Good Luck, London!

Strelka.

Today's run with Leroy and Strelka the Golden: 10.03 km - 60.35 min, sunny, +10ºC.

Beautiful day. Wish good luck to all who run tomorrow's London Marathon.

As the second suspect in Boston bombings is apprehended, I recommend this little item on how K-9 Comfort Dogs help the victims of the bombings to recover. 

If you are about to choose the breed for running or companionship, note that the team there only uses Golden Retrievers, like my Strelka, the soppiest, friendliest, fluffiest dog ever. 

Here's a quote by Tim Hertzner, who runs K-9 Comfort Dogs, which has teams in seven US states with  67 dogs, all Golden Retrievers:

"After a tragic event, I’ve noticed people often first open up and talk with the dog about what happened - before talking to other people. They’re really big furry counsellors: they have a sixth sense of empathy and can sense sorrow. Playing with a dog also gives people a much-needed moment of diversion.

 

We can’t keep track of how many people have been affected by the dogs, but in Boston, we are talking thousands. When I was out with some of the dogs on a hospital visit Thursday, a woman who had just undergone surgery on her leg got out of her bed and took her first step in order to play with one of the dogs".

Dogfight! We won!

Nala pretending to be a peacenik.

(4 December) 

58.58 min - 9.9 km, +6ºC, with Nala and Leroy.

A typical Nordic-Maritime hour: started the run in brilliant sunshine, then it suddenly turned dark and - on the 4th of December! - a real thunderstorm started, with lightning, thunder and hale stones, which turned to slashing rain. The rain stopped soon and it was glorious brilliant sunshine again 40 minutes into the run. 

And an amazing time for Nala. Especially considering what had happened. 

Lately I have been trying to take Nala running more often. She was running again today, toujours en forme, the dogs were both bouncing, ahead of me all the time. 

We usually pass 10-12 dogs along the route, all behind fences or on a chain, bar two nasty ones. We call them 'dump dogs' because their owner is an old man who has a huge pile of metall junk, mostly 'white goods' by his house. I think he makes a living dealing in scrap metal. The dogs are often on the loose, chasing cars and passersby, real nuisance. 

They often chase us too. Ha! Soft target - a runner with two dogs on a lead. Usually I just ignore them and tell the dogs to 'heel.'

Not today. I forgot to tighten Nala's running collar and, when the dump dogs lunged at us, she pulled —and the collar flew off. God, did she go after the dumpsters! 

Nala is a waiflike little thing, much smaller than an average Golden. She was the last in a litter of twelve puppies and we took her because the kennels owner literally begged us to have her. 

But hell hath no fury like a Nala in the fight. Before I could intervene she grabbed one of the dump dogs, a muscular black and white terrier, larger than her, by the back of the neck lifted him in the air — I couldn't believe my eyes — and smashed him on the ground. He retreated whimpering. Meanwhile, Leroy fended off the second dog, a white Labrador cross.

Total rout! Chicken scraps for the victorious Nala, my girl. 

Run, Golden Strelka, the star of my book.

10.17 km - 62.12 min., with Strelka and Leroy. It's windy, almost stormy, fallen branches everywhere and very, very cool, 14ºC. But somehow neither the chill, nor the wind, are unpleasant.

The cutout photo below is of Strelka, the Golden Retriever, who has been my running buddy for eight years now. I made it with graphic tools in iWork/Pages, an Apple Mac word processing and page layout programme. The cutout was meant for this blog, but I also put it in the book about iWork I've been writing this year. So Strelka became a star in it. (read on below the photo)

The technique involves editing the photo's contours on a Mac. In physical terms, it is similar to what we all do as children in play groups and kindergartens – cut out a picture with scissors to glue it into a scrapbook. Except that on computers we move editing points to hide the rest of the photo and leave only the image we want. Anyone with basic computer skills can quickly learn how to do it. And not just this but many other tricks with text and images that many of us have always wanted to learn but were  afraid to try. This includes the Internet. I made the graphic title-panel for this blog in iWork/Pages too.

