Post-Thanksgiving walk

The dogs and I have been off the trails for over a week now, and I've been hitting the food and beer pretty hard for much of that time. So today I began to get back on the diet and exercise wagon by taking Maya, TJ, and Theo out for a hike.

I had kept Theo inside today to keep him away from Max because the two of them just bark constantly when they are together and I can't stand that. Theo is accustomed to being outside for much of the day so he was really ready for the hike. Maya and TJ were as well because they hadn't been outside except to the AC yard for the past week.

The weather was beautiful and we had a good walk, about 3.3 miles.

Griffin, the new white boxer, hasn't eaten much since I brought him home. Apparently he was used to eating in a crate and when I fed him in a kennel he just paid no attention to his food. He did eat some this morning but then tipped over the dish and spilled it all over. I thought some exercise might stimulate his appetite and also settle him down a bit so I went out for a second hike later in the afternoon with Griffin, Rex, and Maya.

These three dogs probably weigh less than half the total of the first three, and we only went about 2.25 miles, but I felt like I had wrestled someone twice my size and ran a marathon by the time we finished. Griff is obviously new to leash walking, and Rex is pretty new too. They were excited and wanted to sniff everything. I brought Maya along to model good walking behavior, and she did, but they weren't paying any attention. I ended up with a headache that I still have, and I'm sure my arms, back, and neck will hurt tomorrow.

The dogs enjoyed it though, and that's what matters most.