He's only 4 1/2 years old but he's the best trainer I've ever had. Well... I've never actually had a trainer so he doesn't really have to be that good to be the best but he's pretty great!
In an effort to get back in the groove losing weight and training for a week-long hiking trip to the Adirondacks this summer, I've begun walking 3-5 miles four (or more) times per week. One of those days I go to my friend's house and we walk dogs and her pony for several miles through the woods. The rest of the days I head out into the 300+ acres of conservation land across the road from our house. These are the days Brody loves because he can stretch his own legs and coax me into kicking my workout up a notch.
For instance, today I went for a walk with him and had already walked about two miles zigging and zagging through trails and roads that wind through the conservation area (the well head protection area for the entire town) leading to the various pump houses by the time I let Brody take the lead. We had passed only one person on a horse and another person way off in the distance when we crossed the power line road. I did also see four boys from my neighborhood who were goofing around trying to convince me that they were a pack of coyotes - shortly after hearing something similar to the yelping we often hear at night, I spotted them dashing into the woods ahead of me. Brody was not to be distracted though.
Shortly after we ducked back into the woods I let Brody decide where we were going. He quickly realized that he was in charge for this part of the workout and he takes his work very seriously! He led me directly to what I affectionately call "Ass Thrash Alley" (ATA). It is basically a big X inside a roughly round series of trails. The X is a criss-cross of trails that begin with a steep climb and then drops abruptly downhill in a steep pitch to the valley where it sharply turns uphill at another steep angle. No matter how you approach it, you get a good workout with up-down-up and of course, you aren't allowed to turn right around, you have to complete the circle and cross back through the other leg of the X to complete the cycle. I didn't make the rules, Brody did. I just follow them because he seems to know what he is doing.
I'm not sure if he was torturing me today or if his brain just got stuck in a loop but every time we completed the cycle and I thought we'd bear right on the trail and head back toward the abandoned cranberry bog that begins the last 1/2 mile home, he'd turn left again and dash back into ATA only stopping at the top of the first hill to make sure that I was going to follow. I did. I had to. He was the boss for the time being and I had to take my lead from him.
Five cycles of Ass Thrash later, I had had it for the day and when he dashed to the top of the hill for the sixth time, I breathlessly said, "Really?". He paused, admitted it was enough for the day and came back down the hill and headed toward the bog. When we reached the edge of the bog, he went right again - the direct route back to the trail head to home but I went left. I figured that if I wasn't going to do another pass through the canyon, I could at least walk the long way home around the bog. Brody was very happy with my decision.
We arrived home and he promptly flopped on the floor in his favorite place in front of the wood stove. Apparently being a trainer takes a lot out of a dog!
No comments:
Post a Comment