Yesterday I took Beacon running with me at the local fairgrounds. I try to be fair to both of my dogs but I must admit, Haven is more often my chosen running partner. She enjoys running more than Beacon – he would rather fetch – and she also is more obedient on a leash. Haven knows a left turn is coming when I say “Left left left!”; she moves into the grass off the roadway when I say “look out!” for an oncoming car; best of all, she doesn’t pull very hard. Beacon pulls hard. He just marches straight ahead and generally ignores what I say.
This time, however, Beacon got to join me as we jogged through the quaint downtown to the dirt track at the fairgrounds. Surprisingly Beacon did not pull, and he listened and paused when I said “left left left!” even though he didn’t make the turn. At the track I let him off leash and he stayed right next to me! There were even two killdeer about 20 yards away that he was eyeing, but he didn’t move until I said “Go get the birds!” and then he dashed after them.
The first lap around the track Beacon seemed to be on sentry duty, patrolling the outside lane of the track while I ran the inside lane. After that lap he must’ve been content that no danger was present and ran the rest of the laps on the inside lane right behind me. When I would stop to catch my breath following the faster laps, he would stick his nose into my hand and beg for itches.
It was quite warm – upper 70’s – and Beacon was getting hot, so I led him down to the river bordering the fairgrounds for a brief dip. Each lap after that he ran over to the riverbank but when he saw that I wasn’t stopping, he passed up his cool bath to rejoin me on the track.
Speedwork complete, I rewarded him with some stick-fetching in the river until I couldn’t stand the mosquito bites anymore. Heading back home, I leashed him up for the jog back through town and once again he behaved perfectly. He didn’t pull and he listened to my commands. Why was he on such good behavior today? I can’t explain. Maybe something clicked for him; maybe I handled him differently; maybe he simply enjoyed the weather?
Ironically, even before putting my shoes on I hadn’t felt like running; I just wasn’t in the mood. But I needed the exercise and Beacon deserved some as well. Thankfully I didn’t wuss out of the workout because as it turned out, we had a blast running together! Good boy, Beacon!
