DISTANCE: 10.03 km  DURATION: 1:10:28

What's better than crushing a 10k run? How about finishing it off with a little bit of a scratch on the back? Samantha was top notch today, and she earned all of the love and attention I gave her today. She paused to sniff and explore only a few times and kept a steady pace in the fresh winter air everywhere else. Despite the cold, the sun kept us warm. And that was helpful to me as I felt like I needed to push myself to keep up with her. A little sunny inspiration is always welcome in my books. We needed to avoid only one loud and scary sounding bus, but other than that small glitch, our path was clear. It was a perfect winter run. Sam earned a scratch on the back, and I patted myself on the back for keeping up with her. No dog business to report.

​Runner: Sheri

DISTANCE: 10.01 km . DURATION: 1:12:48

Samantha's love of running and her sweet demeanour make her the perfect run partner. Here's why. She pushes (some may argue pulls) me to maintain our pace running uphills. She lives in a fabulous neighbourhood that features panoramic views of the city that never fails to brighten my soul. And her dangling tongue always challenges me to move just a little bit faster. And I like to think that I help Samantha too. I usually make direction changes to help keep us away from noisy and scary trucks. I was there today to pick a stone from between her toes. And together, we always seem to find the best footholds moving up and down slippery hills. Thanks for another rejuvenating run, Samantha. You're a fantastic run partner. No dog business to report.
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Runner: Sheri

DISTANCE: 9.33 km . DURATION: 1:11:04

Sometimes, we need to slow down a little. Samantha and I started as usual; she was full in front and zooming for the horizon. But I did notice half-way through that she seemed to be more content to quietly lead the show, and not pull me through it. Was this an ominous sign? At the very least it felt uncharacteristic of her. Sure enough, Samantha seemed to experience digestive distress close to the 6k mark. I slowed our pace out of an abundance of caution and Samantha didn't appear to mind. We stayed out a little longer to be sure that drama had ended while making sure she was content with our outing. I think the smile on her face as we turned towards home showed she agreed. It was a good run, just a little bit slower.
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Runner: Sheri

DISTANCE: 10.01 km . DURATION: 1:11:01

​I'm in love. Meeting Samantha today I could tell why she's so special. Being shy is not the same as being introverted, but they seem to be close cousins. Maybe Samantha and I have things in common. My goal today was to rejuvenate the both of us with a calm and steady breath, while pushing us to devour some incredible hills - and I will fully admit that Sam helped me up one or two (thanks, girl). We raced towards some incredible views of the mountains, and enjoyed our time finding firm footholds on downhill slopes. Sam is genuinely a perfect run partner. Wrapping up our run and slowing to a trot, Sam cautiously accepted a beef chew from my pocket. I hope that marks the start of some incredible kilometres together, Sam. I look forward to seeing you next week. No dog business to report.

Runner: Sheri

DISTANCE: 10.68 km  DURATION: 1:16:13

Hi Samantha, I’m back!! Just like I promised😊. I was so happy to see Samantha today. It was also a sad day because this is our last run together for several months. I think Samantha also could sense it was a different day because she was happy to go at a much easier pace. Don't get me wrong - you never dilly-dally on this gal's watch🐾. Neither of us were in a hurry to finish our time together. We had a great run and chatted and I snuck in some hugs at all the stoplights. Samantha wanted me to add, way too many stop lights today!! BUT, she was okay with the hugs. 😂. I'm going to miss my ’Speed Coach’ but I will be back. The Doggy Business Report: 1 baby pee & 1 big poop.

Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 9.05 km  DURATION: 57:51

Good morning Samantha. I know I'm not your favourite dog runner, but I have loved watching you blossom with your regular runner Michelle. But I get it, we can't truly appreciate the blossoms, unless we remember the buds that were there to start. And that's exactly how our run was. You were very shy, but willing to come with me. And while our run was a steady, quick pace throughout, I didn't get very many smiles coming my way from you. That's still okay. Towards the end, your smile was just starting to peek through, just like when you see the bright colours of petals push through the green bud. I appreciated the baby steps you took with being comfortable with me, and the many steps you took with being my run pal this morning! See you next time, sweetheart! Scoop: too shy, nothing to report!

​Runner: Tammy

 DISTANCE: 9.46 km  DURATION: 1:09:10

Hi Sweetheart, I'm going to apologize for my lack of energy & zip. I'm under the weather. Samantha gave me a little cuddle to comfort me. Your Mom said 5K would be good for today, which was very kind. I did not want to disappoint Samantha who loves to run. I thought I had 8K in me. WELL WELL, Samantha had other plans once she finally got me out of the house🤣. Poor Samantha worked doubly hard today because she wanted to run forever plus she had to pull me too. She was so happy to be out today! What has happened to shy Samantha? ’Social Samantha’ wanted to say hi to every pedestrian and go towards every dog. At first, I thought my NyQuil was playing tricks on me😂. Nope, shy has been replaced with Social Samantha!! You go girl🐶🐾. The Doggy Business Report: 1 & 1.

Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 10.04 km  DURATION: 1:12:33

It's "Top-Notch Tuesday!" I'm with Samantha and the sun is out. What a perfect day for a run. Samantha started out with her new routine of sniffing for the first 5-10 minutes. We then crossed the pedestrian bridge into Edgemont and ’Serious Samantha’ took Michelle out for a run. 🤣 We had a lovely surprise and met up with DGR Quinn & her mom. As you can see, Quinn was pretty happy to see us. Quinn introduced herself to Samantha and all went well. Maybe this will be a budding running friendship?! Samantha & I said our goodbyes and continued on with our outing. I did lead us up a dirt hill to reconnect to the pathway. Samantha is not keen on dirty paws. We found several small snow piles to have snow cones and clean off our feet. The Doggy Business Report: all on hold 🐶

Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 10.01 km  DURATION: 1:09:21

Happy Tuesday Samantha😊. What a glorious day for a run. Miss Sniffy Pants was so happy with all the smells that the chinook winds produced. No bunny nugget will go unfound!! That was today’s mantra (not really my thing though 🤣) When we left Hawkwood, all changed and it was ’serious’ running time. Samantha would look back at me to ’ pick it up’. Thank goodness this was the flatter and downhill portion of the route. Every time I took my phone out to take a picture, Samantha, would lick her lips and then come straight up to the phone and bump it with her nose. Are you hungry today??? You do deserve an extra large treat after today's run girlfriend. I'm off to get an eggnog latte. The Doggy Business Report: 1 & 1.

Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 9.26 km  DURATION: 1:09:16

Merry Christmas Samantha!! The snow is back ❄️. Today for the first 10 minutes Samantha was like a kid in the candy store, with the fresh snow. Oh, smell here..... Sniff this.......Stop........everything is different with this white stuff. I was thinking we would be lucky to get 2 kms in. Then we finished the park loop and BAM! Samantha was heading home at full tilt. Samantha, we need to slow down and stop pulling. We had to stop and discuss the current conditions and no, we are not going home. After our chit-chat, we headed off again and we turned the corner and Samantha gave me a cheeky little grin😊. Girlfriend, I know you are playing with me😂. The silent types have a mischievous way of always getting you. See you next week cheeky one. The Doggy Business report: 1 poop.

Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 9.68 km  DURATION: 1:08:14

Today was a true T-O-T!! Tongue-Out-Tuesdays are the best with my gal Samantha.🤪🐾. I was really looking forward to today’s run since I had to miss last week's. We planned to head over to Nosehill but the pedestrian bridge was closed. Completely Samantha’s choice now. We ran head first into the wind for the first bit but we had the wind at our back to help us (who am I kidding - me) up a couple of hills coming home. Samantha got her midway treat & finishing treat at the end today. A stranger approached Samantha when us girls were having our midway treat and Samantha was not keen on this. Her treat was left on the ground. Thanks for the run Samantha, it's always my pleasure. I am inspired to one day run beside instead of behind😂. The Doggy Business Report: 1 healthy poop.

​Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 10.84 km  DURATION: 1:17:17

No snow to plow today Samantha!! It's a running day🐾. Samantha was excited to have a 100% approved ’Run the Whole Time’ day. I did not dress for such a rapid heat increase. Coat off, long pants turned into capris and the undershirt was coming off next. Every time we stopped for a wardrobe alteration, Samantha would give me the look. ’The look’ means don't be such a baby and learn to adapt, look at me 🐶😊. I'm in the same attire - sunshine and snow. Thanks for putting up with all the stops sweetheart. The Doggy Business Report: closed today.

​Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 8.19 km  DURATION: 1:03:25

Samantha & I give a paw and a thumbs up for our new winter running time. Even though it was snowing pretty good, we enjoyed every minute out there this morning. Samantha thought she knew the route we where going to take but I love keeping my 4-legged running pals on their toes🐾. Just when she would be going the usual way I would say ”lets go this way”. Which was not the usual. On our third change, Samantha would stop and wait for my hand signal. This gal is one smart cookie. With all this great behaviour, it was time to goof off and have some fun with a cookie😋. The Doggy Business Report was closed today due to the time change.

Runner: Michelle

DISTANCE: 7.57 km DURATION: 56:44

Today was my first run with Samantha. After she got over the disappointment of realizing it wasn’t her buddy Michelle - we had a wonderful run. We chatted about the weather and found out we had a lot in common.  We both don’t like construction and we like to give strangers a wide berth. We agreed to disagree on the topic of squirrels. She thinks they are fun to chase. I can take it or leave it. All in all, it was a great way to spend a Tuesday morning. The scoop: 1 pee and 1 poop.

Runner: Carolyn

DISTANCE: 10.01 km  DURATION: 1:09:07

How is my Tuesday Ray of Sunshine? Samantha gives me a little kiss and smile. Meanwhile, Lennon (AARCS Foster Pup) scurries & scampers all over her. It was a drizzly day and I wanted to make it a good run for Samantha since I am away next week. Driving over to her house, I played a few head games like maybe today we will do 8 or possibly 8.5 km. Once I get that Special Samantha Smile we just had to do 10K😊. Samantha is blossoming in so many ways. Today, we ran along John Laurie Blvd., which is busy and noisy. In the past, this would have been really uncomfortable for this timid girl. Today, she did her business and also stopped for a photo shoot with complete ease and comfort. A reward was in order!! A cookie at the halfway point and one at the finish. Samantha is not a girl you can win over easily and treats don't fool her. Plus, I don't carry them with me so it was truly a special occasion. The Doggy Business Report: 1 poop. Some additional news: Lennon goes to his forever home tomorrow. Well done Samantha

​Runner: Michelle