my doggy’s so poop-a-licious

One of my Goals for 2010 was to teach Jett – the turd eating super dog – to be a valiant running partner.  Turns out. He is.  

We went for our first ever training run.  This dog rocks!  Should have known.  We raised this tough guy from a glimmer in his mama’s eye.  Our mama dog had one more litter in her and I wanted a Golden Doodle – so we found a dorky poodle and viola! we got dog. 

photo courtesy of meg duerksen

See the little black puppy on the left favoring a gimpy hind leg?  That’s my boy.  We were struggling to decide which pup we wanted to keep.  When Jett’s leg was accidentally broke – we knew we had to keep him – you can’t sell a broken dog to someone, it’s just wrong.  

I’ve waited a year and a half to start this project. Very nervous. This dog is big. This dog is strong.   

Here’s how it started: 

 

All I wanted to do was take a picture of my new running shorts (on sale at nike.com) – when I ran across the room to snap the picture Jett jumped up to see what all the fuss was about – he wanted in on the action. (I seem alarmed) 

I grabbed his leash and we headed out the door.  In the first half block I had serious doubts “how many arms do I really need to run?”  I wrapped the leash around my arm, through my fingers, and brought him closer to me.   (i read some article somewhere telling me to keep the dog close)  I started out at a exaggerated slow pace to show this monster who is in charge.  He bolted out at top speed!  Twice I had to take him to the ground to show him who the alpha male uh dog er runner is. The first time he peed 4 feet into the air and it ran down my leg and into my shoe, plus ripped of my finger nail: 

 

 The second time I was ready and he peed toward the street. I never had to touch him.  He heard the frustration in my voice and dropped like Brittany Spears’ panties at an after party.  I repeated the word ‘HEEL!” 2716 times over the course of our run.  By the end of the run he understood the meaning. 

Pros:

Jett likes me.

Jett doesn’t mind if I sing off-key.

Jett is fast!

Jett is curious and reminds me to notice the small stuff.

Jett can PEE!

Jett wants to go again – no matter what!

Jett is a quick learner.

Jett is protective (he growled at our elderly neighbor like she was holding a handgun instead of a newspaper)

Cons:

Jett doesn’t care about mud or water.

Jett can PEE!

Jett is faster than me.

Jett sees a squirrel and forgets I exist.

We went 3 miles.  The random article I read suggested you start them slow unless they can run and run.  I think we’ve covered the fact that this dog can run.  By the last mile he was right next to me.  As we closed in on our neighborhood his pace picked up until he was in the house again.  He ran around the house slipping and sliding on the floors showing off his new skill to the entire family. He followed me around the house smiling and leaning on my legs.  

At the end of the night he put his head down on my lap and did this: 

 

Good Dog.

No clue how long it took us. But it was fun. Will repeat. 

Run on Friends! 

3 miles = $3 to ricebowls.org