The run/walk started at 8am when it was a pleasant 65F out. Participants ran the school's cross-country trail which I had never been on before. This dirt trail meandered around the desert in the front of the high school. Brooke and Denise, two other volunteers from the shelter, were also there but they were strictly walkers with no dogs. I saw dogs from all breeds. Besides the Doberman in front of us, there was also a Golden Retriever, several Yorkies, a Pekinese (which snapped at Minnie), several pit bulls, a basset hound, a Husky and several chihuahuas. The smaller dogs slowed the owners down a bit, and some owners ended up carrying their small dogs through the finish line.
I took Minnie on this fun run, as she enjoys a romp. I wore jeans and a Buena blue t-shirt and wore my Keen water sandals. In short, I was not dressed to run at all, but when the dog walkers were allowed to take off, Minnie wanted to go after the cute Doberman in front of us, so I jogged a good mile with her on the leash. She did amazingly well, with no barking or aggressive behavior toward anyone or another dog. And she kept the momentum for most of the 5km, dragging me along. I had to force her to drink at the two water points.
There weren't that many runners, but one cadet told me around 70 people had participated in this event. I clocked in at 40:40 minutes, clearly no Personal Best, but when was the last time I jogged even a mile? I must admit I felt good afterwards. Maybe I'll do this more often in the neighborhood, and take Minnie on runs?
By the 47th minute there were few people coming in, so the awards were passed out and many people left, even though Brooke and Denise came in at 1:05:00. We didn't stand around and talk much; Minnie was panting and I needed to take her home.
Later on today I drove to the bank to pay the mortgage, get some beer for the weekend (to include beef ribs for the dogs to gnaw on), and at 1:45pm remembered the vaccine clinic hosted by Tractor Supply Company in Sierra Vista. Sweetie and Sadie are both overdue on their shots, but it was Sweetie I took to the store, as Sadie will be seen on post for her phenobarbital count on May 20th. Taking Sweetie to this vaccine clinic will free me of her when it's Sadie's turn to see the DVM.
Getting Sweetie into the van was a small chore. She was petrified to leave the yard. She wanted to wiggle out of her collar and leash and run back to "Dad." Kevin carried her into my van and I drove off right away, as by now it was in the upper 80s and too hot to stay in a closed vehicle for any time. Once at the store, Sweetie pancaked again and wouldn't move, so I plopped her in a cart and took her to the Feed Area where the vaccines were done. She calmed down while in the cart and I spoke softly to her the whole time, petting her head and reassuring her. A family with three "dog aggressive" pit bulls was in front of me, but we were in no danger of getting attacked by the pits as the man brought them one at a time, and the one in front of us was more goofy than aggressive, and clearly not trained at all. (The dog was also not neutered, something I see far too often around here.)
On the drive home Sweetie sat next to me, wanting to "kiss" my face while I was driving. I hugged her close for comfort, and as soon as we got back home an hour later, Sweetie ran back to "Dad" and stayed near him the rest of the day She showed no reaction to her vaccines today. She is now current for another year.
To top things off today with the other three dogs, I took Sadie, Zeke and Sammy to Hunter Canyon where we walked around for 30 minutes. I have been taking the dogs here every afternoon, an hour before sunset, for off leash exercise. I kept Minnie at home since she already got her work-out earlier. With Minnie absent, it was much quieter today, as Minnie tends to make Sadie bark. This walking around is as good as it will get for Sammy, who is now clearly showing painful movements.
Thus was spent a nice day for the dogs. My camera cable has not been working well for several days; it won't let me transfer photos from my camera to my computer. Hopefully I'll figure out what is wrong shortly.
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