March 14 - Turkey & Green Beans
14th March 2019
Well, the novelty has worn off.
You know how it is when you start something really new in life, right? The first few days and weeks are fresh and exciting. You realize it's a marathon, but you can picture yourself crashing through the tape at the finish line, arms waving. You just power into it with gusto.
Then it dawns on you: There's actual work involved here. You have to stay motivated. Old habits are begging you to return. It would be so easy to just forget the whole thing...
Funny thing, though. It's way harder to give up if you have a partner who's counting on you to help them on their own journey. There's this really good dog involved now. He's making progress, and he's counting on me. So I just put on the shoes, hook up the leash, and off we walk. Without Blue, it might be Netflix and nachos.
This past weekend, Blue and I did our biggest hike ever. Nearly 5 hilly miles on the Summit Metro Parks' Bike & Hike Trail and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park's Brandywine Gorge Trail. Both were beautiful, peaceful, and gave us quite the workout. Blue just crushed it.
And that's not all. The behavior change was just as amazing as Blue's stamina and strength. Loose leash through the whole walk while politely greeting passing bicyclists and walkers. (Dogs are a different story, but Blue is slowly gaining confidence. One step at a time.)
Oh, and about the turkey and green beans. Because of the ingenuity of one of the shelter's behavior staff, green beans have replaced hot dogs and peanut butter for rewards and reinforcement. Since regular green beans are hard to handle on the trail, I threw a couple cans in my home dehydrator after soaking them in beef broth. Voila, a healthy motivator that came in handy when Blue planted himself as he stared at a squawking flock of wild turkeys that really didn't want him or me in the neighborhood. After a few minutes, the tasty green beans won out.
Considering how well Blue did this past Sunday, we have an even bigger adventure scheduled for St. Patrick's Day. Watch for an update on Facebook this Monday, and come back here in 2 weeks for our second weigh-in.
Finally, please keep in mind that this is all about raising money for Blue and his pals, as well as finding a permanent home for this head-turning hiker. If you can step up and help with either, Blue and I would be forever grateful. (I'll even throw in a month's supply of dehydrated green beans. Yum.)
Thanks for sticking with us on this journey, and see you on the trail.
Ted
