Two years ago when we first saw Shane in the kennel at the Ada County Animal Shelter, his description said...."Couch potato". I looked at this quiet, gentle, big dog in the kennel and recognized him as a breed that loves to run and play. Surely, the "couch potato" description was wrong. I was looking or a big dog to be my trail running buddy. We took him out to the yard, and he was so sweet and gentle. He didn't bark. He didn't know how to play fetch. He just wanted to be loved. So we brought him home. I was confident, I could change the couch potato into a lean mean trail running machine! Not. So. Much.
At first we went to doggy parks and he loved to run and play with other dogs. That is until a big ol' pit bull decided to lay him out and he hit his head so hard on the grass I could hear it hit. Then he became aggressive towards other dogs. He started barking. My big gentle quiet dog found his bark, and it was scary. He started being way protective and didn't like people coming into our home. (Which I guess only happened if *I* was at home. If I wasn't he was cool with people coming over.) I got him to protect me on the trails, so I guess that is good.
In the last 2 years, he has lost his leash aggression. He is cool with people coming into the house. A dog from down the street even snuck into our back yard and into the doggie door early in the morning and Shane and the dog played like they were little mates. (So much for protecting mom.) But also in those 2 years the whole couch potato thing really sunk in.
With his aggression, I couldn't take him out on the trails. Not because I couldn't trust him, but because the other "off leash" dogs would come up to him and freak him out. It wasn't good for him. So I kept running and he stayed home. Then I was running further than he could go. I took him out a couple of times and had to cut my walks/runs short because he just gonna keel over. Last year, after I was gone for 5 weeks, I came home and took him for a hike up Table Rock. By the time we got to the top, Shane was toast. But we had to get back down. He was waling sooooooo slow, I had to remove the lead from his neck because *I* couldn't walk that slow. I had water for him, but it didn't matter. He was toast! Poor baby. So other than little walks around our block, he didn't go very far because I was in serious training mode for my first ultramarathon.
Fast forward to now. I'm healing from back surgery. At first I was only allowed to walk around my block, so we took Shane with us. Then I would walk 2 laps, and Shane would come. Then I took him a mile..he wasn't happy but he did it. (As I am typing this, I remember him doing a 5K before I went in for surgery and he did well.) Anyway... we took him to the vet last week for a check up and found out he was overweight. I would like him to lose 15#. He doesn't eat alot. At first he was an opportunistic eater, but we have broken him of that behavior. Now he only eats 2 cups of kibble a day. 1 in the morning and one at night and he has gained alot of weight. So.....now that I am walking more... I am taking him with me.
My training has now become his training. And today as I was walking him. Our goal was to do between 2 and 3 miles. We took a different route today and I wasn't sure what the distance would be. I can tell you, that I woke up hurting and I really didn't want to go for this walk. But I knew I had to. I knew I would feel better if I did. Shane was excited when he saw me put on my shoes; he figured that meant he got to go. When I got his lead, he was ready for it to slide over his head. His tail was wagging. He was ready to go! We started walking and it was slow.
Now, Shane hates the heat. He really hates it. But today, it was overcast, breezy and beautiful! Normally he LOVES walking in this type of weather. But by the time we got to the end of our street, I could tell it was gonna be "one of those days". I encouraged him to keep going. We got on Victory road (he hates busy roads and is terrified of cars). By the time we got across Cole, he was so freaked out that he actually turned back around to face the house and stopped and refused to move. He didnt' want to go any further. OMG. How many times have I felt those pains. Walking up a hill that was killing me..feeling like I just didn't have the mental or the physical strength to keep pushing.
Gently (or rather sternly) I pulled him back to attention and back to where we were heading. He was dragging tail. He didn't want to be on this walk. Finally we were off the busy street and onto "horse property" neighborhood. Big lush yards. Horses. And I found a route that didn't have mean dogs (which was another reason why I stopped taking him originally... the dogs on my regular route would bust out of their fences and attack him). But today it was quite and cool. I enjoyed the slow walk. But we started heading up hill, and I could see his tongue practically dragging the ground.
Have you ever stopped to look at a dog with its tongue just dangling out. I wonder what that must feel like.
Anyway... I kept offering him water but he wasn't interested. I think his head was saying.. "I just want to get home! I'm so over this!" He would lag behind me. Then I would ask him to keep up and he would get ahead of me and I would tell him to slow down. Poor baby.
Just passed mile 2 he was just so over the walk. I could see it in his posture. I could see it in his face. He just wanted to be home. And truthfully so did I. This was definitely one of those walks where you just had to do it whether you wanted to or not. Yes, dogs have those days too! It's not just us people!
Today as I was walking with Shane, he reminded me of how hard it is to keep pushing myself even when I just want to sit on the couch and be that couch potato. He reminded me how his unconditional love that he has for me. I don't think he would do this for just anyone, but he loves me so he goes with me. And I love him, and I love sharing my day with him. I encourage him gently to keep on going to keep pushing.. "You are almost there, buddy!" Which are the same sentiments I tell myself when I am training or doing my races, "You are almost there, Martha! You are doing so great! Just keep putting one foot in front of another." But its great to be able to share that with Shane. He makes a great training partner or this recovering athlete. He is gentle with me. I think he knows when I am hurting and need to take it slow. And I think he knows when I am on top of my game and ready to speed it up, cause I have seen him go just about marathon pace with me. He is a rock star, and we make a great team!
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