tether dog and cross training...boston style

My Wednesday run this week was by far one of the strangest. It makes the top 5 list for sure. Like many of my running stories, this one involves dogs.

One of the dogs, who I call Tether Dog, lives on one of my regular routes. I will often see Tether Dog and his elderly owner chillin' on their front porch. Usually, Tether Dog is peacefully perched on his owner's lap, just watching me run by. Tether Dog's dad is friendly...he waves every time he sees me. On this particular day, Tether dog was out on his own, chained up to a metal stake in his front yard. Tether Dog was NOT peaceful...he was out for a midmornin' rumble. Tether Dog is a little rat terrier thing...with a very yippy bark. He saw me coming and started running in very fast, wide, arcing, yippy circles. The chain system wasn't really working for him because it made him yank around violently juuuust out of reach of my path...giving him the very effect of being a canine tether ball...hence the name. Ahhh....good times, good times....

Now, if Tether Dog wasn't enough, I had another doggie run in when I looped around my neighborhood around mile 7. I see this Boston Terrier running across the street towards me...and it's apparent owner running about a half a block behind. Not wanting the dog to become road kill, I joined in the chase. Now, I am not one for cross-training (even though every doctor I've ever had look at my leg, foot, and ankle injuries has advised it), but this little guy gave me a workout. I was jumping over hedges, dodging cars, spinning around trees, side stepping mud puddles, and squatting under bushes, trying to rescue the little bugger. When I finally cornered him in a yard on my block, the lady caught up with us. I yelled to her that we were in a back yard. She breathlessly approached us, calling the dog's name. She stopped abruptly and said, "Well, that's not my dog!" Oh' for Pete's sake....the dog wouldn't come to her either, and ran off down the street. I told her that it didn't have tags. We both agreed that he would likely find his way back home somewhere in the neighborhood. I told her I had one more mile to go, so if I saw him again, I would try to catch him and see if I could find his owner.

I never saw my cross trainer again. Maybe he can meet me for my Saturday run...say around 9:00?!