BOXER ADVENTURES

You guys, where have I been?! I thought that I had bought every chew in the world over the years, but I just discovered yak chews and I can't believe I've never tried them before!  I bought this yak chew  after someone recommended it to me saying that is a longer lasting chew than other chews like bully sticks or beef trachea. I looked it up and saw that they are all natural with no added unhealthy ingredients - they contain yak and cow milk, lime and a little salt.  The milk means that it is a good source of protein as an added benefit and the harder the chew, the better for the teeth and jaw! When it came and I opened it, the dogs didn't come running like they normally do and I wasn't sure why, until I realized - no smell AT ALL.  You know how bully sticks have that meaty, stinky smell?  Not these. Oh course that also meant that Booker was like "What do you want me to do with this?!"  I had to convince him to chew on it. But once he did, he was SOLD....

 Today dawned with mild temps and bright sunshine.  As I mentioned, I have had the goal to get the dogs up to half marathon distance.  But when Marc told me he was taking his gravel bike to ride a local trail, I decided to take the dogs and run on the same trail. Now let me tell you about trail running.  I suck at it.  I typically fall at least once during the run.   But I asked myself what the dogs would most like to do and the trail it was. We ran the trails and the boys were able to be off leash for a lot of it, sniffing all the smells and exploring.  They had a great time. Towards the end we were able to get down to the water for a drink and to cool off.   Tonight they are exhausted.  Even though the milage was less, their minds were so engaged, it tired them out!  

 We headed out for a run today.  It was cloudy and cool but not the bone chilling piece of hell that we have been dealing with for months.   I wasn't sure how far we would run, and I wanted to keep a close eye on Sisko as a run with did a couple of weeks ago he was really lagging. But as soon as we started, I felt great.  And Sisko was right out in front along with Booker just chugging right along.  We got to just over 5 miles and we turned around to heard back.  I realized the longest distance either dog had ever run was just over 10 miles. So when we got to the end and were at about 10.30 miles I said what the hell and we ran back up the trail and ended off the morning with 11 miles. If the weather ever warms up here that will quickly put an end to Sisko running any sort of distance as he can't take the heat at all.   The heat doesn't seem to bother Booker all that much until it gets super hot so I hope he'll be running with me for a while ...

 The boys got a herding ball today.  And, they are not a herding breed.  They had no idea what to do!! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Hudson Mosher (@jenhudsonmosher)

 It was 75 degrees today!  I couldn't wait to get home from work and go for a run.  Even though it was mostly cloudy and windy, it was humid and it was pretty clear it was too warm for Sisko to run, so Marc took him for a walk while I headed out with Booker. As always as soon as we get some warm weather, everyone was outside.  Since we live in a very rural area, the houses are spaced out on our road and I pretty much know which houses have dogs and whether they are loose or have electric fences and whether they are aggressive or friendly. But today we ran by a house where I never see anyone - human or animal - out and about, but tonight there was a man out and his 2 large labs went after us. The guy was screaming at them to come back (their names were Maverick and Goose 😄) and they completely ignored him.  Since we were on the opposite side of the road, they would have been smushed if anyone was driving by but they got lucky. We stopped running and the one lab ...

 A little aside here.  If you have been reading this blog at all, you obviously know about my um....obsession?....with running.  What some of you might not know is that for most of my life I never ran.  I was morbidly obese.  I made a life change and started eating right and exercising and it was especially running that helped me melt the pounds away.   That also means I have some weird and unhealthy thoughts at times.  Like I MUST run or I instantly become obese again.   So today I woke up and I have been doing longer runs with the dogs on Saturdays.  It was warm and extremely windy and my head told me I had to run.  Because that's what happens on Saturday, right? I looked at the dogs.  I truly believe they love running with me.  They get hugely excited when I put on running clothes and actually run to the door and look up at their collars. But I asked myself what they would love more.  A long off leash hike on ...

 Today was not terribly cold on its own but the winds were VICIOUS. Judging by the forecast that might have been the last run of freezing my butt off for hopefully many months. While I am thrilled about that, it also means that we are heading into weather where Sisko won't be running.  He has very little heat tolerance at all. It remains to be seen how Booker will do with the heat.  He is thinner and his fawn coat doesn't absorb the heat nearly as much as Sisko's dark coat. But today I was just happy to get it done!