The book is out now, in print and Kindle versions. Cropping and cutting out photos is described in detail there, as well as many other techniques for family and professional projects, from cards and posters to brochures, magazines and books. You can read or download a sample chapter on how to make logos with iWork/Pages here (opens in PDF).

The book, iWork for Mac OSX Cookbook (link to the book on Packt Publishing), is now on Amazon and all other major book-selling websites. It's called a cookbook because of the easy-to-follow descriptions of computer techniques – just like recipes for cooking.

This weekend the publishers, Packt Publishing, are having a big promotion: if you register on their site, you can download one of their ebooks, including mine, for free.

Click on the book cover below to go to Amazon.

Cooling their feet (paws).

Nala (back to camera) and Strelka in the woods

67.12 min - 10.1 km.

Took female Golden Nala for a run after a long break. Her and Strelka, her male twin.

She hasn't really regained form after giving birth to eight puppies two years ago, but is a happy active dog. Time doesn't matter, she can do it in her own pace and the rest of us will just follow.

It had been raining and there were puddles on the road and water in ditches. I went down to a slow pace to let Nala enjoy her run. Boy, she did!

And noticed: halfway into my usual 6-mile circuit both Goldens started running through puddles and and jumping into the ditches to gallop through the stream. It's fun for them but it's also a natural way for dogs to cool their paws. 

Goodbye, Little Wood.

run 9.7 km - 60.13 min, cold, sunny, no wind.

- with Nala, after a longish break. 

She runs fine now, even outruns Strelka, the droopy male Goden. 

And horror – four farmers with chainsaws are clearing my favourite stretch – the overgrown dirt track. In summer a thick canopy of beech, oak and hazel leaves covers it. 

I've been running, cycling and walking through it for nearly 10 years now. We used to come here with my son to cut long young hazel shoots to make arrows and bows. The longest shot we managed was 84 paces (mine). 

Clearing looks like massacre, but, in fact, is a very efficient way of managing hedges, 2-3 foot thick beech-trees are cut down, hazel bushes cut to ground level, but not uprooted. Every 5 to 10 metres a young tree, a beech or an oak are left standing – to grow and seed. 

Something to look forward to, for another ten years.

A True Sportsman

Strelka

 (entry by Strelka the Golden*)

9.6km (6 miles) - 56.12 min. 

Leroy really impressed me today. 

We were running through the woods and a flock of four 'bamby' deer crossed the lane and darted into the fields. I can't be bothered, you know me. But Leroy didn't chase them either and stayed with the Boss - only slighty raising his nose and looking back at him, so as to say – look, Boss, PREY! 

Boss is strange, he just looked at bambies admiringly and ran on. 

BUT: He disappeared around tea-time and came back with a huge bag of VERY red meat scraps! Waddahunter, my! 

*Golden=Golden Retriever.

Build Up My Confidence

9 km - 59.27 min - windy, but pleasantly warm, salty taste on my face. Dogs pant and hide in shade.

Boss never lets us down. When those dastardly good-for-nothings rush out to chase us, he just swishes the long end of the lead - and they scamper. Wow, I wish I could be so brave.

Today he did something he'd never done before. We were coming back and just two or three hundred metres from home, I was really thirsty and tired, kept stopping pretending I wanted to pee, though I didn't, really. Then Blackie rushed out at us, barking, snarling. Bastard, coward, he'd never fight for real, I just know. Boss cracked the lead once, swished it around once - and then he suddenly stopped and unclipped the double lead. Me and Leroy were free! Free to fight!

We stopped, turned round to face Blackie, who didn't realise what had happened - and then we lunged at him. The coward retreated, just ran for it. What a feeling! Total victory! I've never felt so pleased with myself. Leroy was good too. Boss was proud too, I think. 'Well done, boys' he said.

