The best part of moving to sunny Florida (besides the beaches, the warm weather, the flip flops) is the running outside. At least for me. Oh, I still use my treadmill. Yes, there are still some of us crazy runners who use a treadmill for what it is built for instead of a clothes rack. But running on it in my garage back in Anchorage became almost a chore. I knew I needed to run but there were days that the icy roads, the winter darkness, and the critters that roamed my neighborhood made it easier to jump on my trusty treadmill. The biggest drawback to using one is only one at a time can run on it and my dogs just give me the ho hum look. They wait patiently while they hear the belt move, the music play, the beeps when I change incline or increase speed. Then when the motor stops, that is their cue that I am done and hopefully they get their long awaited attention from mom.
In our Florida neighborhood, they must be on a leash. I think this is reasonable considering the traffic. There aren't many sidewalks but the streets are wide enough for plenty of room for me and the pups as long as they stay with me. But I can't count on that and I want them safe so say they stay on the leash.
We would use the leashes occasionally on the Anchorage hillside neighborhood but most days we could trust them to stay with us. Especially running them off leash on the trails. Bella (the Jack) occasionally had to be put back on but Bodhi (the Angel Lab) was for the most part a loyal runner. So the habit of running with them is more less always with a leash. Here lies the problem. Have you ever tried running two dogs with leashes? It sounds easy. If you think it is, let me loan you my two dogs for a try out. They love it and have no problem wanting to go even it if means a leash. Bella tends to resist the application of her harness but eventually she gives in when she started realizing I would leave her behind if she didn't get it on. Both run fairly well together even though there is an obvious difference in the length of their legs. Bodhi is such a great sprinter. She can fly when she is chasing down balls or flying through the air to catch a Frisbee. But when running on leash, she sets a nice pace with whomever she is next to. Bella on the other hand, she is the muscle. That is why I put a harness on her. Before the harness, she pulled so hard that it looked like she was always choking. With the harness, she still has an extreme pull but you don't have to listen to her hacking as she is running.
So why do I not run them each day I run? First of all, I am not really that fast anyhow but they are. They actually tend to run best with Chris. His pace is much faster and keeps them from getting side tracked by smells and squirrels. Yes, the once or twice a week that I take them out, I find my pace picks up a little and I normally love it when they do decide to stop to sniff a fire hydrant. So when I decide to run with them, it has to be on a short run day for me or either I run with them out and back two miles and allow them to do what ever they want. Stop, sniff, poop, but still they aren't allowed to drag me chasing squirrels. Once we were running along and one of many squirrels that taunt them ran out across the road. Needless to say, Bella is the first to dart towards them. Then Bodhi gets her excitement on and pulls even harder. I wouldn't say I am terribly weak and I can restrain Bella at that moment but not Bodhi. When the moment came that the taunting squirrel crossed the road, Bella pulled and them Bodhi pulled and then mama followed. An Angel was watching over us as a car was also coming. From now on, I hold Bodhi leash with one finger and Bella's with a tighter grip. After talking with a friend about her back injury from one of her dogs pulling her quickly, I decided if I wanted to keep them running, then I would need to figure out the safest way. I stay off busy streets, and stop them regularly if more cars are coming by. As for the squirrel chasing, I take them to the off leash park near by. The squirrels still taunt them there.
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