Background Pt 3: Penelope as a Runner

As I said before, one look at Penny and you know she's a runner. As an adorable mix of a Golden Retriever and a Collie (most likely Border Collie) she is sleek and lean and pure speed. I'm not sure why her super combo has not yet become the next Cockapoo or Labradoodle, but it should be because she's pretty ridiculously awesome.

Anyway, from day one at the de facto dog park near our house, she has run circles around all the other dogs and people often comment to me how fast she is. She is a great herder and has been known to interfere in many a game of fetch- she'd make a great cornerback. It became readily apparent that finally my childhood dream had come true- I had a dog I could run with.

I remember our very first run back in November. We went to Meadowood Park after work since it had lights and ran two miles and we FLEW! She pulled me along the whole way and after taking some time off and perhaps enjoying a few too many brews, I was out of breath and winded, but in love! It was amazing how through running we seemed to instantly find a deeper connection. I remember it was very windy and as the wind blew in our faces little Penelope looked up at me and she was smiling! Maybe it was just the wind blowing her lips back, but I prefer to believe that as she lept for joy and ran along that she was smiling.

I was hooked and Penny certainly seemed to love it....but alas there is always a setback...

The next day poor Penny was limping. She was stiff and had a hard time getting up. I was concerned, but thought that just like her person, she was a little out of shape. The next day she seemed back to normal and we ventured to the dog park so she could run with her dog friends. Well that night back to limping. This time it continued for a day or two. Then she'd be normal again.

I was beginning to panic that perhaps my running partner could not be my steadfast exercise companion after all. I had read about Hip Dysplasia in Golden Retrievers, but assured myself that mutts did not have such ailments. But her post-exercising limping continued and off to the vet we went. Wouldn't you figure that my mutt, of all mutts, has hip dysplasia? I almost had a meltdown that my precious pup who so clearly loved to run and play may be sidelined for life. The vet told me that I had to limit her play time and cut out runs for the time being. I tried not to cry, but she also said there was hope. There were surgical options, but first we should try a Glucosamine supplement- Dasuquin. I had to give her two a day for the first 4-6 weeks and take her for brief walks for 14 days, then back of to 1 tablet a day.

Then the vet delivered one piece of good news- running/jogging could help! She explained that it was the lateral movement of playing and cutting and turning with other dogs that really stressed her hip, but by slowing adding straight line running to our routine it could build muscle strength around the hip joint and limit the effects of her dysplasia.....YES!!!

The Dasuquin is a Godsend I'm convinced and I can't even begin to tell you what a different dog she is today! We slowly built back up to jogging 10 minutes together (I of course had to stop running in the interim as an act of solidarity & it was ridiculously cold out) and then 15, and then 20 and NO limping. None at all, not even the slightest sign of discomfort. We ventured back to the dog park for short intervals and she didn't even limp after that. We ran through the blizzards and we began to pick up time and speed. My Penelope was back!!

With the vet's OK, we both began to build up our training. The key being no sudden changes and just gradual mileage increases the way you would while training yourself. Today, I'm happy to say that Penny and I have done 6+ miles with no issue at all, except that she runs way too fast, and we are well on our way to being ready for the half marathon on May 2!!

That kind of brings us up to speed to today. There are plenty of funny excerpts along the past several months, but I'll sprinkle those in later! Hooray for running with Penelope!