Hello Again

I took the dog for a walk this morning.  We have this new 'walking collar' for him which has straps that go all over his face.  Ok, well not all over his face.  It looks like this:

That was the best shot I could get of it on him.  He's a little bit wiggly.  The harness leads him by his nose, instead of around the neck.  It's supposed to discourage pulling.  It seems to work ok when he's not fighting it.  Even though I've implemented the desensitizing process they had in the instructions, he's still reaches for his nose or thrashes his head.  However, I think I prefer it to the choke-collar we had been using.  He pulls a lot less with this new fandangled contraption.

Anyways,  besides the new walking collar, the walk this morning was nice.  I really should do it more often; I just greatly dislike waking up early.  The sun should be up when I get up.  Despite this dislike, I got up to my barely audible alarm at 5:45 am this morning and got myself and the dog ready.  My husband planned on coming with but woke up from a rough early morning sleep and with an aching back.  So Kuma and I set off, treats in hoodie pocket and iPod in hand.

I love walking.  It's slightly more difficult with the dog because he is trying to pay attention to everything around him (we need to get him out SO much more), but it's still nice.  There's no one out in the morning.  Just me, the dog, a light music playlist, and the distant morning traffic.  It's a great time to relax even though I'm working.   I don't have to be thinking about or doing anything else.  Just walking.

On the way back, I decided to jog a bit.  Mind you, I don't jog much so it wasn't long.  I tried to concentrate on making sure my heel hit first to protect my knees.  That's a lot harder than it sounds.  The dog, who always wants to go faster, could not figure this jogging thing out.  He saw me pick up the pace and must have thought, 'We're running? OK!'  He reached the end of the leash and seemed confused.  He slowed down until he reached my side and noticed me jogging again and it was as if the same thought ran through his head: 'We're running? OK!' and sped to the end of the leash.  Silly puppy.

My sisters are contemplating a Couch to 5k work out and I thought about it a lot this morning on my walk.  I think I might try it out.  I have no idea where I'd jog 5k though.  It'd be nice to have a goal to work towards.  I'll have to ask them about it. :)