatment. Both she and Frankie were angels on the way to the city; both traveled in crates and were great about it (technically illegal to transport dogs not in crates now in Yucatan). We ended up getting a flat tire on the way home in a serious rain storm and were saved by a nice vulcanizador in Kinchil named Sam. A stressful, exhausting day on the road but in the end all good.
morning run:
Eve
Godzilla
Lily
Luna
Xmul
Mega
Lex
Steve McQueen
Murci
Cookie
(10)
Southern charcos: ~8k. Luna was 10th dog; I threw her in because she's always good and she's been getting thrown in on shorter runs lately but she really likes long ones. Everyone was really perfect the whole way. We went across the land bridge south and into the monte the usual way, where it quickly becomes flooded up to my shins in places. No flamingos were chased, no harsh words were said, nobody so much as barked the whole way. We ran the whole length of the palapa road from south to north, looped back to the swimming hole and came home on the main road from the intersection, cutting over to the ridge at the very end. The bugs were pretty bad but the pace was high. Xmul will be going back to her OtherMothers soon and we'll miss her - it was nice to have a good time with her.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Gracie
Ernie
Molly
Twiggy
Bette
Ziggy
Maggie
Linda
Junebug
(9)
I took this group for a walk across the land bridge and to the south, since it avoids Angel's corner and has lots of fun stuff for dogs to do. They were all excellent the whole way but I have to give special mention to June. She left off the leash and stayed that way until we were heading back towards the land bridge. I put her on the leash and although she pulled a little she also listened, didn't try to get off the leash and continued to have a good time with everyone the whole way home. It was muggy and buggy but everyone enjoyed themselves.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Eve
Rita
Chester
Otto
Shirley
Rufus
Jack
Daisy
Cookie
(9)
Up the beach past Au Soleil Couchant: ~5k. We did our usual blue.bag.trail route in both directions. Rufus did better again on the muzzle. Part of it is that I've gotten to know all of his moves now and deal with them better; he tries to get it off three or four times before he gives up and today I was ready for him so it wasn't such a big deal. I removed the muzzle at the shrimpery and he was calm from there on, although I didn't take him off the leash until we were past the blue.bag trail. On the way home he barked at a bird trapper just across doce from the tortuga sign. He knocked it off immediately when I told him to stop and waited patiently for me to put the leash on him, so at least that was good. Shirley chased a flamingo in the charcos south of the wooden shack coming home and that irritated me doubly: she knows better and she got Angel's dogs barking at us as a result. I put her on the other end of the leash with Rufus until we got home - I'm going to have to watch her next time out, we can't have her chasing flamingos. Otherwise it was a great run and everyone behaved perfectly.
GRADE: B
morning run:
Posey
Truman
Elewah
Lily
Xmul
Mega
Steve McQueen
Lex
Murci
Roxy
(10)
Southern charcos: ~8k. Roxy got thrown in as tenth dog because she has to get out on these or she drives us crazy. Everyone was good on this run except for Elewah, who was only good when there was nothing bad to do. She chased some stray dog way out at the northern end of the run as we were heading back towards the swimming hole; I don't know if it was one of the dogs that hangs out at Angel's corner, I didn't get much of a look. Everyone else came back to me quickly but Elewah screwed around and forced me to change my route to go round her up. Then as we were nearing the intersection from the east she tried to chase a far-away moto that was driving south on the road through that intersection. I don't think she got near, but the fact that she went for it pissed me off. We came home via the road until we could cut over onto the ridge and get back to the land bridge. I carried Elewah for most of the way on the road and expressed my displeasure to her but it was a crazy idea to carry her all the way home from there, so I put her down when we got off the road. I knew she would run ahead a little the whole way home after that but at least she kept looking in my direction and she ran straight to the gate. Everyone else was stellar. We kept a high pace.
