Wednesday, April 29, 2015

29.04.15

morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Rita
Ernie
Ziggy
Molly
Bosha
Linda
Cookie
(9)

I took this crew for a walk between the land bridges, more or less. We did an extended loop to the east after coming down off of the ridge, before heading back to the alt. land bridge. Roni frequently takes them this way on walks and everyone always likes it... Cookie also had a lot of yayas to get out and everyone else was not far behind her. Watching Cookie and Ernie together on a walk is hilarious - she loves him and he likes to complain about it (but not do much). We left with Ernie on the leash to keep him from hurting himself in the first mad rush but he came off quickly and was good the whole way. I worked with Cookie repeatedly, putting her on and taking her off the leash and making sure she was good about coming back to me and letting me hook her up. She swam enthusiastically in the nasty charcos - I'm sure she's a water dog and that beach runs will be great fun. I ended up with Ernie back on the (short) leash and Cookie on the long one on the coco trail coming home and I left them that way to the gate. Everyone was good and had a great time on an overcast morning.
GRADE: A

afternoon walk:
Miles
(1)

Roni took Miles out for a stroll to the land bridge, and also foraged some local herbs. It's a blustery day and Miles likes to meander. Good boy Miles.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

28.04.15

morning run:
Truman
Rufus
Elewah
Lily
Jack
Mega
Lex
Tori
Roxy
(9)

Hidden trail: ~8k. I tried to be clever wrangling this group and failed completely, leading to chaos and way too much noise at the gate before we left; also, this wasn't quite the group I wanted to take so a couple dogs got screwed out of a run. I thought I saw an opportunity to get Mega, Lex, Steve and, most importantly, Petey into the launchpad in one fell swoop when nobody was paying attention; sadly the speed at which information travels in dog.space is a lot greater than the speed at which I can react. I ended up with the above group in the launchpad and raring to go well before Roni and I had everyone else wrangled... won't do that again. We left with Rufus on the hook as always and headed north immediately this time to avoid any salt workers close by. I let Rufus off once we were heading north towards the wooden shack / blue.bag trail and he was really good the whole way. I took us north from the tortuga crossroads on that strange little trail that goes through what I think of as a cow pasture (because there's frequently a lot of cow shit there); clearly neither cows nor humans have been there in a very long time because it was so overgrown I took two wrong turns at first before I realized that Mega actually remembered the right way somehow. He's amazing for that: he always seems to remember the trail, even if we haven't been there for a while. I smacked my left foot into a nice-sized cactus hidden below the grass and ended up with a decent spine shoved under calluses and broken off at the base for the rest of the run... all my fault. Once we managed to beat our way out of that mess it got easier. The hidden trail is starting to get beaten down a little and I've finally memorized the spot where I must dip my head if I don't want to take a cactus limb to the forehead... it only took four runs or so. Everyone had a blast on the beach and the dead sheep wasn't too awful (although, like Generalissimo Franco, still dead). I let Roxy have her head when we were far from people but had her on the hook well before we came off of the beach. We ran into a couple of kids hanging out quietly under a tree as we were coming home south on the blue.bag trail; everyone ran over to say "hi" and Lily barked a bit but they all came back quickly over my assurances to the lads that the dogs didn't bite... they seemed to enjoy my little crew, who were awfully cute. I had Rufus on the black leash and Roxy on the long one coming home but sadly Mega, Truman, Jack and Elewah spoiled things by charging north on our road at the very end to go bark at some dogs near the soldiers we've been hearing from every night lately... no harm, no foul, but still I should have Truman and/or Jack on the leash coming home when they're together. It was incredibly humid and already pretty hot by the time we were coming home.
GRADE: B (too much barking/yelling at the end)

morning swim:
Greta
(1)

Good girl Greta.
GRADE: A

Sunday, April 26, 2015

26.04.15

morning run:
Gracie
Posey
Godzilla
Eve
Daisy
Luna
Xmul
Hazel
Murci
(9)

