Stella is a rescue dog. I had never had a dog before, had never met her, didn't even know she was female when she came into my life. Luckily, she turned out to be practically perfect for me. Just the right temperament, activity level, tolerance for crazy people and appetite for leftovers.
Turns out, however, we are not good running buddies. My comfortable jogging speed is barely faster than a good power walk. This makes it an uncomfortable in-between walk and trot speed for her. Also, when we go for our walks she is on a long retractible leash and has plenty of freedom to run ahead and stop to smell the roses while I catch up. When we run, I've got her on a shorter, standard nylon leash so no more stopping for her.
I've always thought one of the biggest differences between human kids and dog kids is that you can teach them both the same tricks, but the dog kids will never learn why they have to do it and so will remain static. For example, I have taught Stella to always walk on the sidewalk and only go in the street with me to cross it. Eventually you can teach a child why this is important and they can learn when it is ok to be in the street for reasons other than crossing it. Dogs can't figure that one out. So I want to run in the street (our route is residential streets with wide bike lanes) and she keeps pulling my arm off, trying to get back onto the sidewalk. On the one hand, I'm really proud that she has learned such an important safety "trick." Heaven forbid she ever gets out on her own, she probably won't be running in the street. On the other hand, I want her to knock it off and stick by my side already! This might be a tricky habit to change. I'm hoping the use of different leashes for walks and runs will help me teach her that some behaviors are ok on a particular leash only. It will be a test for us both, any suggestions?
BTW today was Day 2, 2.6 mi., average pace of 15'13"
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