Runs with John

Sunday Mo and I headed out to run with Budge and her dog John. She had never run with him before but he did awesome! Especially since it was his first time. My experience with running with a dog is that it takes a couple of times before they understand the distinction between a 'run' and a 'walk'. Until they do, they weave, they try to stop and smell, they pull, going too fast, they try to stop and mark. You keep them on a short leash and everytime they try to stop, tell them, 'no' and keep going. It doesn't take long before they 'get' it. That is exactly how Mo was when we first started running. Within a short time though he was hanging right at my side, with a nice slack leash and was pacing himself. We laughed thinking what Mo must have thought watching John try to take off like a bat out of hell. "Oh, man, buddy, slow it down! We gotta a long way to go! This isn't a racetrack - these crazy people run longer than we are used to!"

Anyways, John did great. We ran about 19 minutes before he stopped and told us he had enough so we walked back home. He really seemed like he liked it. He is carrying an extra couple of pounds (I know that doesn't sound like much for a dog that probably goes over 70 lbs., but remember, he is a greyhound. 2 or 3 pounds extra really shows up on these guys easy). I think those pounds would come off within a week or two of 2-3x a week running. Sunday, he did well over a mile so I think he could be up to 3 miles in a month or so.

I love running with Mo and I think everyone should have a dog to run with :-)