Today Paul was tired and wanted to stay in bed instead of go for a run. Something about 14 hour shifts catching up with him. He agreed to let Lorelei snuggle in bed with him and watch a movie so I could run though. Deal!
I was just about to leave and my sweet boy Jack decided he REALLY wanted to come with me.
I couldn't say no to that face so I snuck him out before the other two dogs caught on.
I occasionally take Jack on runs, but he's never done more than 3 miles. I don't take Brown because he's old and has to stop to lift his leg on everything and I don't take Olive because it's like trying to run behind a charging rhino. Especially when she sees a squirrel. Jack is kind of perfect though. He never stops to go to the bathroom, even on walks, and he doesn't pull me around. He also isn't a freak around strange people or dogs we meet.
Today I wanted to run 5 miles. Just to see how it felt. The last time I did it wasn't so great but yesterday's run felt good and I wanted to see how today felt. I figured if he got too tired we'd just stop and walk. I'm happy to tell you that I felt good and Jack seemed to enjoy himself too. We went slow, I don't want to push it just yet. He was so good. Of course my expectations aren't that high. I don't insist on him staying by my side. As long as he's not pulling on the leash we're good. And he was polite when we had to share the sidewalk.
Here he is waiting patiently to cross the street.
I love this dog. Hard.
Everything was wonderful and we were about 5 blocks from home when I saw a big white blur come running at us out of the corner of my eye. This is pretty much one of my worst nightmares, coming across a loose dog when I have one of my dogs. I don't worry about me, I worry about them. Of course, because I live in metro Detroit, the stray dog was a pit bull. Now let me clear something up, I'm not anti pit, or pit bull paranoid. I like them as much as I like any other dog. But, (you knew there was a but) since I live in metro Detroit and worked in animal welfare for years, I'm a bit cautious when I see them running the streets. It seems like around here, the only kind of people that own these dogs are really responsible or really irresponsible. Obviously, we know what kind of owners this intact male with no collar has. Certainly they don't bother to familiarize themselves with the stereotypes surrounding the breed or to make sure the dog is properly socialized. But really, seeing any kind of stray dog charging at me is scary. This one just happened to be a pit.
I grabbed Jacks head, because he gets a bit protective of me and I didn't want him to growl or start a fight. This dog had no interest in me though. It went right for Jack. First just really intense sniffing, then it was pushing Jack around with his head like a bulldozer. It was a bit unsettling to say the least. I didn't enjoy the sound of his head thudding against poor Jack.
I saw a guy sitting outside on his phone. He told me the dog wasn't his, it just followed him home when he was walking. He offered to come get it but assured me the dog was just a big baby. Of course since it didn't have a collar he had a hard time getting ahold of it and was complaining about how strong it was. I was contemplating trying to pick up my 80 some pound dog, I was getting panicky. He finally grabbed ahold of random dogs back legs and we took off. I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life. I didn't even look behind me until we were almost home. I guess I'm going to have to get more pepper spray, if not for me, for Jack.
Our lovely city no longer has animal control, they can't afford it, but the nice dispatcher at the police department said she'd send someone out to look for Mr. Stray Pit.
On another note. I've found the best way to eat bananas that are too ripe. Slice them, freeze them, and top with nut butter (I used sunflower seed butter the last couple times). So so good. They taste like ice cream when they're frozen.
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