Canix running

The Hawarden Estate Winter Trail.

At last, my first real race and a chance to compete against other dogs on over 5.5 km of tracks, fields, gloopy mud and puddles.  It was fantastic with lots and lots of barking as 20 dogs and humans prepared for the start of the race in the grounds of Hawarden Castle.

 As it was my first race I stayed back at the start until most of the other dogs had crossed the start line and then away I went dragging my human behind me.  One of the things I have to remember when Canix racing is that I should always be ahead of my human so I'm setting the pace and I have to stay on my lead all the time.  Running ahead of the human is difficult for me as I normally run alongside or slightly behind him when I'm on a lead.  I got it right most of the way round and didn't get told off by any of the marshals.  There were some small dogs like me but there were some really big dogs as well, but they were all really well behaved so I wasn't frightened.  I did overtake a few dogs and was 12th dog to finish in just under 30 minutes, that's not bad for a first attempt.

The castle grounds were lovely, if I'd been off my lead I could have explored and sniffed around in the woods and found lovely smelly stuff to roll in.  The weather was a bit chilly (for humans) but just right for me and it didn't rain during the race.

Lots of wags and woofs,

Dexter

Santa Dash and other stuff

Never let it be said that I don't enter into the spirit of things at this festive time of year, but not the same type of spirit that my human enjoys (a wee dram).  So clad in a stunning Santa outfit and putting my best feet forward (all four of them) I headed off up Moel Fammau with my human who was wearing a very strange red suit and a beard.

 The weather was awful, windy, cold and with driving rain and icy sleety stuff. From 470 metres we were in the cloud but I continued on with never a glance back.  There was some confusion on the descent as I hung back a bit and then followed someone in a red suit with a beard, oops - wrong human (note - I thought there was just ONE Santa Claus??). Hilarious because my human had to run back 

UP the hill, tee hee, to get me.  Despite this I was first dog to finish and knocked about 10 seconds off my 2016 time.

As you can see from the photo below I even got a medal for my efforts.

Now then, this malarkey with the bike trailer is causing me a bit of confusion. You see when I see a bike I want to run alongside it, not sit in a trailer like a baby and I can't seem to get my humans to understand this.  But we have had some local expeditions where I walk alongside the buggy, then spend a few minutes in the damn thing (just to keep the humans happy) and then a run alongside.  I've noticed that whenever I get into the buggy there is a tasty treat to be found so maybe, just maybe, I will allow myself to be carried in the trailer on longer bike rides.

I've a busy day tomorrow with a Canix  5km race so I am going to have a lie down in front of the fire and relax.

Wags and woofs,

Dexter 

My year - 2018

Hello folks!  

It’s been a long time since I blogged so I will tell you about some of my adventures during the year.  The snow in March was a bit of a surprise but I went out and played in the snow as well as having a long walk through really deep snow, my human made a track through the snow so I was able to follow his tracks, the snow was so deep it was up to my tummy. From a small dog's point of view I found the snowy stuff very interesting, not least for the reaction from the humans.  They don't half faff about with extra clothes, boots and hats.  My fur is all I need to go out in any weather in total comfort, I've got two layers(all year round) and it doesn't matter if I'm wet or dry, I'm happy unless it's really, really hot.  As for footwear, well I certainly do not need running shoes, walking boots, wellies, sandals, sailing shoes, climbing shoes and so on.  I mean for goodness sake I make do with the same four paws for all my activities.  My four-paw drive with traction-control and anti-lock braking is very efficient.

It wasn’t long after the snowy weather that there was a complete contrast with week after week of hot sunny weather, this limited my running to early runs in the forest at Coed y Brenin before the day got too hot.  'Too hot?' I hear you exclaim, yes even in wet Wales we have lovely hot weather, so I had lots of lazy, snoozy days with easy walks in the sun.  Unusually, all but one of my favourite drinking places (streams and rivers not pubs  😉) all dried up by the end of May.  Now this is where I have to admit humans do have their uses as they always had bottles of water for me to drink.   My favourite forest run was the Goldrush Trail, 13.7 km of happy scampering.  The hot weather led to my humans repeatedly taking me swimming in lakes and rivers (or to be blunt just throwing me in).  Yes, I can swim, but not unless I have to.  Some runs were late in the day just before sunset on the hills I know very well such as Moel Emoel or Moel y Garnedd.

Moel Emoel -sunset run.

 Moel Emoel looking towards Llyn Celyn

Sunset on Moel y Garnedd

  
Sometimes a run up into the clouds was a great way to cool down, Aran Benllyn had cloud cover one day (despite it being very hot in the valley), not much to see from the top but a great adventure. I have done a lot of walking this year,I had some long walks this year on the Berwyn hills and Mawddach Trail as well as some cycling in the forest.  The humans cycle slowly when I'm with them as my top speed is about 17 kph which I can only manage for about 200 metres.  [**Stop press November 2018:  My humans have bought a buggy for me that is towed behind a bike - I'll let you know how I get on with this as it looks a bit dodgy to me**]

Llangywer

Tough going near Cefn y Foel

Liberty Hall, on the walk from Cynwyd to Corwen

                          The Mawddach Trail 

In late August I went for a holiday to a part of England that I’d never been to before that is  known as the Lake District, it was strange being there because nobody spoke Welsh.  But I coped well with the four very small humans (one was like me and walked properly with all four limbs on the floor, apparently it’s called crawling but I really approve of this because the little human was at my level). 

Just look at the view from our house – wow –

The second day we were there I went for a run to a hill called Binsey (447m) I knew this was going to be a great holiday but my human was told off because we had been out for too long.  I had great fun in the Lake District and was able to go for some great runs on the fells, the key summits are called ‘Wainwrights’, there are 214 of these peaks and I did four while I was there. (Binsey, The Edge, Ullock Pike and Dodd)

Binsey

The Edge

Dodd

So far this year I've done about 490 km running with 11,960 metres of climbing, so easy when you have four legs!

I spent some time on the water instead of in the water which was much better than swimming, I went on the lake in a powerboat because my human had a job to do, I put my paws on the edge of the boat and did some serous sniffing as we sped across the sparkling water in the sun. 

On duty as the lookout.

Then when we were in the Lake District I went on a very big boat on Ullswater, it wasn’t like the small boats I’m used to but there was serious sniffing to do when I stuck my nose through the railings, then I went back again in November for more running and another trip on Ullswater.

Ullswater -August and November

I did all sorts of other fun stuff as well this year ...

...beach time  (Llanbedrog)

...train time (Ravenglass and Eskdale railway)...

Winlatter Forest

..and even visiting an old lead mine at Weardale...

Bye-bye for now, wags and woofs,

Dexter.