Hidden trail: ~8k. I took Daisy against my better judgment; she really needed to go but she's been a pain on runs with faster dogs recently. It isn't that she can't run fast, she just doesn't want to. I managed her lagging with the leash and by bringing the pace down a bit but it was still painful at times. One thing is for sure: she likes the beach a lot and doesn't mind running her ass off there. It might be that the heat gets to her because she threw herself into the surf a lot but she had no problem keeping up on the beach and I made a point of picking up the pace in spots. Roni and I now have a filth map of the monte in our heads: there are two spots close to home where large piles of nasty fish filth have been dumped, right where we walk and run, and there are at least two more spots out in the deep monte where I go that I have to remember lest my dogs cover themselves in death. This turns walks and runs into a combination memory game/mad scramble at times... they were all pretty gross by the time we hit the beach, so at least I got to rinse them once, and I kept most of them off of the dead sheep at the end so I guess I get a passing grade this time. We'll have to start taking Daisy on walks more for a while, at least, but it was still a decent run and everyone had a good time. The heat is starting to get really serious but at least there are no bugs.
GRADE: A

morning walk:
Amber
Zoot
Cookie
(3)

Roni took these three out with the dual purpose of tiring out the electron.twins and getting Cookie out on her first walk. Yay Cookie! She was on the leash at the start and at the end and figured it out pretty quickly. It was quite hot out already and they all spent some time panting in the shade when there was some but everyone had a blast anyway. Cookie definitely wanted to make sure she knew where Roni was at all times... smart Cookie.
GRADE: A

Friday, April 24, 2015

24.04.15

morning run:
Blue
Rita
Chester
Elewah
Lily
Twiggy
MoMo
Tori
Roxy
(9)

Hidden trail: ~8k. The more the southern charcos fill up with salt workers the more I want to head north, so that's what we're doing right now. I don't really mind... the more we run the hidden trail the more of an actual trail it will become and maybe after a few more runs I won't look like a pincushion by the time we emerge on the beach. A nasty pile of fishy filth was dumped recently right next to our normal route north so I was definitely ready to hit the beach and rinse the stink of death off of the dogs by the time we got there. I did not forget about the dead sheep this time: I decided to go that way anyway because it was probably decomposed pretty well by now and I didn't feel like dealing with the heat if we turned into the monte early at Au Soleil Couchant. It ended up being fine: I kept them close to me verbally when we were nearing the awful place, sped up to get to the corpse with them and then shooed them away and kept us moving. I don't think anyone got a good roll in it this time; all I have to do is run like a gazelle from the beach to the dead sheep to beat the dogs there... see? Easy. I let Roxy off the leash on the beach but kept her on for most of the run; she definitely is inclined to bark and charge at people and motos still so we're going to continue to work on it. She's great on the leash, at least. Everyone else was really good. Elewah did not screw around at the end and we all arrived at the gate together.
GRADE: A

Thursday, April 23, 2015

23.04.15

morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
George
Otto
Archie
Shirley
Stella
Bosha
Roxy
(9)

I took this group for a walk from the land bridge to the tortuga crossroads and home via the blue.bag trail. I did the usual leash management routine with Stella and Roxy and left Roxy on for most of the way once she was on; there are a lot of salt workers around now although we didn't see any today. Everyone was perfect the entire way and had a great time.
GRADE: A

morning swim:
Greta
(1)

She was breathing hard when we were done. The ocean is really nice right now, and no bugs hounding us.
GRADE: A

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

22.04.15

vet trip:
Tito
Cookie
Flaca*
(3)

I took these three to the vet in Merida: Tito to get his teeth cleaned, Cookie to get checked over before being vaccinated for Distemper/Parvo/etc. and Flaca, Jaqueline's dog, to get checked and sterilized. Flaca was a street dog that survived distemper as a puppy; she suffers from a slight tick as a result of the damage from distemper but is very sweet and intelligent. Jaquie, who helped with our first clinic in town, has been worried that she might be pregnant after having gone through heat recently. It is not a good idea for dogs who have survived distemper to have puppies for many reasons and I was going with Cookie anyway so, with appropriate precautions, Flaca came along and was a real trooper. Dra. Sandra did her best with the surgery, given that Flaca also has Erlichiosis in addition to her constant involuntary movement that makes operating challenging. I am happy to report that Flaca came through with flying colors, is getting all of her meds and is recovering nicely with Jaquie. Cookie got her bloodwork and shots and Tito had one tooth removed and looks and feels much better. Doggie dentistry is important.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