GRADE: B
morning jog:
Ginger
Blue
Bette
Reggie
Gowron
Monkey
Linda
Amber
Zoot
(9)
Roni took this group for a pretty fast walk/jog across the land bridge and to the south. Reggie left with his leash in harness-mode but was upgraded to plain old leash-on-a-collar and was a good boy throughout. Bette left on the leash but came off quickly and was good as usual. Roni detected some weirdness in Amber's attitude as they were heading back towards the land bridge from the other side so she hooked her up sooner than she thought she would; this always complicates things a bit but she and Reggie were both good, albeit kinetic... Zoot does rein it in a little when his sister's on the leash, at least. Monkey engaged in her usual habit of screwing around in the rear-guard and then hauling ass to catch up. In general this was a really great group that had fun, stayed together and listened.
GRADE: A
morning walk:
Zasu
Alice
Osita
Archie
Tito
Maggie
Ziggy
Stella
(8)
I took this group for a walk down to the land bridge and back, with time for screwing around and sniffing stuff. Archie and Stella both left on leashes, but I let Archie off just past the shrimpery and he was good: he didn't run around too much and listened reasonably well... he obviously wanted to go farther but he shouldn't go too far because of his hips, so this was fine. Zasu and Tito did very well. The bugs were starting to get bad by the time we were coming home but it wasn't as bad as it has been. All in all a nice walk with some great dogs.
GRADE: A
morning run:
Rufus
Daisy
Twiggy
Luna
MoMo
Lex
Murci
Zoila
(8)
Monte loop: ~3k. I wanted to go to the beach at the tortuga sign like last time with Zoila but we ran into people and she balked. I was in fact just thinking that I should put her on the leash before we got to the end of the blue.bag trail when I heard people ahead: salt workers bagging up salt right at the end of the blue bag trail. Zoila veered off into the monte just shy of the trail and I thought she was going to run around the people, which most of the rest of the dogs had already done. I tried to catch up with her where I thought she would come out on the road but she didn't appear - she obviously just turned around right there and ran home. I suspected this but since I didn't know I took the rest of us around for a few loops to try and find her, and we ended up coming home without ever having made it to the beach. Oh, well. Zoila did in fact run straight home. I'll have her on the leash early next time. Rufus was not so bad getting out today and everyone else was perfect, dealing with all the stopping and changing direction without a hitch.
GRADE: A
mid-day swim #1:
Greta
(1)
It has been stormy for quite a while now but in the last couple of days the ocean has calmed down. Today it was reasonably pleasant and Greta was an angel.
GRADE: A
mid-day walk/swim #2:
Archie
(1)
Archie really wanted to go running but we can't let him do that, so we just walked north on the beach with him on the leash. I let him off for a little while after we were north of the HoJo but he wanted to run too much so I put him back on and we jogged most of the way home. He wasn't interested in swimming but I managed to drag him in for a quick dip anyway.
GRADE: A
morning run:
George
Tuesday
Otto
Shirley
Linda
Hazel
Cookie
Junebug
(8)
To the beach at the tortuga sign: ~4k. We took our usual way north, looped around on the beach and came home on the maginot line. Tuesday was on the leash the whole way as usual. Hazel left on the other leash and came off when we turned north towards the shack. June was off the leash until we were up on the road to the tortuga sign. I saw some people with a trike full of firewood pushing it slowly westward towards the road when we were back near the shack, so I knew I was going to have to wrangle June. When we got closer I heard a vehicle in our path so I put her on the leash. She was okay with this at first but when we got nearer to the people and vehicle she balked a bit, so I scooped her up and carried her past. Everyone else was perfect and once past them I put June down and she ran willingly on the leash. I left her on for the rest of the way because she was being good and I wanted her to get the feeling that there was nothing wrong about being on the leash. She swam like a nut in the ocean and was good on the leash in general... there were a couple of times when she made it clear she'd rather not be on the leash but a little coaxing got her over it. Hazel ran ahead a little at the very end; I usually have her on the leash coming home, so it was perhaps not the best tactical decision to take her with Tuesday but it wasn't a big deal. Everyone was good and had a good time on a shorty.
GRADE: A
