Saturday October 21, 2006 Week Four

Weather is getting cooler and because of the winds the trees are just past peek foliage color. It's still really beautiful in the Connecticut River Valley but the winter is approaching fast. This past week took us to the Mohawk Trail on Sunday and rain on Monday, those were the only two days we hadn't walked. Tuesday we walked through spitting rain, Wednesday and Thursday were cool but clear and Friday brought us the winds with flying leaves. Riley our beast of a dog loves chasing and catching the leaves in mid-flight... it's quite fun to watch, he is so clumsy but tries so hard to be graceful.

So I guess my story of the week is Riley's Story...

Riley came to us June 10, 2006 by way of the dog warden. Riley was an 18 month old un-neutered, Retriever, Chocolate Labrador with some Heinz 57 Dog thrown in for good measure. He was emaciated to the point it was almost painful to you when you pet his sides... to this day even though he has access to food 24/7 is still quite thin. His coat is nice and shiny but he continues to be thin. He came with zero manners, was unruly, and just generally distracted. He is huge, his back is a couple or few inches above where a normal tabletop lies. He is strong as an ox and has broken a total of four collars to date... how he doesn't break his neck when he does it is beyond me; I've seen him leave the ground 2-3 feet when he comes to the end of a lead when chasing a squirrel... why the squirrels would enter the yard when he is there is beyond me but they do. Riley loves balls, any type, shape or size of ball he loves them. He will stay out in the yard for hours bouncing, banging, kicking, chasing and carrying around of balls... Riley also loves and I can't stress how much he loves to walk... if we walked six miles a day Riley would be up for it, I bet he would gladly do ten or more if he could... I bet in his day when he roamed Thompsonville, CT he probably did put ten or more miles on those hoofs in a day. These days Riley is walked with a halter of exceptional quality, not that I wanted to spend that much on a halter for him but his affinity of breaking of collars warranted it. He walks very well on said halter, so well that I can walk both dogs by myself if need be; before Riley would literally drag me if he chose to zig or zag after something. I have to say Miss N has responded extremely well to the halter as well, to the point she now walks with a slack leash... I highly recommend the halter if you have a dog that pulls.

We walked Tuesday-Saturday three miles a day, giving us a total for the week of 15 miles and a total to date of 45.9 miles. I had hoped for 50 miles in the four weeks but I'm not totally disappointed with what we did either.

Both my husband and I noticed our legs aren't sore like they were the previous two weeks, it's amazing how quickly the body accepts the extra work. We talked last night we will most likely add another house to our route every week or every other till we are up to five miles, I'd like to walk that four days a week and hike on Sundays as much as possible. The only thing that will keep me from walking this winter is the extreme cold, I've pulled out my thermals as well as my wool socks, gloves, hats and sweaters... I have 2 wool sweaters that are extremely warm and I have a feeling those along with a good coat will become my very best friends this winter. Miss N will be getting a coat, and she and Riley some rain gear of some kind... last winter only night Miss N dragged my husband home was a cold, windy, snowy, rainy night... Natasha was "begging" to go so my husband obliged her, she proceeded to drag my husband around the block as fast as she could and home; she didn't "beg" the next night when the weather was similar. We're pretty good, when the dogs "ask" to go for a walk we usually take them; it's rare we tell them no... So, for the dogs health our health will reap the benefits as well.