21.04.15

morning run:
Posey
Eve
Truman
Frijolita
Chester
Rufus
Xmul
Mega
Hazel
(9)

Hidden trail: ~8k. Leaving with Xmul and Rufus together is always a little challenging; it's like having a (small) team of horses under harness for the first 250m. For some reason I frequently have Truman thrown in there with Rufus and they are loud together at the gate... have to remember that next time. Once we left everyone settled down quickly. We ran into a soldier and his girlfriend walking just at the end of our trail and everyone was good; they were amused at the antics of the dogs, who were all about their usual routine and didn't care about the strange humans at all. There were salt workers close just across the land bridge so I took us down the dirty road to the alt. land bridge and then headed north via the road instead of the swimming hole (lots of workers out there now, too). I let Rufus off the leash at the intersection and he was great the whole way; Xmul was, as usual, an angel on the leash. I let her off on the beach from where we come out on the hidden trail until just north of the tortuga sign, but I kept her close verbally and didn't let her stray towards the woods. She didn't mind and swam like a nut whenever I asked her to, along with most everyone else. Several of them (Mega, Truman) rolled in some awful filth before we got to the beach so I washed them off in the surf; Mega is almost impossible to bathe any other way so that worked out well because he stank to high heaven (and was very proud of himself). Yet again I forgot about the dead sheep just east of the tortuga sign - they weren't quite as bad about it this time but I'll have to take another way next time. I ended up with Hazel on the other end of the leash with Xmul and Rufus on the black leash by the time we were on the coco trail and everyone was good to the gate and arrived together. Nice, fast run before it got too hot. No bugs.
GRADE: A

morning swim:
Greta
(1)

What an angel.
GRADE: A

Monday, April 20, 2015

20.04.15

morning walk:
Alice
Ginger
Otto
Bette
Ziggy
Maggie
Molly
Bosha
Roxy
(9)

I took this group out for a walk from the land bridge to the tortuga crossroads and home via the blue.bag trail. I managed Roxy on the leash as usual, especially since there are more people around working in the salt flats; we saw nobody today but I don't like being caught unaware and then having to stop her from barking at someone. I think the recent visit by P-O and Julie might have helped with this a little, so I'll have to see how she does next time we run into salt workers. Everyone was really good in general and had a great time.
GRADE: A

Saturday, April 18, 2015

18.04.15

morning run:
Gracie
Blue
Godzilla
Truman
Rita
Tuesday
Frankie
Jack
Monkey
Luna
MoMo
Murci
(12)

To the beach at Au Soleil Couchant: ~7k. The dogs were really wound up last night; maybe it was because Julie and P-O left yesterday, who knows, but Roni and I were definitely lacking in the sleep dept. this morning. This is my official excuse for not noticing that two dogs snuck onto this run at the last second: Luna and Frankie. I had already decided to take ten (Blue was tenth dog and is never any trouble) but I didn't notice that Frankie and Luna were loose in the yard when I was wrangling everyone. Since Luna looks so much like Jack and Frankie looks so much like Gracie it all got balled up in my mind at the gate; I wanted to get going quickly before they were too wound up so I just threw the gate open and we took off... it wasn't until I rounded the first corner that I noticed I had two dogs that looked like Jack and two dogs that looked like Gracie in front of me. Ah, well. All of these dogs are experienced and well-behaved so even though I wasn't thrilled at the epic scale of the outing at first, by the time we got to the shrimpery I figured it would be alright. The idea was to not go on a really long one, since Tuesday doesn't like that, so I took us to the swimming hole (in name only now) and then the beach. Everyone thought this was a grand idea, had a real blast the whole way and swam like lunatics in the ocean. The one thing I forgot (and which I forgot to mention in a previous post) was the the dead sheep that someone dumped just east of the main road heading away from the tortuga sign, in the flat area where people frequently dump garbage. I wish they wouldn't do that in general but a sheep's corpse is just beyond the pale. The last time we went by there I didn't have so many hairy dogs that like to roll in filth, but this time I did and they did and it was disgusting and required baths when we got home. I will have to remember that for a while because it's not a small corpse and will take some time to disintegrate... maybe I'll head up there in the jeep and give the poor thing a decent burial. I put Murci on the other end of the leash with Tuesday before the blue.bag trail because she was still too fired up and was leading Luna and Mo off on little sorties into the underbrush; Tuesday suffered this indignity with more grace than she usually does (I apologized to her repeatedly). With so many dogs coming home (and not enough leashes) Luna darted down to the beach at the very end, but I was kind of expecting it and she came back before I could even get to the pink shack to yell for her. I did find it more stressful than normal to have so many dogs along but they were all good and had a great time.
GRADE: A

