My other running partner

She’s affectionately known by many names:  Maddicus, Maximus, Mad dog, Maddy mad, Muttface, Dogface, Maddilicious, etc.  Her real name is Maddy, but that name hardly gets used.  This is another weird family thing, we makeup names.  Just ask Phil all the names that Joyce calls him.

Maddy is our family dog and a great running partner that I run with sometimes.  She’s a black lab cross with Husky (we think).  She’s always over the top excited to go for a run no matter what the weather is like outside.  She runs at whatever pace I set and never complains about me running too fast, or too slow, never says a word when I need to walk, never barks at other dogs or rabbits or birds, never pulls on the leash.  In fact, most of the time the leash is slack so it’s not a problem holding it while I run. 

I always wanted a dog that you could run with, as it seems really neat to see dogs running beside their owners.  Previous dogs we had we couldn’t even walk without getting your arm yanked out of your socket, so running was totally out of the question.  Not Maddy.  She’s also learned a great skill of being able to do a quick pee on the run without me breaking my stride.  She runs up ahead a bit and squats to pee.  By the time I’m striding past her and almost ready to tug her leash, she’s done and runs quickly to catch up to me.  It’s a beautiful thing.  She doesn’t stop to sniff, unless we’re walking; then I let her have some fun. 

You’d think we spent loads of time training her in all this, but no.  We haven’t trained her at all.  She’s just seems to be a natural.

Now it does get to be a pain sometimes when she has to stop and poop.  Especially when I’m having a good run, as I tend to forget she’s even with me.  So we stop and I scoop the poop into the bag (we have a small roll of bags attached on a dispensing device to the leash).  Now I’m running with a swinging bag of dog poop looking for the nearest garbage can so I can dispose of said poop.  Having a swinging bag of dog poop is not fun on the run, so to avoid it swinging all around, you have to hold the poop itself in your hand.  Thank God for the thin veil of plastic bag.  Hopefully there are no holes in the bag.  In the winter, this acts as a great hand warmer.  Often Maddy is thoughtful enough to poop within about 40 meters of a garbage can so it’s not a long time I’m running and holding poop.  Sometimes though, I don’t see a garbage can for quite some time, and now I’m running, holding a dog leash and bag of poop, while scouting out the nearest garbage can.

Another pain is when she somehow manages to get a front paw tangled in the leash.  This is another time I need to stop and untangle her.  Ok, now my run is really getting interrupted.  Lately though, she’s magically learned how to untangle her paw all on her own so I don’t have to stop or even slow down.  Sweet!  Thanks Mad!

It’s fun for both of us and she never tires.  I won’t take her on runs longer than 10k and never in the really hot & humid weather. 

Best part about running with dog, is that when you have a crappy run, you can always blame the dog and say “it was because she had to stop and walk a few times.”