Sun Valley Dog Marathon

Sun Valley Dog Marathon
Sponsored by: Sun Valley Pet Club
Date: Sept. 29, 2012

Though I'm not a runner and I haven't technically joined any marathons as of this date, I love Marathons especially if it's for my dogs. I've transformed into a supportive sans stage parent when it comes to these things. I see dog marathons as opportunities to get my dogs socialized, have them (and the owner) exercised and have a  fun and healthy bonding experience outside the premises of my home. All I would have to do is to wake up early, find someone who actually likes to run with them and prepare my camera and a group of supporters.

For this Dog Marathon, it happened inside the village and organized by the village pet club.  There's a 3K race and a 1.5 K dog walkathon race.

Harvey naturally is our best bet for runs like these, and JD, being the only athletic member of our family is his formidable partner. They've done a dog race before in MOA sponsored by Pet Express in 2011 so this isn't a first. Unfortunately, he was late in reminding me that he will be competing in the UAAP table tennis in this date. I panicked. I don't even walk 1.5K by choice, so there's no way I would survive the 3K race! I doubt if they would have ambulance available and I would not dare imagine myself being carried in the village pick up truck either. My mom had agreed to walk Chivas and looking at my sister, I dare not ask. I needed to find a replacement or Harvey's potentials would be ruined.


Thanks to Ate Ne, Harvey's ultimate disciplinarian and boss, she volunteered. Ate Ne, ran the 3K wearing her favorite black sandals, short black shorts and hot pink shirt. According to the racegoers, Harvey and Ate Ne led the race on the first 2 kilometers, but on the 3rd, their hyped up energy in the first rounds took a toll on them.  They didn't place, but finished in the top 10 out of may be 25. Not bad.

Chilling at the back of the Car and meeting Mitch's mom

Bruce at 3.5 Months

Me and Bruce!

My original prince

See Ate ne with her Sandals and Harvey Speeding away

Mama and Chivas - the unexpected 3rd placers

Chivas and mom were the over competitive ones. My mom couldn't get over the fact that they won 3rd place and Chivas was as equally pliant and competitive as she was. We didn't hear the end of her bragging until the next day. They were our surprise champions. They wouldn't miss the awarding for the world.

3rd placers

Chilling

The pair

And this marathon is very important because it's the first opportunity for Bruce to get socialized. Now this is my department. When we got Bruce, he was so fearful and shy. We had a hard time making him explore the house. He would always stay in one corner and would not even step down on a short flight of stairs. We would nudge his food away just so he would be forced to get out of that shell. It worked a few days and he did improve, but I noticed how fearful he was in this marathon. He would only stay at the backseat. He would look around but never interact. Stress triggers sleep as he slept throughout the blessing part. We even had a hard time walking him from the car to the gym. But despite his fears and stress, I'd like to think he enjoyed by seeing new things and encountering a new territory. At least he was able to expose himself to dogs and strangers. I learned that he isn't aggressive. He's just shy.

This race was so fruitful as we learned so much from our dogs and celebrated the surprise successes of some. In these types of races, winning is just an extra. I don't really even care if we win or not. It's all about bonding and having fun.

Special thanks to Mitch Bautista for the photos!