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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Family Walk/Run

This evening, Jerry and I went for our regularly scheduled "family walk." By "family" I mean: me + Jerry + our Fur Kid, aka Scooter. Scooter is kind of a pain in the ass to walk. For one thing, he's part Hound Dog, so he's his nose's bitch -- and it demands that he stop every 5 to 10 feet to smell whatever rock, stick, or blade of grass whose scent is intriguing. Thus, a 3 mile walk must be like an olfactory orgy to Scooter's nose; it's time consuming to pay heed to such doggie delights.

But secondly, he sucks to walk because he's not great on the leash. We kinda brushed over that too quickly when training him as a pup and have never found the time or inclination to return to training him on this point. So he walks like a kid on crank -- weaving back and forth without care or concern about who or what he walks in front of or behind. If he weren't on a leash, it would be whimsical, but because one of us is getting yanked back and forth across the sidewalk and around trees and bushes, it's rather annoying.

By the end of a family walk, Jerry is generally pissed off at Scooter and I am pissed off at Jerry for being pissed off at Scooter and Scooter is basically pretty damn pleased about getting out for such a nice, long walk. This evening, on our family walk, it started to rain about 3/4 of a mile from home, so we decided to jog back, and therefore, we stumbled upon the key to getting Scooter to be focused on the task at hand (and I stumbled upon the key to getting Jerry to run). Scooter seemed to think that the both of us jogging behind him was the best kind of chasing game he'd ever played, so he ran along in front of us and never once veered off to the side to sniff or fake pee (see at a certain point, he's just lifting his leg -- there's no pee left). Plus, Jerry was happy that Scooter wasn't being a pain in the ass -- Jerry was happy, Scooter was happy, Jess was happy.

So, the 3 of us alternated between walking and running in that last portion home, and it worked well. Scooter, in particular, was energized by the trot, and he spent a good 10 minutes once we were home just running back and forth inside the house (if only I could find a way to bottle this energy; certainly it would sell better than Red Bull). After Jerry and I were both showered up and in the car on the way to the bookstore (I didn't really need new books but Jerry did and so I still came home with two new reads to add to my stack), we decided that on the next family walk, we may decide to try and do a run/walk combo for the entire 3 miles.

Ha! That's right folks, just give me a few more weeks, or months, and I bet I'll have the hubby running a 5K! Of course, now that my trickery has been revealed here, he'll probably try to revolt against my ingeniously evil plot, but it's too late now. I have him and Scooter in my clutches!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our Scooters are so much a like as are our husbands. My Scooter is a pretty good on the leash but I think that is because he is a Chicago dog - tight sidewalks and not a lot of area to roam. Maybe I should try jogging with our little hound.
Good luck getting the hubby to the 5K

Razz said...

Wow. Walking your dog is EXACTLY what happens when we walk Maxfli

J~Mom said...

That is exactly what our dog is like. Makes me crazeee!!

Mark C. Smith, "The Naked Runner" said...

I can't say much about my dogs but my wife will only run if her ass is on fire! Congratulations on getting your other half moving!

Marcy said...

Ahhhh Jess, you just keep getting better and better at the husband domination thing ;-) Tricky Tricky!

Anonymous said...

my husband runs 7 miles every morning- he tried to get me to run but since we don't have a dog, and couldn't keep him on a leash, the furthest i made it out was the mailbox- not for me.

TonyP said...

I so miss having my dog.

Anonymous said...

Scooter sounds so cute. The key we found with our dog is to try and tire him out at the beginning. After that, he walks great on the leash although, he thinks everyone and every dog he sees wants to play with him!

teacherwoman said...

Training a dog to walk properly is hard work.. believe. Training a Dane wasn't the easiest thing but payed off in the long run when he ended up being 150 pounds.

Nice work on the family walk/run!

Unknown said...

I failed at proper leash training Bandit also. Which sucks because he's 72 lbs now and those back and forth dashes can just about knock me off my feet.

I like the run/walk plan. Might as well sign Scooter and Jerry up for a 5K now, they'll be doing it soon anyway. LOL.

L*I*S*A said...

I knew I liked you for a reason:

you're sneaky. ;)

Wes said...

sometimes, its all about the dog :-) Awesome your sneaking some running in for hubby!! Woot!!

lifestudent said...

Your walks sound just like ours. And Jeff and I argue over Wrigley's (the weaving, sniffing, lab) behavior while we are walking, the whole time in which she has a huge smile on her face. But my attempts at running with her were often worse than our walks and I quickly gave them up :)

Steve Stenzel said...

I lift my leg and fake pee all the time.

And get that hubby out there!!! 5K!! 5K!!! 5K!!!

Brianna said...

Great ploy! It just might work! :)

P.O.M. said...

Ok you are my guru. How do I get my guy to run sans dog?

Crissy Rae said...

Good luck getting Jerry running that 5K..although he may just surprise us all!

Wilson and Scooter have similar walking styles, although Scooter is more laid-back than Wilson, who can be a freaking psycho at times. I've done a run/walk with the little guy and it has made the walking portion so much better.

Mary Gee said...

Oh, I bet he will do the 5K - even though he knows about your ingenious plot.

sRod said...

It always starts with the 5K. But before you know it he'll be talking marathon.

Viv said...

Jerry is pissed at Scooter. You are pissed at Jerry. Who is Scooter pissed at? hehehe

Great on possibly getting jerry do a trickery 5K.