Buddy, the Britanny
When life gives you a puppy, make him a training game. I had no choice as I tried to escort Buddy, my new little Brittany, in from his fence. He wanted to dart this way; I wanted him to go that. Oh, but this was a game. If I ran, he ran. So I dashed forward and he bounded ahead. I stopped and he stopped. I started again and he leaped into my path, circling my feet and nearly upending me. Whoa. Now don’t step on the pup, I think, and recommit to my game plan, dashing again at pace but this time with tiny running steps, ready to stop or turn or hurdle the dash of orange and white at my feet at a split’s second notice. Perfect. Perfect training.
- start/stop
- sprint
- change of direction
- agility
- acceleration
- spacial awareness
- FUN
Why do we need to structure things so? Am I thinking, doggone it, I was supposed to do my 3 mile recovery run at 50% training pace today. Nope. Well, the doggone it does occur to me. Mostly because there are other things to attend to when you have a new pup. But seriously, life does deal all sorts of opportunities to be creative in our day’s work, even our day’s workout.
Why not embrace the fun? Anything that makes you move and makes you smile is likely to be good for the body and the soul. I say, go for it!
And after you do, take it from Buddy. A good rest is essential. 
Now, if I could just teach this retriever to fetch…