Black Mountain.
19c. SE 2 – 3. Lovely bright summers day but too warm for unfit dogs.
Jalad and Roxy.
We’re at the control stage and the dogs were made to do their ground even though it was hard work. They both made a good fist of the running, Roxy having the better of the run by far. Before we reached our goal both dogs were looking for water and they ran a bit after they had a drink but Jalad was punctured and not far from being in distress even after he was picked up. Ross and I are both now of the opinion that running Jalad at 30 kgs isn’t going to work so I will freeze his rations at two scoops or the equivalent for the time being. I might even reduce it if he doesn’t make sufficient progress on his fitness level.
Chris and Basso.
For long enough I thought Basso was much faster than his father Chris. He has racier lines and is a lighter build all round. Well today he could only make ground while running down hill and only just even at that. Once they reached an upgrade Chris would edge away very slightly. These two dogs restored a bit of confidence. Chris was the better, again, but mainly because his lines were better. He didn’t get disrupted by lark scent and was really hunting hard.Then there is the fact that when you have confidence in a dog handling you let it go further and nothing looks better than a dog whipping round at the P of the first peep, three hundred yards away. So Chris had the better of Basso but they were both tired at the end and it was a slightly dejected group of dogs that emerged from the car back home. All looking tired and Jalad looked and acted shattered, throwing himself on the floor of his kennel, probably to get the benefit of the coolness of the cow mat. You can’t see my runs from the house at this time of the year with the trees and bushes in full leaf and they are well shaded from the sun.
Later.
Lucky has damaged a toe. He was playing with Coco this morning, yelped, and then couldn’t put his foot to the floor. At the time it looked like a fresh injury done there and then. I saw him favouring his front driver’s side during the day but luckily enough when I got him out to feed it didn’t see to be bothering him any more. On looking closely it looks like a nail infection at least days old so I think it’s off to the vet tomorrow, hopefully just for antibiotics.