Friday, April 17, 2015

17.04.15

morning swim:
Greta
(1)

The water was clear, warm and not too choppy. We did many laps until she was breathing hard and ready to go in. What a trooper.
GRADE: A

Thursday, April 16, 2015

16.04.15

morning walk #1:
Ginger
Eve
Gowron
Archie
Molly
Ziggy
Maggie
Linda
Amber
(9)

Roni took this crew for an ill-fated walk in the monte. Her doom was sealed when she took my suggestion that Maggie go along. Mags is frequently a pain in the ass when she goes with anyone but me for reasons that I don't understand. I thought it might be different this time because her boyfriend Ziggy was along but no dice: Roni ended up having to carry her quite a lot of the way and she is not a lightweight. It turned out to be an annoying, hot, sweaty affair. Oh, well... live and learn.
GRADE: C

morning walk #2:
Shirley
Frankie
Twiggy
MoMo
Luna
(5)

Julie and P-O took these five out for a long walk on the beach shortly after Roni left. They were highly energized and Frankie charged off in the wrong directoin at first but everyone got sorted and had a good time in the end.
GRADE: A

evening walk:
Ernie
Stella
(2)

P-O and Julie took these two for a nice walk on the beach once the brain-boiling phase of the day was past. They both had a blast.
GRADE: A

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

15.04.15

morning run:
Posey
Chester
Xmul
Mega
Lex
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Tori
Murci
(9)

The hidden trail: ~8k. Since it's Xmul's first day back it seemed only right to take her for a run with her buddies; she was on the leash the whole way as usual and was a great running companion. There are a fair number of salt workers in the southern charcos right now so I thought we'd head north; we hadn't run the hidden trail in a while and I had a feeling the beach would be empty, which turned out to be correct. Xmul pulled me face-first into a cactus limb in the last 50m of the trail to the beach; Roni had to dig one of the spines out of my forehead with tweezers when we got home... pretty funny. Everyone swam like lunatics on the beach and we kept a high pace throughout. I put Murci on the other end of the leash with Xmul on the coco trail heading home and everyone was good to the gate. Welcome back Xmul!
GRADE: A

morning walk:
Daisy
Luna
Stella
Roxy
(4)

Julie and P-O took these four out for a long walk on the beach. I saw them far to the south as we were running south on the beach, but we turned into the monte long before we got near them. Roxy and Daisy managed to find some nasty trash from the weekend to eat and rummage around in but everyone behaved themselves well and had a good time.
GRADE: A

morning swim:
Greta
(1)

I took puppy.liebschen out for a dip while everyone was distracted by Julie and P-O's recent arrival. The water was clear and not too chilly and she was breathing hard when we were done. Good girl.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

14.04.15

arrival:
Xmul*
(1)

Marie and Nicole are going back to Canada so Xmul has come for her summer camp; it gets easier every time. Twiggy finds it harder (and less interesting) to push Xmul's buttons and she has so many friends here the pack is hardly disturbed at all by her arrival. She's matured a lot since she was a crazy wild pup. Good girl Xmul!
GRADE: A

