Two weeks ago we took Mira and Maddie to the Hooch trails to jog/walk a 5k. A little humid, the roads at the house were sweaty when we left at 8ish in the morning. I've learned over the years that work ethic doesn't wane as our dogs age. Their senses and reaction times certainly become slower, but the heart and desire don't leave them; at least not the ones I've been blessed to work.
As soon as we opened the back of the Enclave, Maddie began to whine and circle in her crate. Mira sat calmly, ever the "will she or won't she" pose in the back of her crate. Dave and I have been alternating dogs between us depending on if he thinks he can handle the pull or if he wants the more subdued "walk with you" Mira. He has been recovering or dealing with a disc issue for the past 18 months. That day he never looked at me as he opened her crate and snapped the lead to the harness. This left me with the more amicable, less demanding, not so interested in pulling my arms out of the sockets, Mira.
As soon as Maddie hit the pea gravel parking lot she was at the end of the line. We crossed the .75 mile mark and Dave looked at me and said "12 years old my a___" (referring to her), all the while he had a crooked smile on his face. Watching the "oldest" dog happily work at something that gave her and us so much joy took me back three years to a time when I thought I would use Nakeeta as my "cool down" dog after runs with Maddie and Magic. Occasionally I would find myself thinking I should have worked with Kit before I ran with anyone else because as soon as the lead clipped onto her harness her tail was out, ears back and there was NEVER any slack on the line between us. The drive genes definitely passed from Kit to Maddie.
Today we had the girls at the Hooch again. This time it was 31 degrees when we set out down the path and they were on fire. Before the first bend we spotted a plump cardinal in a tree nearby and I felt the first slap of cold breeze across my face. About the time I let out a groan Dave started to jog, the girls dug in and we were off without any more time to consider the bite in the air. We jogged and walked past the turn and into the section of the path that is not wooded with the girls happily thrusting ahead when we gave the signal to jog and silently submitting to the walk when we gave the command to slow down. As we approached the wetlands on the return path to the car, Dave and Maddie had a visual conversation as they jogged along that left a warm spot in my heart. She's so much to him what Nakeeta was to me. I know I'm sentimental, and my soul is soft. Part of me thinks I should apologize for seeing what I see, but it just wouldn't be me if I didn't have this huge mush place in my heart. My soul is filled when I'm holding a lead with the dogs ahead of me, whether we're on the road or headed down a trail. Somehow that "filling" pushes me forward to the next run, to the next workout because there is simply so much pleasure in spending time with these guys who never ask me for anything, they just keep giving and giving and giving. In Maddie's case it may be a little slower and a little shorter distance than before, but Maddie is still giving me everything she has, her desire to please and work has never changed for one minute.
In 4 hours she'll be 12 years old. She was the first puppy to arrive in the first and only litter we ever bred. She still mouths back at me when she thinks I'm wrong, she still bounces for her food, she still pulls the lead as long as she can. She doesn't go as far, or as fast, and her eyes miss judge distance and depth sometimes, but her heart has not changed in any way. Dave and I get everything she has, no exception. She never holds back, the tempo is different, but the heart is the same.
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