Adventures with Bailey

Amanda and I have had our dog Bailey for about a year and a half now and we are constantly searching for a way to get her enough exercise so she's not uncontrollably hyper all the time. So we've done some thinking and here are the ideas we've come up with so far and the results.

First, I would take her jogging, but since I can't sprint at 20 mph for 2+ miles, that didn't work.

Next we tried buying a bike attachment thinking we would leisurely pedal through the neighborhood with our beautiful dog in tow. It didn't quite turn out that way. The feeling of a bike pulling back against her instantly turned her into a sled dog and she would pull us around the neighborhood at break neck speed. It was the one dog Iditarod without the snow. I'm serious...she would run at a dead sprint pulling me on the bicycle for over a mile before I ever had to start pedaling. This tactic wears her out for a little while, but I was a little concerned her heart might explode some day.

Then, I made a fascinating discovery about our neighborhood. As I was taking her for a bike ride last night (or was she taking me for a bike ride...I'm not sure), I discovered a grass road along the outside of our neighborhood. So, we took off down the grass road and half a mile later arrived at a drainage ditch with a nice little pond on the other side. I took her down to the pond to get a drink and she jumped right in. Luckily I still had her on the short leash or I probably would have had to jump in after her. I decided that the next day I would take her back and take a long leash with me so she could swim.

So, this morning after a 2+ mile sprint in just over 10 minutes, here's Bailey cooling off in the pond. Don't worry...I eventually helped her get out.