Dogboarding

As I was driving around doing various errands Saturday, I noticed what a lovely sunny winter afternoon it was. I thought, "I need to do something with my boys, we all need fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, Anna didn't get her walk today, and I need to deliver Christmas cards to my Visiting Teaching sisters." So, I called home and asked the guys to help me do my VT by bicycle. The flaw in the plan was that Andrew's bike is in need of repairs. We decided he would skate board.

In the past I have hitched my bike cart to my bike, harnessed the dog and tied a leash from the harness to the cart, put a gentle lead (like a horse's halter for dogs) and held that leash by hand, She is so eager taht she pulls the cart which helps stabilize me and pushes the bike. I ride the break and try to keep her on a reasonable pace for the first mile or so. Then I go slow for her. However, I haven't used the gentle lead in a long time and don't know where it is. I am not sure where my bike hitch is either. And I wanted to hurry because winter afternoons are short. I tried just holding Anna's leash, ok a longish rope, attached to her regular collar. She was wild with excitement and I immediately crashed. Andrew volunteered to handle Anna. I was a little concerned, but he thought he could handle her more easily. It worked pretty well. I had to bike either behind or beside Andrew to keep Anna from wanting to run too fast and to offer voice control assistance. Once in a while Andrew left the skateboard either voluntarily or not, but no harm done. Over all, it worked well and both Anna and Andrew enjoyed it.

This morning as I prepared to walk Anna to make one final VT delivery, Andrew offered to come along. This time we put Anna's harness on so she wasn't pulling against her neck. Andrew dogboarded and I walked. We may have found a fun way for Andrew to help exercise my dog.

Now, back to working on my Christmas cards.