Chariots of Fur (Again)

Race mascot "Ben Fur"

Jedi and I are going to participate in Chariots of Fur again in 2018. I debated doing it because the race is exactly one week before we fly to NYC for the Westminster dog show. Longtime friends know we've walked the Mutt Mile the last two years (and chickened out for two years before that). This time we're going to do the whole 5K. Fur real!

Up until this year, Chariots of Fur has been hosted by St. Francis Animal Hospital. It was a big fundraiser for their Helping Paw program. The race is sponsored by a different organization this year. Other changes include:

• A later start time
• Slightly higher fees (that increase the later you enter)
• Fun Run and 5K are the same price and start at the same time
• Medals will be awarded to the first 700 finishers
• Ribbons are given to all participating dogs
• Dogs' names are on the entry form so dogs can be announced at the finish line!

I'm excited. I have friends that have joined for the last couple years. Some walk, some run, some do the mile, while others do the whole thing. Regardless, we all meet up after the race to socialize. Last year it was bitter cold, so we ended up at a dog-friendly restaurant for pizza and beer.

Interestingly, St. Francis Animal Hospital is still hosting a dog-friendly 5K in 2018. They’ve moved the date to March and changed the name to Paw Prints in the Sand. I'm thinking about entering that one too. (I'm a glutton for punishment.)

To get my fat ass ready to go, I've downloaded a walking plan. Here it is if you want to see it: 5K Training - Walkers Program. I'm up to 2.5 miles on the track and 45 minutes on the treadmill. BTW, Jedi is enjoying the extra walks. Wish us luck, we'll probably need it! And I'll post race pictures. Promise. -- K

P.S. I really really want a medal, dammit.

Big Talbot Island

WARNING: Do not follow my example.

Big Talbot Island is about 40 minutes from here. From the road it's rather boring and easy to miss. However, it has a beach covered in driftwood that is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, dogs are not welcome on the beach.

I have a friend -- whom we'll call Bad Influence Betty -- that wanted to take our dogs to the beach anyway. Despite Hubby's objections, Betty and I loaded up the dogs and headed north.

It was a good mile hike from the parking lot to the beach access. There were multiple "NO DOGS ALLOWED" signs along the way. I felt a twinge of guilt every time I saw one, but Betty and I kept trodding along anyway. When we finally got to the beach, there were six other people there -- and three dogs! We snapped a few pictures and left.

An hour later we got back to the van and discovered that both dogs were crawling with ticks! Our next stop was the self dog wash! We spent a good hour scrubbing dogs and picking off ticks. You know what? It was worth it. -- K

Merry Christmas!

This year's official Christmas photo:

My favorite pet store, Pet Supplies Plus, offered free photos with Santa. (Don't tell Jedi, but "Santa" is really Fred, the friendly dog food guy.)

We decided to decorate the yard this year as well. This is what we came up with:

It looks even better at night:

Yes, those are Star Wars themed lights behind Darth Vader. What did you expect?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Have You Seen Me?

Yep, I've been gone awhile.

Nope, not dead.

I've been busy the last three months focusing on my health. *gasp* I know, I'm surprised too. I finally got tired of being sick and tired. I got a health coach to help. I'm walking, eating better and taking my meds regularly. That's the good news.

Unfortunately, all this is very time consuming. My nutritionist challenged me to write things down. I am. All of it is in another blog (that I'm not ready to share yet). However, I've been doing doggie things too and will try to share some of those over the next couple weeks. Long time friends know that I stink at multi-tasking, so please bear with me. And I look forward to sharing upcoming events like the Westminster Dog Show trip in February and the German Shepherd Dog Club of North Florida's Specialty Shows in April.

I hope everybody had a Happy Christmas. I'm really looking forward to 2018. I'm expecting great things. Seriously, how could a Year of the Dog NOT be good for me? Talk to you soon, -- K