Monday, April 13, 2015

13.04.15


morning walk #1:
Archie
Frankie
Molly
(3)

P-O and Julie took these three for a walk on the beach. There was surprisingly little garbage to the north - I guess the vacation partiers sort of crested just south of our house, so the beach to the north got a break from all the refuse. The dogs all swam a lot and looked very pleased with themselves upon arrival.
GRADE: A

morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Rita
Frijolita
George
Shirley
Rufus
Amber
Roxy
(9)

Swimming hole: ~6k. It was a little late and already getting hot so I took a shorty with a few dogs who didn't like long distances or who are just happy to go any distance. Roxy is a maniac and can always go on these. I was a little less strict with her leash-wise and she didn't screw me over. I put Amber on the hook relatively early (before we got to the swimming hole) because her strange "paranoid" moods can come on so suddenly and things were going so well. She had a great time and she doesn't mind being on the leash; in fact, she's a perfect little companion. The swimming hole is not really worthy of the name anymore - there are only a few very muddy inches of water left but Rufus still enjoyed it. I waited until we had turned south from the tortuga crossroads to put Roxy on the other end of the leash and left it that way for the remainder. We took the usual blue.bag trail to coco trail approach and saw nobody working close by. I kept on Rufus verbally on the final trail home and everyone crossed the road together and came straight to the gate. We killed the water almost completely but nobody lagged too badly and everyone had a great time.
GRADE: A

morning walk #2:
Amber
Zoot
(2)

Roni and Julie went out with these two nuts to forage some ragweed. Amber was slightly less manic since she just went on a run but she was still plenty happy to go with her twin electron and her favorite human. Roni said that Zoot didn't seem too scared of Julie but he didn't come very close to her in his orbits. They wandered around the monte just across the land bridge and to the south, gathered a lot of ragweed and had a nice time despite the heat. The bugs are not noticeable now.
GRADE: A

morning swim:
Greta
(1)

Walks have not been working out for our puppy.liebling. She has had a terrible, days-long limp after each one we've tried recently. Since the ocean is now pretty swimmable every day we're going to switch back to swimming a few times a week and see if that helps. The poor dear just cannot catch a break but she's a trooper and a great companion nonetheless. We did many laps in chilly water and she was great about it.
GRADE: A

Sunday, April 12, 2015

12.04.15

morning run:
Reggie
Elewah
Lily
Mega
Steve McQueen
Lex
Petey
Hazel
Murci
(9)

No-man's land: ~9k. This group really wanted to run so that's what we did. Reggie left on the leash but came off very quickly and was great throughout. We went north first and ran no-man's land north to south instead of the usual way. A huge gathering of flamingos was in the same spot we saw them last time we ran this route and they were beautiful and deafening again. Nobody was tempted to dart over to them, not even 100m away... pretty funny actually, Murci and Hazel both stuck their ears back and hauled ass south, hot on Mega's heels. Everyone was enthusiastic and happy the whole way. I had Reggie and Murci on either ends of the leash coming home and stayed on top of the rest of them verbally, especially as we got closer. There have been people camping out on the beach just to the south of us - a large, organized affair here for the tail end of Mexican vacations. In spite of my best efforts Elewah did act like a jackass in the final 20m and bluff-charged towards the campsite; of course there was nobody actually visible when she did this and when she saw actual people she turned tail and ran back to me, so that's pretty much par for the course with Elewah... no harm, no foul. Everyone else just went straight to the gate.
GRADE: A

morning walk #1:
Otto
Daisy
Luna
(3)

Julie and P-O took these three out for a pretty brisk walk on the beach. Everyone came home wet and happy.
GRADE: A

morning walk #2:
Ziggy
Bosha
Roxy
(3)

Julie took these three out solo right after the first walk, in an attempt to "buy our tranquility" for the day. Those three loudmouths have definitely been spun up because of all the traffic and people at the beach the last few days. This was largely successful: the dogs as a whole were much quieter than we thought they would be for most of the day, and a lot of the egregious noise usually comes from the Ziggy/Bosha/Roxy continuum... Thanks, Julie.
GRADE: A

