The Quest for a Mile

I was still suffering from the aftereffects of the Migraine which leveled me for the weekend, but instead of it feeling like someone was trying to scoop my brain out of my head with an icepick through my temple, it had settled into a "comfortable" dull ache at the base of my skull. MUCH more do-able than the icepick thing. I still felt like someone had beat me up, though; I was sore all over, and really achy. So no running was had, but at least I didn't have to cancel my Bible class yesterday morning.

So yesterday afternoon, Phil said that he wanted to go to a local park and jog on the greenway. I immediately wanted to go; that sounded like so much fun! Phil said that he could jog and I could walk, and when he was done jogging, he could come back to wherever I was.

Well, I wasn't very comfortable with this idea because there are some shady characters that are sometimes on the greenway, and the greenway cuts through some fields, etc... kind of the "no one will hear you scream" mentality. So I said that I was fine with this, except I wanted to take Lola.

Here is Lola. She was so happy to be invited!

So we popped the tailgate of my SUV and herded her inside. Even though she has only been in the car a couple of times, mostly to go through traumatic occurances such as getting her shots and getting spayed, she was very eager to hit the road. She is the sweetest dog. I can't believe someone dumped her at our house. And whoever did that to her was very abusive to her, too. She has taken a long time to trust us, and there are still quirky things that we have to do to prove that we mean her no harm.

So we got to the park, which Lola had never been to before, and we hit the greenway! There were SOOO many new THINGS to sniff! Trees, trees, trees! So many peed-upon trees!!!

Now as I said before, she was not treated well by whomever had her before, but she and I have formed a special bond. She is very protective of me. She will only let Phil stand between me and her. Literally. If anyone else blocks her vision of me, she must get to a place where this is no longer an issue. If she CAN'T move to a place where she stands between me and The Stranger, then she barks urgently. Not that she would bite or anything ... she has never bitten anyone, never even HINTED at biting anyone. But, you know, I think if something actually DID happen to me and I was in trouble, and Lola could do something about it ... I really think she would.

So I was very interested to see how she would handle walking by so many Strangers. And sometimes, these Strangers would have Dogs. Stranger Dogs. Hmm...

So the first guy that we passed was a little old man out walking for exercise. Lola promptly moved so that she was between me and the old man, and her fur was bristled and her ears were at attention, and I was very surprised that when he was very close to us, she halfway growled at him ... almost a hiccup-growl. Like she didn't really mean anything, but she was letting us know she was On Alert. I had never heard her growl before at someone. I wondered if this was such a good idea. Perhaps it was Sensory Overload.

However, even though we passed by at least twenty other Strangers, she never growled, not once, not even close. She always moved between me and the Stranger, though, and she was On Alert from the moment she eyed them from afar.

When we encountered other dogs, she acted like she didn't even see them. She wasn't even tense. Sometimes the other dogs were barking at her like crazy, and she would eye them coolly like, "What's YOUR problem?" and move on. I thought this was VERY good dog behavior, especially considering how little interaction with other dogs she has. She got much love for that one.

When we were about a fourth of the way through our walk, there was a little girl (about 5 or 6 years old) who was by the big creek that runs alongside the greenway. She was fishing with her family. She ran up to us and asked so sweetly, "Can I pet your doggy?"

Phil and I looked at each other. Sure, Lola had never done anything before ... but would she today?

The mom yelled at us, "Aw, your dog looks just like Baby!" And the girl said, "I miss Baby. She died this summer." And choked back a sob.

"Sure you can pet her!" I said (how could I not?). "Just know that she's a little shy of strangers, so listen to me if I tell you to move away, okay?"

So I squatted down next to Lola, and as the little girl approached, Lola laid down right on the sidewalk, head between her paws. She was tense all over, obviously scared, but she was submissive. The girl pet on Lola for a few minutes, and Lola didn't budge. The girl, her family, and I talked about Baby and Lola and their similarities. Phil was also a bundle of nerves, ready to pounce if Lola tried anything. But when I saw her lay down, I knew we were fine.

Once the petting was over and Lola was free from the Strangers, she was very boisterous, jumping and trying to wrestle us, and running around and around us on her leash. She knew she had been a Good Dog.

We walked the entire length of the greenway and back. I think this was about 6 miles, maybe 7. (Phil, incidentally, never jogged, because he said he was enjoying the company too much.) Lola rode back in the car just as quietly as she came, and she was very tired when we got home.

So, I didn't jog, but I think it was a good trade. Plus, I am sore in parts of my legs that I am not normally sore. Maybe this changeup was a really good thing!

All right, well, I've put off going to do grocery shopping long enough. Perhaps the three minutes will be attained tonight? I'm not sure; I'll play it by ear. I might take it easy since I haven't jogged in a couple of days. Thanks for reading, friends!