Bonding with Bart

This is Bart after a 2.5 mile run -- too pooped to even gnaw on his bone, but very content.

I've basically ignored poor Bart over the last few weeks. I take him out just long enough to pee, and bring him back in. If he's lucky, I walk him to the end of the block and back (all of about 5-10 minutes at most). My lame excuse is that it's been cold, or I've been in a hurry, or I'm just back from the Y and my still-damp hair's starting to freeze. Today, however, knowing he was way overdue for a jaunt, I promised him a good long "out". A Terrier-Pomeranian mix, Bart only weighs 15 pounds, so I didn't expect much. Besides that our walks are often a bit frustrating for me. Usually I get pretty impatient when we walk because he's a peeing machine, whether he has any ammunition or not. Stop - start - stop - start. I thought I'd run till he was tired, then walk the rest of the way. He'd be happy and I would manage to maintain an easy workout day.

Instead his Terrier side came out in full force. He just kept going and going, minus about 4 quick squirts on a nearby tree. Nothing else distracted him. Earlier in the day Nelson had taken him for a long walk, so I guess Bart had gotten most of his desire to pee on every fire plug and tree out of his system. His pace and the look on his face told me that he was saying, "Finally! It's about time I got to get my wiggles out." I'm sure we ran about 3 miles, because I didn't slacken my pace much.

He did slow the pace a bit during the last half block, but by then he had so many brownie points that I didn't even care. I rewarded him with a "bone", dry dog food and canned food.

I never dreamed a dog this size could become a running partner. I think I'll take him with me whenever an "easy run" is on my schedule. He was good company, and he kept me from running too hard on this, my first real pre-spring, late winter outdoor run for the year.