Healthy Pups

So Bella needs to lose weight.  She's 4 now, and about 5-7 pounds more than is ideal for her breed.  Plus she has a bad back.

Just about a year ago she had this:

Intervertebral Disc Disease

The discs that separate the vertebrae have a gelatinous nucleus with a tough, fibrous outer covering. As the dog ages, these discs lose pliability and may begin to calcify. At this point, a bit of force can cause a disc to push into the spinal cord or to rupture, or become herniated, and push the nucleus into the spinal cord. This causes the dog a great deal of pain and can lead to paralysis.

Bella had to have surgery to the tune of 6 grand and now I want to keep her and her back healthy.

So we started a new workout regimen for her... and hit Riverside today.  I wanted to ogle shirtless runners, always good motivation to get working, and get her some cardio.

So we took off from 31st and headed towards 21st, but Bella refused to walk.  I mean she planted her ass and would have none of it... so we turned the other direction and she was perfectly content to walk the other way. 

So I started Runkeeper on my phone to see how far Bella could make it.  We stopped a few times for water and for Bella to mark part of Riverside as her own... but in 30 minutes Bella did 1.15 miles. 

Let's see if I can whip her fat ass into shape too.

Musings from Today's Walk

The girls and I hit the park for our jog tonight.  They're getting a bit better at it.  Bella made it 3/4 around the track before she decided she wanted to stop and sit down.  Molly just kept running and letting the leash pull her back. 

Kind of like Mike Meyers in that one SNL skit with Nicole Kidman where she gives him chocolate and he calls her the Devil.

Anyway, my goal tonight was to not sing aloud during the jog. So armed with my Pandora set to a Madonna station we set off.  Vogue popped up first and I zipped my lips and took off.  Then as the song ended I realized while I hadn't been singing along, but I'd been voguing my ass around the trail.  I suppose I should be glad Like a Virgin didn't pop up or I'd have dropped to the concrete and started writhing around.

Chagrined I stopped dancing and we finished the trail... and then I decided to snap some pics every time Bella needed a break (she's quite lazy.)

So here you go:

The girls want to go opposite ways home.  They also think every driveway is ours.

 If my dogs crapped in other yards I'd hope it was this one.



I don't know who Mr. Godzilla is... but I hope he's not missing his street mix.

Hitting the trail...

I mentioned earlier I signed up for a 6k leg of the Route 66 marathon... the last time I ran any distance at all it was about a mile and a half on the treadmill at my gym.

So I decided to jump back into the training... and make my dogs go along. If you've ever met my Bella Boo you know she needs to lose about 5 pounds.

So we set off.

That's my view of furry dog butts.  The jog started out fine, we hit the park down the street from my house and while they trotted with me I jogged around the trail.  But Bella only wanted to do that for a bout 5 minutes.  then she wanted to sit down and wait for me to carry her home.  I did not agree.

So I forced her along and we went about the entire trail one time and headed back to the house.  Now my genius babies decided that every driveway we passed must be their house and they were finally free from the horrible-ness of the evil walk and their slave driving mother.

Eventually we did get home and they got to recuperate in their own ways.  Bella likes to collapse on the bathroom floor and pant until she cools off.

Molly hides under the bed and hopes we all leave her alone until she's ready to take on the world again.

My recuperation?

I got on the treadmill and got a real run in after those lazy bitches cut my first run short.

This time I watched Dancing with the Stars on mute (Brooke Burke is cute, but should not be allowed to talk. At. All.)

I noticed some interesting things, like did you know that the older Florence Henderson gets the more she looks like Alan Alda?

Or that Michael Bolton can't dance to save his life? 

I also decided that I'm going to wear a cool headscarf like Brandy, she looks like laidback hippie cool.. I'll look like Rhoda Morgenstern... but I'm okay with that.

Bella's Birthday Blog

Sorry peeps... you get another very special blog post today.

I was 19 when I found out I couldn't have kids, and I was 24 when I got the puppy that made me a mom and became the love of my life. My Bella Boo.

Now today my girl is 4 years old. In dog years she's as old as me, and in honesty she takes care of me just as much as I take care of her. She's my first pet and changed my life when my aunt gave her to me many moons ago.

If it wasn't for her I'd have no soft side... let's be honest I'm as dark and twisty as they come, but she gives me soft corners and a smile. Bitch about my dogs and you'll get my never ending wrath.

She's my spoiled princess, constant companion and first born.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Masochism

Apparently I am a masochist.

I see no other reason that after the pain of yesterday's run I did it again tonight. For some reason I felt like my body needed to prove to me that I am not fit and still need work.

Again, I finished the damn intervals... but my calves were not happy. I'm sure tomorrow I won't be able to walk, but at least I got in a good sweat.

Now I'm back to corralling the girls, they're getting along better, unless Molly looks at Bella wrong, then Bella reserves the right to try and kill Molly.

I bought the largest spray bottle I could find to keep both girls in check. Molly doesn't quite get why I'm spraying her, just keeps looking around for where the water came from.

Maybe I should throw them on the treadmill for punishment when they can't get along. I know that'd be a big deterrent to my bad behavior.

New Mum...

So today's scheduled run did not happen. You see I gained another daughter yesterday afternoon.

Molly Moo... to go with my first born Bella Boo. Here's the girls passed out last night:



But, all is not quiet on the western front... if Bella is not closely watched she gets total Alpha and tries to pin the 3 and a half pound puppy under her 20 pound body. So I'm spending today wrangling between the girls and doing homework.

Will be running in the AM, week 5 day 2... and checking the schedule to see when I can squeeze in a class at the gym between work and puppy wrangling. We'll see.

But seriously aren't my girls cute?