Saturday, April 11, 2015

11.04.15

morning walk #1:
Zasu
Henry
Bette
Tito
Blue
Eve
Gowron
Linda
Amber
(9)

Roni and Julie took this crew out for a walk in the monte. Tito immediately took it to the streets: Angel happened to be walking north with his dog on the road when Roni and gang were crossing going east and Tito decided to rough the poor pup up a bit... of course Angel's "pup" was 5x bigger than Tito, who seemed to be the only one who knew the plot to his little movie. Roni dragged the little psycho out of the action (hey! let me go! I was winning!) and they all carried on... words cannot truly capture the naked hubris of a chihuahua, but he doesn't really score any damage points and the other dog was probably more confused than anything (Angel did not seem concerned at the sudden appearance of a psychotic chihuahua). Once past the kerflufle everyone settled down and was good until the very end, when Linda decided to play one of her you-can't-catch-me games on the final trail home. There is still too much traffic on the road right now (vacations have a week left) and even if that wasn't true she knows better than to run ahead and into the road. She spent a little quality time in the box with her own stinky self for that one. Both she and PupG had to be washed afterwards, they managed to jam a tremendous amount of filth into their coats. Otherwise it was a nice walk with some of the shyer dogs getting a chance to go out with a new human. The bugs aren't noticeable.
GRADE: A

morning walk #2:
Ernie
Stella
(2)

P-O took these two out for a walk on the beach with the usual leash protocol (Stella on for the duration, Ernie off when it is clear). They both had a great time.
GRADE: A

Friday, April 10, 2015

10.04.15

morning walk:
Otto
Luna
Tori
Roxy
(4)

Julie and P-O took these four out for a walk on the beach.
GRADE: A

Thursday, April 9, 2015

09.04.15

morning walk:
Daisy
Molly
Twiggy
Roxy
(3)

Julie and P-O took these out for a walk on the beach. All good.
GRADE: A

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

08.04.15

morning walk:
Archie
Shirley
Stella
Ziggy
Maggie*
(5)

P-O and Julie took this group out for a walk in the monte. I thought it was possible that Maggie would go with them because her boyfriend, Ziggy, was along; alas, I was wrong, and she wanted to come back shortly after they left, so Julie ran her back. The remaining four carried on and had a great time.
GRADE: A

morning beach jaunt/arrival:
Twiggy
Xmul*
(2)

The tortuga sign: ~3k. Xmul is here for a day visit in preparation for her coming to stay next week; Nicole and Marie go back to Canada on the 15th and we wanted to make sure Xmul's reintegration would go smoothly. Every time we do this it gets a little easier. I met them as they were coming south on the beach at the end of their morning walk, with Twiggy on a leash. They were both so good I was able to exchange pleasantries with Nicole and Francois, another Quebecois who lives here half the year; he also has a dog, a local stray he adopted four years ago who now goes home with him to Canada and comes back every year. She's shy but was very good and Twiggy had no problems with any of the strange dogs (she never does). I took off north with Xmul and Twigs both on leashes and we ran hard all the way to the tortuga sign. There was a tiny bit of growling early on but that was it: they were both perfect, swam together, ran together and had ceased complaining well before we got to the sign and headed east. Xmul definitely missed Nicole and gang when we ran north and kept looking back (awww), but once we turned into the monte she brightened noticeably: she really likes the swampy woods. We kept a good pace and ran all the way home; I had no water bottle so it made no sense to stop and they both were happy to keep up the pace. Twiggy is definitely finding it harder to get a rise out of her old frienemy so the stress level of the pack was not raised by Xmul's arrival... it turns out dogs do learn things the older they get.
GRADE: A

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

07.04.15

morning run:
Gracie
Truman
Gowron
Lily
MoMo
Mega
Steve McQueen
Hazel
Murci
(9)

