Saturday, January 2, 2010

Powerhouse Dane

Vegas and I were able to get out of the house today for a nice bike ride. Instead of going our usual route, I opted to take a bit longer outing and head west from our house to the middle school. After Googling it, I discovered the route is just 1.4 miles each direction. Once we got to the school we also rode around the track for an additional mile. 

Sometimes when I go out with Vegas, I can just tell she's not really up for a hard run. In this case I set my bike gears to where it's more of a challenge for me pedaling but where I can keep a steady pace that lets her stick with a trot. Today was not such a day. Vegas regularly amazes me with how much power and strength she has. She was a complete powerhouse today and wanted to full out run the entire way there. Her tongue was hanging out and she was frothing a bit on her lips and from her nose when we arrived at the school. But she wasn't done yet! After a quick potty break, I let her off the WalkyDog so she could run inside the track on the grass. Almost always when I do this, she runs alongside me anyway. Today I pushed her to run in the grass a bit and I could tell she was happy when she did. Her stride lengthened and she got that motion going where her front legs cross her back when she's all stretched out. She had a lot of fun. We took a quick break before heading home so I could let her breathing regulate and then we rerouted ourselves to home. 

I had just ordered a new supplement for her recently and it showed up last week. We've never tried it but I see a lot of people giving it to their dogs at agility trials. It's called Go Dog. I half filled the water bottle that came with it, about 10.5 ounces and mixed it up for her. I've never seen her drink something like that. She downed the entire amount and licked the bowl clean. And 3 short hours later she was up and acting like she wanted to go again. It might be hunger prompting her to get up and at em' as she's laying down again now after having been fed dinner, but usually if she's that tired she won't get up and follow me constantly. I'll have to monitor that and see if it really does help her performance and recovery wise. We're going up to the mountain tomorrow for my first time trying cross country skiing. My friend, Lindsay, is going to give me pointers and we'll have our girls along, Vegas and Bess. Our destination is Frog Lake and it'll be Vegas' and my first time on the mountain this season. I really hope that she gets good and worn out and I am able to keep up with all of them on skis! 

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