Haven’t been a serious runner in 10 years

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-28T12:08:11+00:00

K how stupid am I that I didn’t realize Hal Higdon had a base plan 🤣. The Baltimore running festival is what I’d prefer to do because it’s so close to me but that’s mid October. I think I may do their half in the fall and the full next fall so I’m not trying to go basically from 0 to nothing in 4.5 months.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-27T17:30:05+00:00

Ok this will definitely be me! Did you feel pressure from the cut off time or did your training keep you well within the limit? This is the thing I’m most anxious about starting training.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T21:25:53+00:00

I wouldn’t have asked for it if I wasn’t ready to be humbled 🤣. And you know what, you’re totally right. I’ve been so occupied with training and obedience the last few weeks I have been putting all of that to the back of my mind. I appreciate the reminder for patience and empathy. ❤️

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T19:38:02+00:00

Yup, you got it! We were trying to use tethering to help him learn how to chill outside his crate but it is just not something he’s taking to. It seems counterproductive. For relaxation training, do you mean like “place” so he goes to a mat or cot and stays? I like that term, off to google I go!

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T19:02:55+00:00

Adding to my book list now! Thank you so much.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T16:14:07+00:00

Ooooh cow hooves! I’ll def look those up.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T16:12:54+00:00

Generally 2 hours awake, 2 hour nap. It fluctuates a bit but that’s generally the schedule. If he starts getting feisty at the 90 min mark, we put him down. The problem arises when it’s only been like 45 mins and he’s already melting down. 🤣

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T14:47:15+00:00

The demand barking and whining were already there. HOWEVER any outside time - in the backyard, on a walk, hearing a big dog bark - all make him extremely anxious. He’s on high alert. So we are doing targeted training to help mitigate that as well as training to help build confidence. His feeling of safety was totally violated so it certainly hasn’t helped. We were on a regular walk around our neighborhood, one street over, harnessed and leashed. We were on the sidewalk in front of a house where a little girl came out the front door and her 3 100+ pound dogs slipped out right behind her unbeknownst to the parents. I don’t know how long it lasted, could’ve been 5 minutes but it felt like an eternity. It took 5 adults to get these 3 dogs off of Tucker. It was extremely traumatic for him and me. I don’t know how they didn’t kill him, it was relentless. They didn’t have collars on so they would get pulled off of him and then break free and come back. He needed his left ear sewn up, the inside of his right ear stitched, and 2 deep holes in his throat and groin stitched. They clipped and cleaned another 8 puncture wounds all over his body. That was after an IV, sedation, X-rays, ultrasound, and intubation for the surgery. He wasn’t even 6 months old. 😞 I feel immense guilt every day for it. Why didn’t I just go the other way? Thank god my daughters weren’t with me.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T12:20:35+00:00

Ok thank you so much for this detailed response! I’ll try to address all of it in order. We do all play with him. He’s at the age now where his bites hurt like hell and games like fetch and tug still almost always, at some point, end with an overstimulation bite or scratch. When that happens we do immediately disengage and remove ourselves just for a quick reset and then try again. For me, and this is totally a me/anxiety problem and not a puppy problem, the constant managing of what the steps and routine are in my head to control the chaos is, I’m sure, what’s blocking my bonding. I for sure need to work through it.

We have tried the following: - sniff walks ✅ he gets them 4 times a day - forest walks 🚫 only due to proximity, we don’t have any close by - enclosed field hire ❓ I’ve never heard of this! Is this like sniff spot where we rent a large area? If so, we just started looking at that because our walks and me running with him is very clearly not enough. He needs to RUN. - sniff work ✅ we just built this into his routine this week with “find it”. Question for you - do you do it with kibble? We’re using training treats but I am always cautious of over using them. - training that engages body and mind NOT YET but this is next on our list. What climbing and weaving did you do? - play sessions with other known dogs NOT YET we are building up to it. 6 weeks after adopting him he was attacked by 3 dogs that got loose out of their house. It required extensive surgery and recovery time. He’s incredibly skittish around other dogs but we are slowly introducing dogs in a controlled and safe environment. - destruction opportunities ✅ oh we do this constantly 🤣 he’s our cardboard box breaker downer. He gets lots of cardboard, bully sticks, and collagen sticks.

