I Should Call Him Cigarette!

Hello blog lovers.

Dexter!

Q. Why do you call your dog Cigarette?  A.  Because  take him out for a drag!

Seriously, if this dog isn't speeding off when hes let off the lead then I am having to drag him along like a spoilt child with it on!  I can't win, but even with his bouts of speediness my run was blimmin slow!

I decided I needed a run, I missed out on parkrun Saturday, and on Sunday, I had things to do people to see, Kirsty in particular, (she has only been in hospital for a week and I miss her!). There was no getting out this morning or this afternoon as my day was filled with waiting for people to turn up with deliveries or  for people to see my mother in law!  Then it was school pick up time!  I am not sure how I fitted in all my running and cycling before hand, but some how things are taking over my time.  I don't, mind, needs must, there will be plenty of time for me again, when I am no longer needed.  When that time comes I will need to run!

To kill two birds with one stone I took Dexter with me, he's young and he goes running with his 'mummy' my daughter, so I am sure he can come running with me, I am a lot slower than she would be.  So that he could have a good stretch of the legs and run 'free' I went to Normans Park.  Three laps I was planning on doing, 3 laps, only 3 miles.  I was looking forward to it.  The sun was out, the whole of the day it has been raining, but now, when I needed it, the son was there.

Dexter was eager to get out of the car once we parked up, straight up and wanting to get going.  I kept his lead on until we got off the car park, away from the ladies doing some sort of class on the grass, and once we got on the left long straight. Up until then I was pulling and calling, and dragging and pleading with the pooch to come along!  He just kept looking at me as if he was saying "Hang about Old Girl, I am doing an important job, these smells are not going to sniff themselves you know"  It was the way he looked at me, every time I gave a gentle tug on his collar!

Once I let the little terror off he took off like a rocket up the long straight!  Now I should be able to get some running done.  I whistled him to Stop! Such an obedient doggie........not mine (or my daughters I should say) oh no, not little Dexter, he just carried on!  When he came to some really interesting smell, one that just needed to be sniffed he ran back towards me, and I was thinking "Oh good he's listening to me!" But no, he ran to some clump of poop (horse poop!) and stopped dead, almost tripping me over!

I get him going again, and I am thinking that maybe we can, possible, get a nice time for a 3 lap Norman park run, for a young pooch and an Old Girl of course.  But no, because then the four legged park users all need to be said hello to, in the most embarrassing ways only dogs do!  Wet nose right up the........ooo look another dog to say hello to!  Seriously, every dog we saw, every lamp post, every tree, bin bench clump of grass, blade of grass has to be sniffed and marked to say it's been sniffed!

We came across a couple of other dogs, one was a lot bigger than our little Dexter, he his only a little Jack Russel, he just laid prostrate on the floor saying "Go on sniff me!"  I never know quite what to say to owners, "Oh he's a one" or "Such a a tart"  I am just so glad that that us humans just stick to a smile, a hello and a handshake!

Going down the long straight (the one on the right, where the end of parkrun finishes) I kept Dexter on his lead.  He didn't like it, but for some reason this side seemed to be bloody busy with doggies!  At the top, by the Hayes Lane car park end is where a big puddle forms, (usually is one of the reasons we have the winter route when we run parkrun) Dexter decides to go and play in it.  He has just little legs but he went bounding through it and thouroughly loved it.  He decided to seek out all the other puddles after that.

Our second lap was much the same as the first......only slower! Maybe he was getting tired, he is only little after all!  Sniffing, saying hello and weeing all the way round till we get to the big puddle.  I just looked at my Garmin and though this isn't going to be fast, only to be faced with a blank screen!  My battery had gone! Oh well, it wasn't going to be anything to write about........well ok, I am writing about it, but you know what I mean!  I let Dexter play in the puddle for longer this time. He was jumping about and then trying to catch the bubbles that he was making! He was having a whale of a time.

With just one more new dog to sniff at, a Sharpie, Charpay, sharpy.......some sort of big dog with the most wrinkliest of faces, (trying to breath through his squashed little nose) decided to try and play with Dexter.  He was a big dog, and very playful, Dexter is a little puppy, still unsure......he didn't like it!  So there was I dragging Deci away, telling the other dog to sit and stay and not to let it get to violent!  No, I have decided, even more so, that I do not want to get another doggie! After having him for 6 days now, it really has made my mind up!

I decided not to do another lap and just to do the two, we walked back to the car so that little Dexter can sniff away to his hearts content!  It was good to get out, I needed it so much.

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