Now that autumn is here and the temperatures are starting to cool down, it is time to start running Titan again. This year, my goal with Titan is to get him able to run 5 miles by the end of the season, with minimal incidents. This will be hard since the trails I'll be using this year are the same ones we hiked him in last year, so will have to help him fight the urge to mark every tree he passes.
I have also been saving up to attend the Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair and Seminars, which will be a great learning experience and a means of getting new gear without having to pay for shipping. I'm also hoping to attend, and possibly run, one of the many dryland races in the neighboring states. Will have to see if I feel confident enough in myself and Titan to run in a new area around dogs and people he doesn't really know.
Anyways, so far we have run 3 times this season, the first 2 a short 1 mile loop while the 3rd was almost 2.5 miles. Below are the videos from the first two runs:
Now for the 3rd run, that was quite an adventure, I'll have to remember not to run Titan by a ravine that travels by swampy areas where the local fauna tend to hang out at. The run started out fairly good, he was screaming to go and took off like a bullet. He listened fairly well and every time I stopped him to do something unrelated, I could practically feel the frustration in him as he wanted to keep going.
The plan was to ride up to the dam and let him have some fun in the water, but Titan had other plans. He was running along nicely until some major movement caught his attention, it could have been some birds or a deer or even just the sun shining off of the water, I didn't see it so I'm not sure but whatever it was it had really gotten his attention. He took a sharp turn down the ravine, I didn't react quick enough, the bike skidded, and down I went.
Titan wasn't really able to drag me more than a foot or 2, but with the way I was laying and the steep angle of the ground I wasn't able to reposition myself to get him and the bike back on the trail. Seeing that Titan's focus was on something in the swampy water a few feet ahead of him, I made the decision to let go of him and the bike, knowing that he wasn't planning on going far. He dragged the bike right into the mud, luckily knocking the camera off before everything else went in with him.
As I sat up, brushing the dirt off of myself and making sure I was in one piece, Titan was having fun splashing in the muddy water and seemingly trying to catch something (a fish maybe). I grabbed his harness, unlatched him from the bike and brought him back up the ravine. Thankfully I brought an extra leash so I could secure him to a trees while I went back down to retrieve the bike.
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| Titan is wondering when he can start running again |
Boy did he scream his head off when he saw me come back into view with that bike, and he screamed some more as he waited for me to sort out the bike. Somehow Titan managed to push the front tire under the frame, causing the brake lines to twist around the handle bars, and bending some of the metal components to the point where they were useless. I managed to get the wheel back into position and the bike in mostly working order. Though the front brakes are useless now it's a good thing this bike has back brakes.
I hooked Titan back up to the bike and ran him back to the car, we still had about a half mile to go so I kept him at a slower pace (utilizing the back brakes) just in case something else caught his eye. The rest of the run he was a bit distracted but listened well enough. He surprised me, and made me proud, when we passed a person walking their dog down an adjacent trail. This Shepherd-type dog grumbled when he saw us through the trees, which did get Titan's attention for a split second. But he went right back to focusing on running the trail ahead of him and ignored the dog behind him. Lots of praises for that.
Below is the video chronicling most of the run, including Titan's dive into the ravine and him ignoring the dog (who is off camera):
After we reached the car, I tossed the bike in and walked Titan to the river. I figure that even though he took me down a ravine, I might as well reward him for ignoring the grumbly dog and maintaining focus most of the run. Shouldn't forget the positives and try to laugh at the negatives. He had fun splashing in the water and trying to catch the ducks we so rudely disturbed.