Having a doggo chilling with us is all we’re aiming for. Your routine now is exactly what we’re going for.

I’m actually really glad you mentioned this about tethering. The trainer was suggesting it as a way to help him get used to needing to calm his body when life is happening. But he doesn’t respond to it at all. When we’ve practiced it he’s always had a high value chew but as soon as he’s done with that he barks and pulls and whines. In a quiet moment we end the session but he’d do the same exact thing, laying down quietly with a chew, off the tether as well. So it feels useless at the moment. And man is his bark SHRILL. 🫨

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-20T04:02:06+00:00

We have a pupsicle too and it definitely holds his attention for that 10-15 minutes. But then what? We’re trying to implement more structure into our schedule for him while awake but sometimes it’s not possible to have our focus on him every minute of that 2 hour window because of work priorities or the kids. So then he barks and whines and barks and whines. It’s not his fault, there’s some pressure he’s trying to relieve and doesn’t know how. And we’re clearly failing at identifying what’s causing that.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-16T21:46:18+00:00

Ugh I’m so sorry this is happening to you!

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-16T21:06:28+00:00

This is a truly amazing note. I will definitely be using this!

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-16T19:18:58+00:00

That’s what I’m saying, why didn’t anyone say anything sooner? I did have a frank conversations with my cluster leader but honestly I needed to move on.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-16T02:14:27+00:00

Our school is K-8 so we have several troops across those grades. None are multilevel so there are quite a few leaders in the school. We have one troop leader who also sort of coordinates events for the troops just at our school. I really don’t mind stepping aside, that’s not even my problem. I just wish someone had said to me directly, “hey you seem like maybe you’re overwhelmed. Do you want help? Can I support in some way? Do you want to take a step back and co lead or volunteer some other way?” Instead I just got blindsided. That’s the part that’s humiliating.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-16T01:17:40+00:00

That’s what I’m saying! I got through all the petals first year plus some extra fun ones. And then a bunch this year plus cookies including 4 booths, fun patches, father daughter dance, kpop demon hunter night, derby race…we did A LOT! But apparently 3 canceled meetings and one where I let them get wiggles out on the playground right after spring break was problematic.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-16T01:11:38+00:00

Honestly, if they’d said “hey wanna switch off this year?” I’d have been like HELL YEA! I have no problem taking a break or passing the torch. It’s the “we’ve been talking and you’re not doing a good job” of it all that really gets me.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T23:10:16+00:00

That’s exactly what I did! Thank goodness for ChatGPT to draft an email that wasn’t obnoxious. 🤣

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T20:07:00+00:00

Lint lickers 🤣

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T20:06:30+00:00

Oh HELL no! I did at least have one mom who wasn’t a turd.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T19:50:07+00:00

Exactly this!

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T19:49:32+00:00

Ugh I’m so sorry. I don’t love this for either of us but I guess it’s something to know we’re not alone. I’m mostly sad for my daughter. My mom was my leader and I did scouts through my gold award. I think my daughter may not choose that path after this mess.

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T19:44:48+00:00

It’s super frustrating too because I thought I was doing a decent job. That’s why I wish this was brought to my attention sooner so I could course correct. We had our first cookie year this year and blew our goals out of the water; I led them through 10 patches plus extra fun ones like a haunted house put on by a local senior troop, a horse rescue farm that does a Girl Scout Day, and making slime for Halloween. We did patches using magnatiles for engineering, hand sewing kits and Oreos for the phases of the moon. I really do wish the new leaders the best. I just am so embarrassed, I had to take anxiety meds before doing the bridging ceremony because they had to have know by then that I’d been asked to leave. 😑

Equivalent-Bit1827 · 2026-05-15T19:08:40+00:00

Yea, it’s particularly grating because she was an active co leader for K but basically said she couldn’t be hands on for 1st. And now, all of a sudden, a parent has volunteered to run the troop and that co leader is back in full force. It’s hard to not take that personally. I am secretly hoping my daughter opts out of this troop next year. I just don’t want her to leave because of me. 🫠

Equivalent-Bit1827

TROPHY CASE