Our holiday run proved to be not only a fun, but FUNNY, event!
Transcript
Julie Jackson:
Hey, welcome to Happy Tales of Happy Tails, the podcast where you’ll hear stories of the way pups have touched our hearts and our lives. So for the next few minutes, let everything else go and just listen and smile. I’m your host, Julie Jackson. Welcome to the first episode of 2024. I can’t believe we’re already here. I hope your new year is off to a good start. I know sometimes there’s so much excitement and anticipation. And then sometimes there’s a little bit of that kind of let down that you know what it was just another day. But no matter how yours is going so far, I hope you’re still finding so much joy in that sweet little furry person that you share life with. And just hope in the in the promise that everything can change in a day. So I have just a quick story to share with you today from over the holidays. But I wanted to let you know too, I have a lot of great stories coming up this year. A lot of people graciously did stories with me months and months ago. And I just apologize that I’m so slow at record at excuse me not recording, but editing. I’m still kind of learning and new at this. And I want it to be something that brings joy to everyone, including myself, and I don’t want to be stressed out about it. So I’m just giving myself some grace and allowing myself to get this done as soon as I can get it done. But today is a story from over Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, so Black Friday. One of our local running stores (shout out to Bear Creek running) did a fun relay on the trails in the park in our community. And it was called Rest in Pieces and the theme was turkey pieces. And it was a ideally five team relay 10 miles, each person ran two one mile legs. And the baton was a plastic bowling pin that looked like a turkey leg was really fun. So they just had the exchange setup at kind of an intersection of the trails in the park and everyone, you know, brought their lawn chairs, they had speakers and food for everyone. It was really a good time. It was a lot of fun. And since it was out of the park dogs were welcome. So I use the term “run” loosely anymore, but get out on Saturday mornings and do some kind of moving. And now that the weather has been cool, the floofs love to go, but I cannot take them both at the same time because they are legit sled dogs and they’re strong. And they’re also, I know you’re gonna find this surprising, a little bit unruly. And I you know, one squirrel catches their attention and I could be a goner. So I’ve been alternating with them. Well, as you’ve probably heard me say before, Barney is very busy. And Chuck is very chill. So when Barney is out on the leash, he’s kind of all over the map, he has to smell all the smells and do all the things. Chuck does not take long to get settled in. And then he just he kind of gets into his stride and he’s happy to just trot along and enjoy the day. Well, I take Barney on my Saturday morning runs. And when I take Barney and leave Chuck behind, Chuck is fine. He may go to the window and watch us leave and he may make a few little sounds or noises but then he’s okay. Barney, when he gets left behind and it’s Chuck’s turn to go. He just goes ballistic. He not in an angry way, but a sad way. He just sings the song of his people, and he will scratch at the window and he goes to the door and he’s almost inconsolable. So Barney gets to go on the Saturday morning runs probably more often than Chuck. Just for that reason, Chuck kinda doesn’t care. But the morning of this relay, I thought, you know, Chuck, it’s Chuck’s turn, he deserves a turn and there’s going to be a lot of people and a lot of distractions. And so this is a much better environment for him. So Chuck was my running partner that day, I run with a waste leash, so I’m hands free. And then also it’s great because I can use my full body weight if I need to, to, you know, lean back and kind of help slow them down if they’re really excited. So we pull up and we were in the parking lot people are starting together. There’s a few other pups there. Mind you, Chuck is really chill. He’s a laid back guy. He likes to meet people is not necessarily going to go up and meet them though. He’s just kind of kind of a chill guy. And we’re walking through the parking lot. And there’s another group that has their dog with him. And this guy, I’m pretty sure was maybe a min pin, a miniature pinscher. He was in a turkey costume. He looked adorable. He looked adorable. So we have this tiny Turkey. And Chuck is really indifferent. He could care less, and we’re walking up. But as we’re walking up, this men pen sees Chuck and does not like him. He immediately reacts to him. And he’s barking at him and lunging at him. And Chuck and Chuck is a big guy. He’s mind you, these are Husky Malamute, Shepherd wolf mixes. And they’re not as big as their fluff makes them look but they’re still big and strong. And this guy’s a fraction of Chuck size, but he was very bold, I’ve got to give him that. And so Chuck was a good boy, he just, you know, kind of looked that Turkeys way and went on his way and we were fine. So we’re running our legs and the way it worked. The first person ran half a mile out to the West, and then half a mile back to the exchange, second runner half a mile to the east than half a mile back to the exchange. So each person ran each leg once. And our first leg we were running out to the West. So we had the West leg first and, and Chuck was doing great. He just he was having a good time. And he got settled in. And honestly, I have not been running consistently for a long time. I I’ve been getting out on Saturday mornings fairly consistently, but not excuse me just a minute. Farney like overhead, okay, sorry. But he was pacing me to the best pace I’ve run in a long time. It’s still slow, but it