doggie training

Saturday Misty, doggie and I went down to Barton Creek for some water training.  We went down the POS to the dam.  Before Saturday doggie had never really been in any water.  We crossed the dam okay and she did fine, getting a little wet but not submerged yet.  We took a left after the dam and attempted to do the inner stuff that lead over to the outer loop but I missed a turn and we got sort of lost.  It was great, I knew we weren't really lost but it was really neat being on some unfamiliar trails for a change.  If I've ever been on those trails before I have no recollection.

We meandered around mostly under cover of trees making snap decisions about which trail to take.  It was great.  After about 30-40 minutes we stopped and gave doggie a good drink.  When Misty asked if we should bring some food for doggie I said probably not.  Well doggie Mommie packed up some Milk Bones and sure enough doggie scarfed down a bunch of them.  

My pack is inadvertently perfect for running with doggie.  The pack part holds at least one 100oz bladder for plenty hydration for me AND it's got a slot on the bottom that a 20oz bottle slides into which is perfect for carrying water for doggie.  Also her portable water dish folds up nicely and fits easily into one of my front zipper pockets.

We meandered around for a while and then ended up very near the dam again. This time I picked up doggie and carried her into the water and submerged her and she had her very first swim.  I did that several more times to make sure her core temp was cooled down really well.  After her swim we headed back towards cedar chop but continued straight to Lost Creek Blvd.  We got to the creek there and doggie plunged right like it was no big deal.  I was very happy to get her past that hurdle.  We headed back over to the dam, crossed and headed to the base of the HOL.  We got there and Misty checked our mileage.  We were almost at 6 miles.  I sort of wanted to get in 7 but I could tell Misty thought that wasn't a good idea.  Doggie was in great shape not lagging at all so I figured Misty was right, lets head on up the hill and doggie finished strong.

One more new situation remained.  I knew that she wouldn't be able to ride inside my truck after getting wet and muddy so last Saturday I put her big cage in the back of the truck and drove her around the 'hood for a while to give her a little taste of back of the truck riding.  She seemed fine so I got out on Duval and got up to 45mph and she was good.  The folding cage is so handy.  I had it folded up in the back of the truck, got it set up quickly, loaded doggie up and we took off.  She did fine on the drive on 360 to home.  

 

All in all a great morning on the trail.  An easy 6 miles and lots of good doggie training.