So despite my new-found… not love, exactly… of canicross, the sad fact is that I just can’t run fast enough to really give these dogs the kind of workout they get from pulling the scooter. So in the last week or so I’ve been busting it out here and there for some runs.

I think I’ve said this before, but I honestly can’t remember exactly what prompted me to get the scooter in the first place. I think what happened was that I knew I needed to find something to bridge the gap between walking in harness and eventual skijoring but that I was afraid to bikejor. But I don’t remember the sequence of events between that thought and opening a large scooter-containing box in my backyard and assembling it.

Why I was afraid to bikejor but not scooter, I can’t explain. I actually tried bikejoring just a few times with Maisy last summer after I got the scooter, and I felt really out of control (not to mention that based on HER reaction she apparently feared and loathed the bicycle). I feel far more stable on the scooter, which probably seems ridiculous to people who feel far more stable on a bike and find the idea of getting on the scooter scary and loathsome. I just find it so much easier to balance on the scooter, and I’m closer to the ground and there’s really nothing to get tangled up in if I want to hop off quickly. All I can think about with the bike is getting tangled up in all the hardware between my legs.

Anyway, I forgot today was President’s Day and we went scootering at the state park where there were a lot of families enjoying the day off school taking nature hikes with and without dogs. Distractions are the double-edged sword of my mush baby existence… life is much easier without them, but they are essential training tools for the day when we will hopefully be doing skijor fun runs around other teams. So I tried to look at all of the distractions today as a gift rather than a nuisance. All the excitement of other dogs existing in the same park where he was really put a quarter in Squash, resulting in the very rare sight of him outpacing Maisy (never have I seen so much slack in her line or harness!!)

It doesn’t come across well in pictures, but he is SCARY fast when he really puts his mind to it. Scary fast for a scooter, anyway. I can only imagine how terrifying it would be on a bike.

After the scootering comes the payoff…

And don’t weep for Pip… this is what he got to do today…