was the best pace that I’d run in a long time. But then he had to poop, which, you know, I guess that’s just one of the one of the things you run into. So my pacer had his poop. So we stopped and took care of that. And then we got back to the exchange and waited our turn for the next round. And these teams are all varying levels of speed. And so it’s staggering out where you’re not running with the same people every time you know. And it’s it’s a small enough thing to that we’re all well staggered. And sometimes you’re on the trail, and you really don’t even see any of the other runners. It was a beautiful day, it was just it was such a fun event. It was really perfect. And it’s time for us to run our lap to the east, we get up and we start heading out. And as we’re getting close to the turnaround, I realized that the turkey and his mom are coming up behind us and they’re fast. And I know okay, we’re going to do the turnaround, and they’re still coming. So after we do the turnaround, we will be passing them. So we do the turnaround. And sure enough, you know, a few moments later, we passed and that Turkey was not afraid. And he was yelling all kinds of smack at Chuck and he’s lunching at him. And he’s so I, you know, we kind of pulled our side of the trail and go about our way and Chuck is looking at him once again, like what’s going on. And then sure enough, I knew this was gonna happen. I’m like, she’s a lot faster than than we are and they’re gonna pass us so we’re gonna have to do that exchange again. So as I kind of feel them coming up on my shoulder, I just pulled chuck a little bit over to the side of the trail. And sure enough, here comes the trash talking turkey again, and he is bolder than ever lunging at Chuck and this Chuck’s like, Okay, I’ve had about enough of this. And Chuck starts to kind of lunge at him and I’m pulling him back, and they run on and it Chuck has him now in his sights. And he’s like, that’s it. I’m not taking this and all the sudden, Chuck’s gentle, you know, afternoon stroll, trot turns into a full on sled dog gallop. And I’m tied to the back of him. So the next thing I know I I’m just praying, please let my feet keep up and I’m running as fast as I can check is determined to catch this turkey. And it was so funny because the trail had some kind of hairpin turns where, you know, as the turn loops back around there, there was all kinds of trees and things in between so you can’t see the trail anymore. So the turkey rounds the bin, and he’s out of our sights and so Chuck just goes back to his try and he was such a good boy. And then we round the bend and all of a sudden he sees the turkey again and it is Game On. So we are flying. And I it was funny because I mean there was a huge hill at the end and everything he pays me to the fastest mile that I’ve had in a long time. And as we’re getting to the exchange I hear my team members scrambling because no one was ready for me because I think we were probably at least a good 30 seconds maybe longer, faster getting back than they expected. All thanks to chuck and the trash talk in Turkey. So it was a lot of fun. I have to laugh because that guy, I should probably thank him if I could find the little trash talking turkey, I should probably thank him for pacing me to the fastest mile I’ve had in a long time. And it would have been the fastest two miles if my pacer hadn’t required a potty break on the way, but that’s okay. You know, it is what it is. And I wasn’t there for speed. But we were laughing afterwards. And I said, I don’t know what it is that set that little guy off. But he did not like Chuck. And one of my teammates said, Well, you know, Chuck’s a handsome guy with a lot of presents, and that guy was in a turkey suit. So maybe that’s what it was. But it was a lot of fun. It was, it was a great way to enjoy the holidays with one of our pups, and just love all those dog O’s. So I hope you all have a wonderful week. Please don’t forget to check us out on social media. And honestly, if you would, please go to the website, happy tails, te a le s of happy tails ta ils.com. And if you would, there’s a I have a gift for you is I actually made it. And it’s a definition of dog print. So it’s downloadable and you can print it, it honestly be a cool gift, you could get a decent frame, you know, not not too expensive frame. And it would be a great gift for all your dog loving friends. But that also puts you on my email list. I would really love to grow that list because that is the most consistent way that I can communicate with you. I love what is what is possible on social media. But with their algorithms, a lot of people never see things that are posted. I promise I don’t send a lot of stuff. I send something every time a new episode is dropping, or if we add anything to the site, but I would really love that to be my primary way of communicating with people. So if social media ever makes changes, where it’s hard to reach people, they’re still able to find out what’s going on. And also I am always excited to get new stories. I love sharing what my pups do. It just makes me laugh. They cracked me up every day. But I really love hearing other people’s stories too. And y’all would probably like to hear from other people besides my goofballs. And so, I would love it too. If you would reach out to me. You can do it at the website or on social media. And let me know that you would like to share a story. I send you a link to my calendar, you pick a time that works for you, and then we just meet on Zoom. It’s very simple. It’s very laid back. Just a fun conversation. It’s nothing fancy. So if you would please check those things out and maybe share your email. I promise I won’t abuse the privilege. And that is it for this week. But I hope you have a wonderful week and remember you are as great as your dog thinks you are smooch your boot. Thanks, y’all.