Running Again

I stopped taking Pappy for runs a while back because of a nerve-wracking incident, but this weekend we went out and he seemed to enjoy it.

The incident took place the morning of the day we were flying to the UK on vacation. I decided to take Pappy on a run to keep him from getting too out of shape during our absence. Pappy always starts a run tugging at the lead, dawdles a bit up to the halfway point, and then he gets into the "zone" and races through the home stretch. At the halfway point that morning, he was really dragging. I then saw he had a pronounced limp. Suddenly I had visions of Pappy having a burst tendon with five hours until I had to leave for an international plane flight... and a newbie dog-sitter who we couldn't reach before we left... and a million things to do. I picked Pappy up and started carrying him with my mind racing to think how I was going to fit in a vet visit, and who I could talk to about follow up.

Pappy isn't big at 37 pounds, but he gets to be a load after a quarter mile-- but I forged along. He seemed to be having a good time licking the sweat off my face, and looked suspiciously comfortable. Finally I needed to take a breather, so I put him down and he was walking without much trouble. Within two hours, he was chasing balls around the back yard. The little stinker!