No-man's land: ~9k. This was a run with a whole group that wanted to do nothing but run - no laggers or slow-pokes. We left with Murci on the leash so she didn't harass Lily but she calmed down quickly and I let her off before we turned east into the monte. We took the long way, going the whole way south before turning north and then down the Au Soleil Couchant access road west, coming home via the blue.bag trail. They killed most of the water by the time we left no-man's land, which was beautiful. There were hundreds of flamingos in the large charcos between no-man's land and the mangroves, towards the northern end. We could hear them from hundreds of meters away; the sound of them was deafening by the time we were actually running past them, some 100m to the east of us. I stayed on top of Murci and Hazel verbally but didn't need to put anyone on the leash; honestly, a huge flock of flamingos like that is fairly intimidating and I don't think anyone was tempted to run over there. The birds took no notice of us and were absolutely gorgeous. There were large groups of them taking off, landing, and swirling over the core of the flock in the charco the entire time and we could hear them still even as far away as the Au Soliel Couchant access road. I put Hazel and Murci on either ends of the leash on the coco trail just to keep them honest. Everyone kept a high pace, listened well and had a great time.
GRADE: A

morning walk:
Frankie
Luna
Bosha
Roxy
(4)

P-O and Julie took these four out for a walk in the woods. They were all good as usual. We're especially proud of Bosha and Roxy, who are really doing well going on walks with these two. Everyone had a nice time.
GRADE: A

afternoon walk:
Otto
Ernie
(2)

Julie took these two out for a walk in the woods. They were both perfect. At one point she met someone out there (probably Angel) and spoke to him for a few minutes while her doggie charges idled pleasantly nearby; nice to hear. Ernie looked especially pleased with himself when they got home.
GRADE: A

Monday, April 6, 2015

06.04.15

morning walk:
Frankie
Monkey
Bosha
Roxy
(4)

Julie and P-O took out some of the noisier, crazier dogs for a walk on the beach; I went to Merida very early in the morning (official paperwork) so it was nice that these nuts got out and made the rest of the day a little calmer.
GRADE: A

Sunday, April 5, 2015

05.04.15

morning walk #1:
Zasu
Henry
Ginger
Blue
Eve
Tito
Gowron
Ziggy
Monkey
Linda
(10)

Roni took this group out for an extended walk in the monte. The hairier dogs (Henry, PupG, Ziggy, Monkey, Linda) collaborated on bringing back as much salty, poopy pond muck in their coats as they could manage - it was quite impressive. They all appeared very pleased with themselves when they got home and had to be bathed thoroughly upon arrival. They were extremely well-behaved despite the size of the group and had a great time, as the pictures will attest.
GRADE: A

morning walk #2:
Molly
Luna
Twiggy
Frankie
(4)

Julie and P-O took these four out for a walk on the beach before the semana santa crowds got going in earnest. There was a lot of garbage to rummage through (thanks, humans), but they all did (eventually) listen to their humans and everyone had a good time.
GRADE: A

Saturday, April 4, 2015

04.04.15

morning walk:
Alice*
Ziggy
Daisy
Stella
Linda*
Tori
(5)

Julie and P-O tried at first to get out with Alice, Daisy, Stella, Ziggy and Linda for a walk on the beach. Ziggy immediately darted off in the wrong direction towards the shrimpery, with Alice trailing behind. I focused on Ziggy, caught him, brought him back, pointed him in the right direction and he was fine. Alice came back in with me and we thought they were off with four on a walk. Shortly thereafter, they came back because Linda had turned around, so we brought her in and switched her for Tori, who was thrilled to go for a walk on the beach. This ended up being the final lineup and they were all great, on and off leashes (except for Stella who was only on the leash). They ran into Nicole and her pack and everyone was civil (Daisy hid from the terriers in the water).
GRADE: A

morning run:
Posey
Osita
Chester
Rufus
Jack
Hazel
Murci
Roxy
(8)

