"Jog!"

This is it. Day 1 of officially teaching the pup how to run with me. As in really run with me. Right now he thinks running = bite on the leash and wrestle it in exuberance. Or chasing things. Like a ball or a rabbit. Or running away because he knows I saw he has a sock in his mouth and darned if he’s going to give such a delectable delight up so easily!

This morning I brought with me a pocket full of treats. We started with a nice easy walk, then I gave the command “Jog!” and set off. Having never heard that command from me before, I wasn’t expecting much.

I broke down the run into 3x 5 minutes, allowing walk breaks in between for him to be a dog and sniff out the p-mail. While Brizzy has boundless energy, normally he associates running with chasing things, or play, and has not had much opportunity in trotting beside me on a short leash. The first 5 minutes were a disaster, with me constantly saying, “No!” and making various loud angry noises to interrupt his violent mauling of the leash. Then we’d stop, I’d make him sit, say “Jog!”, and off we’d go. At least for another 2 seconds before the whole thing started again.

 "Yes, Mom! I'd LOVE to come for a run! I'm vibrating with energy at the thought!"

The second 5 minutes were much better! We got through the entire thing without a hitch, and it gave me hope. He was bright and attentive. It might have helped that I had shown him the treats in my hand and was occasionally reaching down to give him a little treat as we ran.

False hope. The third set of 5 minutes proved too much, between rabbits and other dogs and the tempting leash dangling before his mouth, I can’t say I got any quality running in. But here’s hoping I’ll make a running dog out of him yet! With all the energy he has, I’m seeing some 5k’s coming down the pipes. But not tomorrow, and not next week. I didn’t learn to run 5k in one go, so I can’t exactly have the same expectations for him.

Still, I have the warm fuzzy feeling that this is going to be the start of a beautiful new running friendship. Kind of like the feeling I get when I buy a new pair of running shoes.