Summer Activity Reflection _ Grace Herman

August 30th, 2019

To stay active this summer I ran a couple of times a week. I started just running by myself on the back roads of tamarindo but then I decided I would start taking my dog, Boulder with me. Boulder isn’t the best on a leash, at least not with me. So it was a process. This summer turned into me training Boulder how to run with me. The first time she came she was excited she trotted along next to me at the beginning but keep getting the leash twisted and she switched sides. Later in my run, we reach a road that on walks with my mom she is allowed to be off the leash and pee. She was not too happy to run on that part. She would stop and sniff and I would have to drag her away to keep running, which makes things a little harder. The next couple of times were better although at the end when she felt like she had run enough she would just walk and I have to pull her as ran down the street. After a couple of weeks running with Boulder, we moved houses so we had to find a new route. This worked out better because now she didn’t have a part in the route where she could usually walk slow and pee so we eliminated that problem. Another thing we found was that Boulder is scared of other dogs. A couple of times she was sniffing another dog and then she suddenly would race forward pulling me along. After weeks of running together, she started to get the hang of it. We still have a long way to go. But now I have a running companion and Boulder seems to like me even more.

Thanks for reading,

Grace

*Challenges were undertaken showing that new skills are learned, Work collaboratively with others (Boulder), Show perseverance and commitment to your project.