Killing the Dog - Almost

If you look at the training log you will see that I went for a run the other day and took Max with me.  I should have left him home.

It was HOT out.  90 degrees or so.  Humidity was low for around here so the temperature wasn't as bad as it is on some days.  But it was hot.

Max and I drove down by the river, you know 19.7 feet above sea level, and started to run.  From the parking lot at Belle Haven to mile marker 7 is about .8 miles I think.  That's a guess.  I haven't measured it but pretty close.  We warmed up getting to mile marker 7 then took off.  I wanted to run a quick race pace for the next three miles. Thought Max and I were up to it.

I was, Max wasn't.

At the end of the first mile Max started breathing really heavy.  Wasn't making his piggy noises that means he is really working hard but he was breathing hard.  By the time we got to mile marker 5, he needed a rest.  He was in full piggy snort mode so we walked back to the "comfort station" that is right there by mm5 and I let Max drink some water.  We walked the first 2/3 of the mile back towards mm6 then jogged lightly.  At mm6 I picked up the pace but the piggy snorting was pretty bad.  He made it to mm7 running the entire mile.  It was a much slower mile, I think over 10 minutes, but he ran.  We walked and slow jogged back to Belle Haven where another "comfort station" is located.  Before we got to the comfort station, Max stopped.  Didn't want to move.  We were, literally, 200 feet from water and rest for him and so I coaxed and begged and he made it to the water.  But he was unsteady on his feet and breathing hard.

The comfort station has a spigot and slow-drain dog dish specifically for dogs.  Really great and it gets lots of use.  The spigot is leaking and so the area around the bowl was covered in water and the bowl was full.

Max wouldn't touch it.  He was so unsteady on his feet.  He sat down first and I gathered some water up and threw it in his mouth.  He drank it but wasn't interested in the effort to lap it up on his own.  After about a minute he lay down in the water and I started covering him with the cool water filling the dog bowl.  His sides were heaving in and out and the piggy noises coming from his breathing were awful!!  I really thought I killed him.

We hung out for about 15 minutes there, him laying in the running water and me showering him with cool water and trying to get some in his mouth.  His breathing was still very labored but he showed signs of life and got up.  We made our way to the van and he was able to get himself in.  I breathed a sigh of relief.

Got the poor thing home and let him hang out in the cool basement until he was feeling better.

Only good thing about the run was now I know I can beat my dog in a distance race on a hot day.