Biking

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On Tuesday, before class, the weather was nice enough to meet some friends in the park with their dogs for a picnic dinner. After that, we went for a walk on a fairly flat trail along a stream. Dazzle had a BLAST!!! He was doing great recalls and even found a ball to play with which he carried for almost the entire walk. He and the other dogs were having fun jumping in and out of the water too. I took a few photos, but when I just went to edit them, they were not on my camera!? I have no idea why. I saw them on the camera view screen after I took them, but now they are not on the card. I'm bummed because I think I got a good one of him with his face in the water diving after a stick. I'm wondering if the card got corrupted because it's a 2 GB card and wasn't that full, but I was getting a "card full" error message. I did delete a few images to make room to take the water photos, but apparently that didn't work. I'll get another card as soon as I can.
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Yesterday, it was a beautiful 70 degrees and I had to get back out to enjoy it. I have been slowly introducing Dazzle to my bicycle in the basement, though he has never showed any concern about it. So I felt it was time to put it to the test and take him on the trail. It was the first time he was hooked to the bike and he did GREAT! He pulled a few times to the side for interesting smells, but learned that wasn't really working and stopped doing it. He really seemed to enjoy being able to move at his ground covering trot and had a big grin on his face! Other than a few times mentioned below, he completely ignored everyone else on the trail that we passed. People out walking and jogging, other bikes, kids in strollers and on bikes, even a couple horses.
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He got a bit excited by 2 wild labrador puppies that we were trying to pass and I had to stop and let them pass us so he didn't get in front of the wheel. He's so darn long bodied, that when he is attached to his harness with the Springer, he could still get his head/front feet in front of the wheel if he really pulls. But that is partly because he was able to spin the springer equipment forward. I have since tightened the bolts so it shouldn't move. I also had him hooked to the rear loop of the pulling harness (between his ribs and tail) and after that, I moved the snap to the attachment that was closer to his ribs (where a normal harness attachment is.) So that should prevent him from being able to get in front.
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We only did 1.5 miles which was the short bike trail plus the trail around the ranger building by the lake. Since it was pavement, I didn't want him to wear the pads off his feet. In the middle of the 1 mile bike trail, we stopped at the river and I let him play there. He even got some passing walkers to throw his stick for him when they came down to the shore to look for skipping stones. I tossed his stick in a swimming depth section and he did try to get it, but wasn't quite sure about swimming so he let it float down river. Then he got out, ran along the shore and got it from the shallow part :-)
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We did have a minor incident at the end of the ride. A little kid was throwing food into the lake for the ducks. Dazzle couldn't resist and did get in front of the bike before I could stop. He yelped and held his front paw up for a bit, but I checked it and didn't see or feel any injury. After a little bit of limping as we were stopped there, he put it down and seemed fine. We continued the short ride to the van. When he got in the van, I saw a spot of red on the side of his paw at the top of the pad and checked it again. He had scraped it a bit and it was just oozing blood, not really bleeding. I put a bandage on it with antibiotic cream, but that seemed to bother him more than the injury. I took it off when we got home and after a bit of licking, he was back to ignoring it.
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I went back out later that afternoon to the training center with him to work on some freestyle, but for some reason the player/CD that worked just fine at home was having issues when I tried it there. We played around a bit anyway, till he bumped/scraped his foot going after a ball and started limping and licking at it. So I called it quits. He's fine on it today, running in the yard, etc.
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On the way home, I stopped at Walmart and picked up a pouch for the front of my bike (bigger than the little fanny pack I had straped there to carry a water bottle and folding bowl) so I have room to also carry a small first aid kit and my camera. I'm hoping the tightening I did to the springer will prevent any future problems (that and the memory of what happened when he tried to get in front.) So hopefully I won't need to use the kit. But it's a good thing to have. Especially if we try the much longer bike trail at some point. I also got a better seat for my bike. Dazzle was pulling the bike just enough that I could remain seated and help peddle while going up the small hills, so it wasn't hard on my knees like I thought it would be. When we weren't on an uphill section, I was mostly hitting the brakes from time to time to keep him from getting too fast. No peddling needed. I think this is going to be a great way to exercise him till it gets too hot.
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Last night a front came through and it's back in the 50's and I'm staying inside. Probably better biking weather, I know, but I'm going to let his foot heal a bit more before we go out for another ride. I'm REALLY hoping it will be warmer than what they are predicting for this weekend. I'm going to be helping lay tracks for a tracking test on Sunday near Dayton. I have to go up on Saturday too to figure out where the tracks will be laid, get instructions, etc. For some reason they feel the need to start the day up there at dawn! Since it's about an hour and a half away, it's going to be a couple very early mornings. But I think it will help me see what I need to teach Dazzle with regards to tracking, because I have never seen a tracking test. I'm also looking forward to meeting others in my area that do tracking.