DISTANCE:  8.5 km DURATION: 1 hour 2 minutes

Rossi wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to get out the door today. Content to sit in his arm chair, lazily getting up then leaning in for an extended scratch and pet. He was happy to take a casual approach to our run. Once out the door, he attempted a half hearted wrestle then followed his nose down the laneway. We headed over to Karl Baker for some off-leash time. Rossi loved running through the long grass; letting his nose lead him off the trail then come sprinting out to catch up with me. He is such a great dog to photograph at this time of year as his coat and harness blend perfectly with the fall colours. After a good loop of the park, we headed for the river as Rossi's tongue was starting to become a trip hazard. When we got to the water's edge, Rossi wasted no time in jumping in so he could wade while drank. Rossi is always on the look out for new friends and even when we're down at the river he has an ear out for any passing dogs on the path. We had a pretty smooth run back from here with Rossi running alongside me for the most part.  He did refuse to move at one point in protest.   I would not let him say hello to another dog, whose owner was busy telling me the dog is reactive on leash, but loves Boxers. What a shame! A very pleasant outing with my favourite running buddy today.  The Scoop: 6 pees.
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Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  9.7 km DURATION: 1 hour 7 minutes

Wildlife watching! We started the week right with a super smooth bridge to bridge loop. Rossi was happy running a relaxed pace and despite a lot of pee stops in the first 20 minutes, was content to run continuously today. When we did stop for drinks, he was very focused on watching the wildlife! On the first stop on the other side of the river, he spied a beaver sunning itself and on the way home it was a group of water fowl we hadn't seen before. I'm always a bit apprehensive that he's going to plunge in after them, but he never does. He is always content to observe from a distance.  The pace was certainly slower on the way home and Rossi seemed to need a little more encouragement than usual but he was happy to be out and about and certainly enjoyed his treats at the end.  The Scoop: 9 pees, 1 poo.
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Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  9.2 km DURATION: 1 hour 7 minutes

Monday madness 🤪 Monday's are always a mixed bag with Rossi. He was happy to get out the door and start running, then it was slow going with lots of interesting things to sniff in the laneway. We made our way over to Karl Baker for some off-leash time. It's getting to that colour scheme where Rossi blends in with his surroundings 😂 It was hot out this morning so he was happy running a casual pace in the single trails and long grass. Rossi seemed to be struggling a bit in the heat even stopping and refusing to move (in the middle of the road) before we got down to the river for a drink. Once we got on the river path though he put the hammer down! We were running 4:40, 4:30, 4:20! Rossi was breathing hard, tongue out, I'm breathing hard, trying to get my legs to turn over faster and he's still pulling! We stop to go down for a drink, back up to the path and the pace is on again 😆 After a solid 5 minutes of this, he slowed down a bit, thankfully. The hilarious part was he wasn't chasing a dog or a runner today, just felt like he needed to burn some more energy!! The rest of the run was pretty smooth until we got home and Rossi was freaked out by the people cutting down the tree in the yard. You just never know what you're going to get with this doggo!  The Scoop: 5 pees, 1 poo.
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​Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  9.9 km DURATION: 1 hour 5 minutes

 Change is in the air. It was a welcomed return to my running buddy Rossi! I missed that goofy face and his energy last week and we had a playful reunion with Rossi finishing it up with some serious moaning while he had to wait for me to find his harness (30 seconds!) 🤣 We headed down to the river for a bridge to bridge loop. I was hoping with it being a Wednesday and a little cooler, it would be quieter on the paths.  No such luck. Rossi was very energized and he was running a solid pace and taking interest in every dog we passed  He did a great job of sitting and waiting until we were passed by another DGR runner (Jessica who was out with Murphy). Then, he lost all composure unfortunately. No harm done luckily except my clean shoes are now covered in muddy footprints! The rest of our run Rossi seemed to lose a little spark and often stopped to looked behind for our DGR friends. He did still run a good pace and was happy to have a dip in the river before returning home. You certainly love keeping me on my toes doggo!  The Scoop: 5 pees, 1 poo.
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​Runner: Allison

