The Dog Whisperer

Our friends Stacey & Dave told us about a TV show on National Geographic, the Dog Whisperer. They told us how this man could turn around even the most "un trainable" dogs with just a few steps.

I finally caught this show on TV last week. Actually, it was Monday while I was sitting on the couch trying to recover from the "hell run," flipping thru the channels. The show I watched featured two dogs. One who had aggression issues, and the other had a barking problem. With in the few minutes I saw Cesar, A.K.A. Dog Whisperer, work with these animals, it was like watching a miracle take place. I've never seen anything like it in my life... Truly amazing...

Let me digress here a bit back to Wed..... I think I mentioned in my last post how not only were momo & I pretty wrecked after the run, but my poor boy Baxter was too. He was limping around all afternoon, barely putting any weight on his left front leg. The OPPOSITE leg of where he has the small cyst that has to be removed in a few weeks. Knowing how he just won't give up when he's really hurt (hmmm, sounds familiar), S & I made the executive decision that he would need some time off. And, the timing wasn't so bad with Abby not feeling so well either.

So, Wed am I headed out for a 5mile run. The temp was ok, so much better than Monday, but something wasn't right. I had my headphones blaring.... the route was one of my favorites... Something was still missing. It was my dogs. I missed them. You know, for a while it was a chore to take them. Extra water, more stops, the constant pulling. But, I didn't realize how much I've come to rely on their companionship. Kinda like how I rely on my friends for the rest of the training & motivation. Someone to share all that time with on the bike, or to make me accountable at the pool. Baxter & Abby have become my running partners. They keep me company and make the time fly by. I apparently talk to them, cause I swear it felt like the most quiet run ever with out them... So, when I got home and got the rath of "cheating on them," I let them know that I missed them as much as they did me...

Now fast forward a few days and you would have never known anything was wrong with the crazy bastards. They are running around like puppies again, jumping through the house and BEGGING to be exercises. I already had plans to meet momo this am somewhere, so Shane took them. I bet he's happy to have them back as well. I think he started off saying he wouldn't run with them for a couple of months. I think he ran 1 time by himself, then started taking them ;-)

Guess who happened to be in this month's Runner's World? Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer. And now, now I have my favorite new quote:

"Running is great Therapy, and it's free. If we all walked and ran with our dogs, it would be a different world."