Paws To Run : Lilly's remarkable nose!

Lilly is a highly spirited 5 year old English Cocker Spaniel. She is one of my top k9 athletes, an all rounder capable of sprinting after her ball, running cross country 6k's with her team mates, and sniffing a scent, tail wagging furiously! If we go for a walk and she takes her ball with her, she can virtually retrieve it from any spot, even the most difficult to access. This pretty little girl has no qualms about diving into a thicket of brambles, rummaging around until she reappears with the precious muddy ball firmly grasped in her jaws! If she leaves it somewhere as she goes off on a trail, you can be sure that if I say "Lilly, find it" she will put her nose to the ground and circle the area until she does.

Paws to Run athletes are Happy k9's!

Just a quick post as I literally barely have time to sit down these days! A few photos of my Paws To Run athletes. They illustrate that a well exercised dog is a happy one. He or she will be relaxed and less likely to get into unwanted mischief at home. A bored dog becomes destructive. Working dogs have a job and expend their energy and intelligence that way. Pets must be given a "job", in this instance, learning to stay with the pack all the while using what nature intended: their sense of smell, hearing, and using their legs to full capacity. The happiness I get from witnessing their joy at running together through the fields is priceless. It is the reason I do what I do.

Paws To Run: one happy cocker!

Paws To Run: Ball chaser Beau

Dog Days of Summer

We've had a bit of a heat wave these past few days in the UK. As a dog walker I am responsible for my dogs' comfort and safety.  For my most energetic athletes, I provide a cooling vest which enables them to cope with the warm weather without giving up their favourite activity : running or cycling! I carry a back pack with plenty of water for water breaks, and we also make a stop at a beautiful little pond where they now have the habit of taking a refreshing (albeit sometimes muddy) dip! Even for those just going for a normal walk, the cooling vest can be helpful.  I used one on a little bull terrier cross the other day during our walk/play session, she also drank close to a litre and half of water!

Ralph: what a dog's life!

Ralph The Terrific Terrier January 2000- 2 June 2014

After my previous fox terrier Oliver died, I had said that I would let fate find another four legged friend for me. 5 years later, enter a little 4 month old terrier wandering alone in the Normandy village where my family in law had a country home.  It was Easter Sunday, and I spotted him coming down a dirt path, I rushed out of the gates and swooped him up. He was filthy, matted, skinny and had poo smeared on his behind. A neighbour poked his head out of a window and said the dog had spent the night sheltered next to a wood pile, it had been a very stormy night with thunder and lightning. I initially had to battle against an unwilling husband and a mother in law who did not want to let the little dog into the house. I replied that the puppy was staying because I wasn't going to let him get run over. To gain time, I left him in the garden while we had lunch. His little face would come to the French windows to look in. My 3 year old twins went outside to play with him, I called my husband to look out the window: the three of them sere sitting on the grass, side by side, grinning. That sold my husband who then took Ralph to the vet to have him checked over.

Little Ralph got used to living in Paris during the week and spending weekends in Normandy. He would be part of every vacation. I started running, and when he was old enough, he became my running partner. We would run around and around the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower. This feisty little dog loooooved to run. When he sensed we were about to be overtaken, he would look up at me and bark, all the while accelerating and pulling on his leash, urging me to go faster!  Later, when we moved to England, with the addition of another rescue dog, my Labrador Ursen, we eagerly took to the fields in beautiful Hertfordshire. I had picked the name Ralph because it means protector in old English . What a wonderful little terrier he was and I can say that he sparked my idea for my dog exercising service Paws To Run, when I saw with what glee he ran and frolicked through our lovely countryside. God speed my little one.

Dream Team Strikes Again!

The Dream Team I refer to is composed of two members of the Paws To Run Super K9 Athletes group : Biscuit, an 8 year old female red Doberman, and Lilly, A 5 year old black and white cocker spaniel. These two are absolute speed demons and love nothing more than when they see me wearing my running gear or when I bring out the bike.  Today, despite the awful drizzle and swamp like terrain, we cycled 7km.  While I was slip sliding away, they made mad accelerations, little Lilly hot on Biscuit's paws! It is during moments like these that Paws To Run gains its full meaning: to enable dogs to expend energy by using their full range of motion. We truly had a blast! The upshot: dogs return home contented and relaxed.

BISCUIT, 8 YEARS OLD

LILLY, 5 YEARS OLD