- by Strelka the Golden, retriever

Photo by A.Anichkin: A Gargoyle of the Bayeux Cathedral

Cats Love Dogs

13.07.09 - 6 miles - 54.55 min. - a slow, easy trot, quick showers, but hot and humid in between.

You may also want to read 'The Russian Barking Brigade' (with clip from Dogs and Cats)

Like cats and dogs... My tabby Vassily is very sociable and sometimes even tries to follow me and the dogs when we go running, but falls behind quickly and goes back home to wait for his best friend to come back. Then Strelka, the male golden, lies down to cool himself, and the cat gives him a good lick over.

A Puppy for Obama?

12 km - 57.30 min. soft misty day, nice to run slicing through the thick cool moist hanging in the air

I heard on the radio that Barack Obama had promised a puppy to
his daughters.

We are giving away 6 adorable puppies - three black and three white. Four are already reserved and two, one black, one golden are still availbale.

Barack Obama and his family are looking for a puppy which he promised to his daughters. That's one pre-election promise, he said, which is definitely going to be kept. Reportedly, the Obamas are looking for a rescue dog, a cross-breed, possibly a Golden and a Poodle - a goldendoodle.

I think he should look at ours, because they are not just adorable, but qualify as rescue dogs, crosses of two of the most companionable and easy to train breeds - and there is rich international symbolism.

The puppies were born on 9/11 this year. The mother is a Golden Retriever with floppy ears and beautiful light stride when running. The father is a three-colour English
Setter, abandoned by his owner and rescued by us, a British-Russian family, living in France.

Mr President, if this blog gets to you, you and your family are welcome to adopt our puppy.

How to recycle dogs

6 miles - 50.03 min.

I found a small bird's nest in the garden. It must have been blown off the tree by the wind, or my cats had found it and disposed of the eggs.

The texture of the nest looked strangely familiar. I looked at it more closely - and what do you think it was made of? Beautiful blond hair with bits of moss. I never had a dog when I was a child, but I know that in families with dogs they often brushed hair out to make their own home-spun yarn out of which beautiful warm jumpers were made.

Now I see birds can recycle dogs too. My dogs. They love rolling over on the grass under the apple trees - and the birds must have picked up the hair left there.

Long-legged beauty with freckles

5 June 08 - 6 miles - 47.58 min

We have recently adopted an English Setter, Leroy, abandoned by his owner and left on a chain for weeks. Leroy is quite big for his breed, a three-colour setter with large head and lots of light brown freckles. He is a handsome long-legged dog with loads of energy and beautiful soft stride. I have started taking him on runs with one of my blond retrievers and leaving the second behind. The blonds can only just keep up with Leroy.

On my usual 6 mile circuit I regularly improve by more than 5 minutes when I take him. And he doesn't even pant when we are back.

Space dogs

24.03.07
6 miles - 47.03 min

A friend of mine sent this picture of a Russian 'commander's' watch with a picture of two space dogs on the face. He was asking if I'd recognise them.

As a matter of fact I DO remember both dogs. The first one in space, Layka, could not be returned to Earth and 'sacrificed herself on the altar of space exploration'. But these two, Belka (Squirrel) and Strelka (Little Arrow) were sent up to test if a human pilot could be safely sent up and returned back. The dog mission was successful and both huskies safely parachuted in the Steppes of Kazakhstan just a few months before Yuri Gagarin did his historic space orbit on 12 April 1961.

Belka and Strelka were accorded a huge run in the Moscow Zoo with plywood rockets for kennels and stars and moon to jump over - all to themselves. I remember my grandfather taking me there to see them. They were indistinguishable from most other dogs, but the excitement of seeing the real space dogs was tremendous.

Americans, by the way, sent up a chimpanzee to test-fly their system, which, bizarely, upset the white astronauts.


When we got our two Golden Retrievers I suggested naming them after the two Russian space huskies. Strelka stayed, because my son seconded the motion, but Belka was overruled by my daughter. So, we have Strelka (in the photo) and Nala (the naughty lion princess from Disney's Lion King).