DISTANCE: 7.1 km DURATION: 55 minutes

Fun run with Rossi today! He’s such a great listener - he (almost always) sits when told and is getting the hang of posing for photos. He wasn’t thrilled with the amount I took today, but I couldn’t help myself! The stops at the river give Rossi an extra boost when it’s still this warm. If I let him, he would’ve gone for a full on swim! Looking forward to more runs with this cutie.
The Scoop: 2 pees, 1 poo.
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​Runner: Lucia

DISTANCE:  8.9 km DURATION: 1 hour 2 minutes

It was great to see Rossi today! It felt like we had 6 different runs today because the weather changed so much (rain, wind, calm, sunshine, rain again), it was really weird. We finished just in time before the little hail started so it was really perfect. Rossi was a little opinionated about what direction we ran at the beginning.  He must have been dreaming about what run he wanted to do, Haha. Thanks Rossi! The Scoop: 1 pee.
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Runner: Jessica

DISTANCE:  8.5 km DURATION: 1 hour 10 minutes

​Zigzagging into the weekend! We headed out for nice pond and Montalban Park loop. Rossi was running a pretty casual pace and did a great job of sitting at all the road crossings. We had to take a small detour on our way to the park to allow a seeing eye dog and his buddy, the very anxious German Shepherd 😳to pass. There was a lot of traffic in the off-leash park today so we had to zigzag through the park.  There seemed to be a lot of on-leash dogs today so we thought it best to give them space. Rossi was happy shade-hopping, hurtling down hill and running casually. After a few laps, we headed back to the pond for a well earned drink. Rossi had his tongue rolled all the way out today so I gave him extra time to paddle before we headed home. A great way to bring in the weekend 😁.  The Scoop: 6 pees, 2 poos.
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​Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  9.6 km DURATION: 1 hour 6 minutes

Hump day start was just a rouse! Rossi may not have sprung off the sofa this morning but he certainly wasn't in the mood to run slow today. We made our way over to Karl Baker to find the park empty. We ran all the trails from end to end with Rossi happy to keep step with me as we navigated the overgrown small trails and long grass in the open areas. From the park, we headed down to the river the long way spending time on our newly discovered dog beach east of Crowchild. From our beach dip to our next drink, Rossi ran a cracking pace of 5:15 never breaking from his stride. Running into the head-wind with ears and tongue flapping in the wind he put a smile on the face of everyone we passed. Although he had an immovable rock moment when we returned to the path after his final drink, he was happy to keep running all the way back to the door. It was a dream run today, great running and great behaviour from the Rossi 😁👍The Scoop: 10 pees, 1 poo.
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​Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  8.4 km DURATION: 1 hour 7 minutes

Rossi was excited to hit the road! As usual, he had a consistent pace throughout the run. He was a bit distracted by a couple dogs along our path, mainly because he wanted to play with them! After many calming pats, he refocused and we were on our way again.  The Scoop: 5 pees, 1 poo.
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Runner: Lucia

DISTANCE:  10.1 km DURATION: 1 hour 11 minutes

Friday's Happy Hour Special.... a run with Rossi  We had an energetic start to our run as Rossi's owner and daughter arrived home as we were heading out.  Rossi was beside himself with excitement! We progressed from an energized greeting to a wrestle to Rossi refusing to move when he realized they weren't coming with us on our run  Once I convinced him to start running, we had a very smooth run from then on. Heading down to the river and over to Edworthy, Rossi ran at a good pace. He was a very happy dog wanting to make friends with people we passed on the narrow trail and a group of women paddling at one of his drink spots. When we crossed the Crowchild footbridge, Rossi sensed we were headed for home and he picked up the pace settling into 5:10 speed, I think he was in a hurry to get home to his owner and daughter! Rossi did a great job responding to commands today and certainly earned his treats. When I let him back in the house, he greeted his owner and his daughter with enthusiasm even after running 10km  There is no one with energy like this dog!  The Scoop: 8 pees, 2 poops.
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​Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  9.1 km DURATION: 1 hour 16 minutes

