HEEL!!

Scout has two speeds:

ON

and OFF

ON

OFF

Yesterday, we started learning a new speed. It’s called HEEL! Michelle and I met for our Saturday run and instead of Jill as our third, I brought along Scout. I’m looking forward to having a 4-legged running buddy again for those solo weekday runs. Sgt. A-Dog trained Scout to heel on- and off-leash but Scout is

a) 11 months old

b) a Pointer

c) easily and often distracted

d) fast

e) strong

f) easily and often distracted

We’ve been practicing walking on-leash since Scout got home from camp but always in a fairly controlled environment. Yesterday was a big test. There were other dogs, cars, bicycles, scooters, people, SQUIRRELS!, and the Dalai Lama. His Holiness was at the University of St. Thomas which is why we couldn’t find a place to park near the river. We didn’t actually see the Dalai Lama but he was very nearby and so…it’s almost like we saw him.

Michelle is a talker. I am, too, but Shelle is better and can keep talking under adverse conditions. I depend on this during our runs, especially the long ones when I reach that state of mindless bliss known as “runner’s high”. Yes, it exists, and yes, it’s groovy but it makes it hard to string a complete sentence together. The most I can usually communicate to Shelle is, “Keep talking.” And she does. Usually during short runs I’m not in that wordless state so we can have actual conversations, but yesterday I had this tall skinny puppy to direct. SQUIRREL!! More than anything else, squirrels are a Very. Big. Deal. So our conversation went something like this:

Shelle: “…there’s this woman at my Y–”

Me: “HEEL! SCOUT!! HEEL!!”

Shelle: “…of course I only eat fruits and veget–”

Me: SCOUT, NO! SCOUT, HEEL!! SCOUTIE!!

Shelle: “…it’s that sense of accounta–”

Me: “Good boy, Scoutie, good boy! NO!! SCOUT! HEEL!!”

I must have apologized a thousand times for yelling while she was talking, tripping her as Scout tripped me, and for pausing for poop pick-up mid-stride. But Shelle just rolled with it and so did Scout. I think they bonded. I think they might even want to try this kind of craziness again. SQUIRREL!!

Looking longingly after Auntie Michelle