The Dogs Have It!

In case anyone is wondering, I renamed my blog "sisterbison....running with the herd" because I plan on focusing a bit more on running in this blog. I've been reading lots of running blogs lately and finding them very motivational and want to contribute to that general enthusiasm about running.

However, I'll be enthusiastic later. For today, I want to talk about how entertaining, yet demoralizing, it is to be passed by dogs while running. Has this happened to anyone else? You are running along, thinking you're going at quite a clip, and then you hear the tell-tale "clank-clank" and "hhh,hhh,hhh" of a leashed dog panting. Oh, no, I think, here comes a dog. I don't have a problem with dogs. I actually like most of them. And I think it's great that people have dogs as running partners (as long as they are well-behaved). And to be honest, I don't even mind when dogs pass me- they have four legs and are way closer to their evolutionary roots than we are and back in the day all animals spent a large part of their lives running. It's all good when a dog passes you running like this:

Look at that guy! He's moving! He's going to catch that squirrel or PR or whatever.







What I DON'T like is when the dog looks like this:

"Ho-hum, just a nice trot, could I BE running any slower? I think not! Come on, human owner, pick it up a bit!"

And, without fail, that's what the dogs who pass me look like. They are never running. They are trotting (or walking quickly, let's face it). They are wagging their tails, looking around, like they are out for a scenic stroll. They are not breathing heavily, their tongues are out because they are ALWAYS out, they are dogs for Pete's sake, not because they are hurting for air. These are the dogs that pass me and they make me feel ssssllllllooooowwww. (Which I am, but that's beside the point.)



Even worse are the smaller dogs. Golden Retrievers are one thing. But why did I get passed by this guy last night?

This cute little cockadoodle or cockapoo (whatever those cocker spaniel poodle mixes are called) flew past me and I swear he winked at me. Harumph.

(As a total aside, why was it that when I searched for "cookadoodle" on Google images this is what popped up?):

It was so weird. It was dog, dog, dog, dog, I clicked to page 2, dog, dog, dog, I scrolled down and BAM, OBAMA. So odd. Is there a Senate sub-committee dedicated to making sure Obama's picture pops up anytime you google ANYTHING? My husband suggested it might be because the first dog is a cookadoodle. Good thought. It's not. It's a Portuguese Water Dog. Guess it must be that Senate sub-committee.....our tax dollars at work.


That's all for now. Don't get me wrong, being passed by dogs breaks up the monotony of a boring run and they remind me that running is supposed to be fun! They look so darn happy! So if you have a dog, get out there and run with it! And if you don't, go out and run anyway!

Happy Friday!