Southern charcos: ~6k. This started out great but again the story was one dog lagging when everyone else wanted to run; this time it was Osita. She started out great but past the land bridge she started to get her strange "paranoid" behavior and lagged more and more. I cut the run shorter than I would've otherwise to pick a route that didn't upset her as much but still ended up stopping constantly to get her to catch up. She wasn't running slowly, she just didn't want to be close to the rest of the group. I don't know what set this off, she was fine on the last run she went on. Otherwise everyone was great. I had Roxy on the leash for a lot of it because there are increasing numbers of salt workers in the those charcos and she does still bark at people and vehicles a bit. Rufus left on the leash but came off quickly and was on the other end briefly from the shrimpery to the gate. All of the fast dogs got gypped on this one so I'll throw them in again next time if I can.
GRADE: B

Friday, April 3, 2015

03.04.15

morning walk #1:
Ziggy
Stella
Luna
Twiggy
(4)

Julie and P-O took these four out for a walk on the beach, with Luna and Stella leaving on leashes. Ziggy more or less swam the entire way and we are all grateful for a tired, happy, sleeping Ziggy now. Everyone was good and had a great time.
GRADE: A

morning walk #2:
Archie
Shirley
Frankie
Maggie
Molly
MoMo
Bosha
Roxy
(8)

I took this little crew for a loop in the monte north to the tortuga crossroads and home via the blue.bag trail. We left with Molly on the leash but I switched her for Roxy early on and everyone was good. They were a happy, well-behaved group and everyone listened and kept up nicely. I put Molly on the other end of the leash with Roxy at the very end to make sure we all arrived at the gate together and it worked out just that way.
GRADE: A

Thursday, April 2, 2015

02.04.15

morning run:
Alice
Ginger
Posey
Rita
George
Tuesday
Mega
Lex
Hazel
(9)

The swimming hole: ~6k. Left a little late and some not-so-long-range dogs wanted to go so a trip to the swimming hole and home via the monte is perfect; if it had been much hotter I would've taken the shorter way home but there was still some cool clinging to the leaves in the shadier spots. George, Alice and Ginger did remarkably well at keeping up even with all the screwing around they did. Rita lagged a little at the end but was fine the whole way and always caught up. Posey, Mega, Hazel and Lex could've all done double this distance but it was still good to get them out; they all ran around like maniacs whenever we were in one spot for very long. I put Hazel on the other end of the leash with Tuesday before we got to the coco trail and everyone was good to the gate.
GRADE: A

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

01.04.15

morning walk #1:
Otto
Roxy
Bosha
(3)

P-O and Julie took these three for a walk on the beach. Roxy and Bosha need this more and the beach is good for them. Otto is a scholar and a gentleman and goes well with any group of dogs or people, off the leash or on. They all had a nice time.
GRADE: A

morning run:
Gracie
Godzilla
Frijolita
Chester
Elewah
Lily
Tori
Murci
(8)

Southern charcos: ~8k. We left with Murci on the leash; she came off as we were heading east into the monte from the main road and was a good girl the rest of the way. This was nearly a perfect run until the very end when Godzilla flat-out ignored me to my face to run south on our road after one of the strays that hang out there; she dragged Frijolita, Elewah and Lily with her. They all came back quickly but I was not very happy; both Godzilla and Frijolita have shown recently that they only listen when they want to, and neither one had a collar on today (not that it would've mattered in this case). In all other ways the run was good: high-paced, no bad behaviour, it wasn't too hot and the bugs were not noticeable.
GRADE: B

morning walk #2:
Shirley
Amber
Zoot
(3)

Roni took the Amber/Zoot dialectic out for a fast walk/jog with Shirley, who likes a high pace. They went between the land bridges more or less, but Roni gave them more time to run around in the general area, which everyone likes. Shirley does tend to punch herself out a bit; she left on the leash but once let off she was a maniac. Amber and Zoot were their usual selves. Amber definitely keys in on Zoot's manic particle dynamic because she's really much less tense when Zoot isn't along. Roni's injuries have healed so it was fun keeping up with the nutjobs in the woods. The monte is starting to smell pretty bad in places as it dries out in earnest but at least the bugs aren't bad, even in the boggy bits.
GRADE: A

afternoon walk:
Archie
Ernie
(2)

Julie took these two out for a short walk in the monte. Both of them were thrilled and had a great time, as did Julie... hard not to be amused by Ernie.
GRADE: A