We have this furry little critter at our house who has been sorely neglected from a overall hygiene perspective of late. Don't worry though Marley is far from neglected, he is rarely more than 5 feet away from me and comes on most errands and taxi trips. (He doesn't come in the bike as he doesn't like the trailer much).
For those of you that don't know we got Marley just over a year ago. A girl I used to work with mentioned to me about these dogs called Labradoodles, they are a poodle and labrador retriever cross. We looked into it and well next thing you know we had a ball of brown fur running around our house. Marley is a true fit around here and I would probably be lost without him.
The half poodle part is his wiry little non shedding, continually growing, dust collecting, forever matting, chocolate brown, and silver fur. I have a tendency to like him a little ragged but I think this time it went too far.
This picture was actually after a 1 hour scrub and combing and blow dry. Seriously the dog gets more work than I do for a bath. There is a method to my madness though and a purpose.
A while back Dave and I decided that it was somewhat ridiculous to pay upwards of $75 bucks to have someone trim our dogs (he has two Shitzu's) and cut their nails. After all how hard could it be? So after some research we split on a pair of Veteranarian quality clippers and accessories. This is the 4th time I have trimmed Marley (the first was a disaster - uneven, snagging, mess). What I have learned over time is that if the fur is not cleaned and well combed the clippers just cannot get through............simply impossible, making for a frustrating (for me) and painful (for Marley) half assed hair cut.
Now it has been at least 2 maybe 3 months since Marley's last cut and at least a month since his last bath and brush so I started at 9am in the morning and did the bath and brush. That took me till 11am and that was to get him to the picture you saw above.
Fast forward to 1pm after getting the kids to their various venues for the day, Piper was out playing with her friend Maya and Drew was out with Goran. Even Alex (the sedentary wonder) decided he was going to spend the afternoon with Ben. So it was just me and Marley.
I grabbed all the gear (vacuum, garbage bag, brush, burr comb, clippers, toe nail clippers, oh and coffee) and got set up. Next with the dog........he was less than impressed. 4 hours it took me.............yup 4 hours of clipping deburring and brushing. We had a half of a large garbage bag full of fur and one very worn out dog. He only yelped once and he was pretty accommodating - even though he clearly hates it. The end result?
Well you tell me, doesn't even look like the same animal.
Here are two more for comparison.
Well, I know not very exciting is it.............but its how I spent my day and in the end the result was awesome. Traded in a mop for a cute insane little puppy who earned a few extra dehydrated liver (yum) treats.
Other than that it was a quiet day. Tammy worked most of the day trying to keep things in check so that she isn't working till midnight every night. She has had a couple of pretty good compliments of late which is great. Reinforcing what I already know. Hell I married the smartest person I know, she is also dedicated (to her family and her career) and actually really gives a damn which is rare these days. Its tough sometimes but I have to say I am super proud of her conviction and dedication to this whole process.
Me well the day wouldn't be complete without a little ride now would it. I jumped on the bike and headed out to Big Hill Springs for a quick 60k to keep the process going. I was pretty happy when I hit head winds right away..........why you say? Simple headwinds on the way out when your legs are fresh means tailwinds on the way back when they are worn out. It was tough slogging at about the 25km point on. My back was screaming blue murder..............seems sitting hunched for 4 hours trimming the dog was not conducive to comfortable riding.
I didn't do too bad..........interesting thing about getting out there is that you have to come back somehow and even though I may have thought about it there was no way I was calling Tammy for a pick up..........I am too damn stubborn. At about the 40km point I was gassed and wished I had brought an energy bar. Got me to thinking I am going to make a checklist of things to bring on the bike rides, seems I always forget something.
The typicals for a 50+ km ride would be
- Water
- Extra tube
- tire tools (to remove and replace tube)
- emergency pump
- Snot Rag (nose runs like a tap in this cooler weather)
- Chapped lip stuff
- Ipod (charged this time :) )
- Cell phone
- ID (just in case something happens)
- Leave route with Tammy
- Camera
- Energy Bar
Of course the list here does me relatively no good unless I read my blog before heading out on a ride :)
The normal details of the ride are
- 58.1km total distance (I cut 5km off the back as I was tired)
- Avg speed 22.5 km/h
- Top speed (Tammy don't read this part) 80.2km/h
- Total Ride Time 2:24
- Avg HR 134BPM
- Max HR 167 BPM
- Energy Burned 1852Kcal
Saw a herd of deer, must have been twenty of them. When I got closer they all raised their flags and started bounding away......was a very cool sight.
Oh you might have noticed the Max speed in the list. I think that is the fastest I have ever gone on a bike, it was a hill right at the beginning of the ride that is probably about a 5% grade and the wind was at my back. I will say 80km may not seem that fast in a car but on a bike it is wicked fast. I am starting to get way more comfortable on the bike again the miles are piling up. I have logged around 550km from the beginning of April till now. With maybe 100km of that coming on the trainer. As the weather warms and the evenings lengthen I expect to put down over 1,000 km this month and then another 1,000km before the ride for cancer, that might be ambitious but can't hurt to try.
Well errand day for Piper and I....................see you on the other side.
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