​Happy 5th Birthday Rossi! I was pretty stoked to be able to take Rossi out for a run on his birthday and he certainly didn't let his age show on the run! He was happy to start with a wrestle and set a good pace up the hill to the pond. He was winning hearts as we did a lap of the pond but couldn't quite win over a Golden Lab. He crouched in the grass hoping she would notice and approach him, I couldn't help but notice he looked like a lion in the wait, stalking its prey 😂 It was pretty hot by the time we got to Montalban so we mostly shade hopped. On a few occasions Rossi was very intent to stay in the shade and let me get quite a ways away from him before he came galloping towards me to catch up! We had a pretty smooth navigation of the park today and Rossi did a great job with his recall while off-leash. It was heating up so we headed back to the pond for a final drink and paddle before heading for home. He certainly earned his birthday biscuit today. Happy Birthday running buddy 🎂🎉!  The Scoop: 3 pees, 2 poos.

Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  8.7 km DURATION: 1 hour 3 minutes
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I got the full Monday morning excitement today, including an extended wrestle and lots of slobber before we left the yard. We decided to mix it up today with some river path running towards the city and a new drink spot. There were lots of dogs on the little beach and Rossi was desperate to say hello but all the dogs were also on leashes and no socializing was allowed, so he had to be content with a paddle and drink on his own. We headed from the river up to Karl Baker for some off-leash time. It was getting hot and Rossi needed a drink but apparently the water in the dog bucket wasn't the vintage he liked so he went without 🤷‍♀️ We traversed the small trails for a while then headed back to the house trying to catch as much shade as possible. Rossi wasn't great with his sitting at road crossings or when another dog was approaching, I think he was just too excited to be outside today! The Scoop: 6 pees. 1 poo.
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​Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  10.1 km DURATION: 1 hour 12 minutes

Hurry up and wait! This was the theme to our run today. It was a business as usual run along the river path. Rossi was running a good pace today despite the heat. The downside was that every time we passed another dog it was on a bridge or a narrow stretch of path so Rossi had to sit and wait for the other dog to pass. So we ran like the wind, stopped and waited, ran like the wind etc. etc. Rossi did a stellar job waiting patiently each time today and the other dog owners remarked on what a well behaved dog he is  We tried to find a new drink spot along the river today but Rossi was not a fan of the rocks and refused to scale them to get to bank. He braced himself against the top rocks and refused to move. Oh well, we tried 🤷‍♀️ Although desperate for a drink, Rossi picked up the pace after we were passed by another runner.  We all know how the next bit goes, I'm not sure the runner found our game of leap frog as entertaining as we did  Needless to say,, when we were in motion Rossi was running like a champ and certainly earned his treats today.  The Scoop: 7 pees. 1 poo.

Runner: Allison

DISTANCE:  8.8 km DURATION: 1 hour 12 minutes

Rossi tries his luck with a new dog but no dice! We had a bit of a hump day kind of start but after he got out the door, Rossi was pumped up and ready to run. We made our way over to Montalban off-leash after a quick drink at the pond. Upon arriving at the park, Rossi was immediately involved in a stand-off with a French Bulldog and had their gaze fixed on each other. Neither dog was willing to move. The only problem for us was, we were in the middle of the road while this was happening 🤦‍♀️ After a bit of convincing, I managed to get Rossi moving and then I could unleash him for some free running. We had the park mostly to ourselves until we started our final traverse, Rossi found an agile black dog who he thought would make a good play buddy but the dog was not interested. He tried chasing the dog but it soon let him know with a few barks that it was not comfortable with that. Try as he might, the other dog would not engage. To Rossi's credit, he didn't force the issue and came barreling back to me when I called him. After the excitement, he was pretty pooped so we walked through the shaded areas and he even had a little lay-down in the shade before we left. The way home was pretty smooth with a stop at the pond for a drink and paddle then back home for some treats! Keep trying Rossi, your social skills are getting better all the time 😁.  The Scoop: 5 pees, 3 poos.

Runner: Allison