Romack Revealed

After yesterday’s downer of a day, it was quite refreshing to tackle Thursday. And yes, we did manage to make it out of the house by 5AM and hit the gym. This time, however, I actually got to work out while Piper got a bit more settled with our routine inside of the gym. I ended up tethering her to the ginormous metal pole – that probably holds the roof up or something – and did about 15 minutes on the elliptical. I’m going to eventually get back up to my 40 minute routine, but I’m really wanting Piper to feel comfortable, and being a good 15 or 20 feet away during my workout isn’t the most comfortable spot for her to be. She did well today, though, in spite of an older man staring at her the entire time.

We found all of the machines with precision and perfection this morning. She moved beautifully from machine to machine, and didn’t even flinch as I used them. What a pup! I felt very confident as we strolled through the gym, and you wouldn’t have even thought I had hit the brick wall the day before.

Sandy told me that she wanted us to work this route by ourselves the next morning. We’d go into the gym and do the same routine, as well, and this time, Sandy would sit outside of Piper’s gaze in the cardio room. I think she was there more to protect Piper from the older man that was creeping around her. In any event, we made it back home in record time, and of course, Piper enjoyed her dive into the briny deep to fish for the allusive kibble.

Our afternoon route was a breeze – and quickly turned into a quest for something caffeinated. We headed to the HEB on East Villa Maria, where Piper and I walked behind a shopping cart that Sandy was pulling. The route was to demonstrate how Piper was to follow when I went shopping with Angela. Of course, this was a cinch for her and we passed with flying colors. The challenge wasn’t the route, but more the search for some Starbucks drinks in the store. 5AM feels earlier and earlier with each passing day, so a little pep in my step couldn’t hurt anything, could it? On our way home, we spotted a bus stop and did a little research as to where that particular bus would take me. It may be something we dig a bit deeper into when an instructor comes back in a few months.

After postponing it a few times throughout the week, we finally ended up taking Sandy out for dinner. BJ’s Brewhouse was our destination, and it was a great opportunity to test the “follow” command with Piper. It’s hard enough getting Angela, Tyson and I into a restaurant, so add the pup into the mix, it’s a recipe for confusion. The “follow” command is nifty because, as long as Piper and I work together and pay attention, we can trail right behind Angela, or any other close friend or family member for that matter. And – of course – we did just fine. Dinner was great, conversation was excellent, and folks oogled Tyson more than they did Piper, so that was nice, too.

Solo route tomorrow at 5AM. Not really nervous or anything. How do you think we’ll do? You’ll have to subscribe to the Daily Wag feed and find out.

I’ll be perfectly honest here – I never imagined today to pan out the way it did. Certainly a barrel full of unexpected. First, and most important, Piper and I officially graduated this morning, which was an unexpected little joy. Our solo route went flawlessly and, in fact, Piper blazed down the sidewalk both directions. Inside the gym, we increased the amount of workout time, and of course, there was no issue there. I think the creepy, older man hovered a little further away today, too.

As soon as I hit the mailbox inside our town home complex, which is our destination right before we make it home, Sandy congratulated us on a successful walk. She then asked, since we had so much extra time, if we’d like to have a celebratory beverage at Starbucks – and who wouldn’t right? I grab a salted caramel mocha, on a recommendation from a Twitter friend, and grab a seat. I made some remark about how low the seats were and something about “Who needs a table anyway,” to which Sandy says, “Well, you do because – you’re graduating!” Whoa! Surprise!

The next 30 minutes included signing paperwork for the ownership of Piper, a rundown of her medical history and an exchange of a few last-minute goodies and gadgets. While we were chatting, I got a call from Angela that she couldn’t wake my brother, John, up, which was irritating because he was the one watching Tyson this morning. In a frenzy to sort out the schedule for the morning, Sandy and I headed home to sort out what was going on with my brother. No worries – he’s just a hard sleeper, but I did relieve him of his babysitting duties and asked him to head home. Sadly, this meant I was without a sitter for the morning. Sandy told me that Tyson could just accompany us, which was a huge relief.

I had a 9AM appointment in town in preparation for my surgery next Thursday, so the next hour or so was spent working with Piper while I had Tyson strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn. It was uncomfortable, mainly because I had only popped him in the carrier a time or two before, but mostly because I wasn’t sold that my pup was going to keep an eye on Tyson, too. Don’t get me wrong – she’s super careful and I don’t worry about my personal safety, but a oohing, cooing little one felt like a different story.

Not to Ms. Piper, though. She worked flawlessly, even with my hesitation and tense posture. We worked down to the mailbox, which is the starting point of our route, and she maneuvered the boy and me beautifully. In all the excitement and fuss over Piper’s spectacular performance, Tyson decides now is the perfect time to be fussy – and that’s when things got interesting.

I snapped the carseat into the training van, loaded up a screaming Tyson into said van, and we bounded down the streets of Bryan to make it to my 9AM appointment. Only a few minutes late, and now with a semi-consoled baby, I pop the Bjorn on for a second go, and again, Piper works fantastically with the kiddo aboard. We quickly learn the route into the doctor’s office, and despite it being rushed and on-the-fly, I quickly realize Piper loves learning new routes. This will come in handy – for sure.

Tyson is now upset again, which tells me he’s probably hungry. As I’m juggling paperwork for my physical, a harnessed Piper, the diaper bag and Tyson in the Bjorn, I toss a bottle to Sandy and ask if she wouldn’t mind trying to feed the little man. Not really thinking how massive a request that really was, I give her a screaming kiddo and a bottle of milk, and then head into an exam room for my physical. It wasn’t long before I hear Tyson’s cries again, so I relieve Sandy of her bottle duty. I really put her through the ringer this morning – and she never complained, even for a moment. I owe her big time for that.

We have a few odds and ends that need to be tightened up before Sandy heads out of town. The weekend will have us running mailboxes again, walking with the entire family (Mandi included), working with Piper and the drums, and the last leg of the Sonic route. I’m feeling extremely confident about the partnership between Piper and me, so I feel strong that we’ll wrap up before I head to surgery next week. Until tomorrow, friends.

I remember asking Sandy if we could run routes at 5AM to accommodate my daytime gig a bit easier. I don’t know about her, but I hit the snooze button about three or four times before rolling out of bed at 4:45AM this morning. We armed ourselves with some cappuccino from the Keurig and a slice of pastry – and we were off. It was a tad on the creepy side, too, with all the fog, mist and stillness.

One of my primary routes, which was originally devised as a pleasure walk, is about 3.25 miles when walked in its entirety. It also happens to be a route that has nearly every single type of obstacle or challenge for the pup, including off-curbs, right shoulder work, overheads and scent distractions. Since I’d only worked this route with Larry, and we’d been together for years when we learned it, I really didn’t give this route a second thought when I mentioned it to Sandy. In an attempt to make it less boring for Piper, seeing as its a walk with no real destination in mind, we parked toward the end of the one-way route and worked backwards to my house.

The biggest challenge during this first attempt ended up being some curb stops and a section of mailboxes along the way. Piper, and many pups for that matter, don’t dig the concept of slowing down, or even worse, stopping altogether for an obstacle. It’s not them being careless or unsafe as much as it is them wanting to maintain momentum and energy. Getting Piper to slow down and watch was daunting, but not impossible. We had a few wide open stretches along the way, so she blazed down the sidewalk quite nicely, which made me pretty happy.

Another way we’re dealing with Piper’s disappointment for returning home is to play her favorite game in the entire world – *KIBBLE FISH**! I’ve never seen a pup so excited about anything. And – if you can imagine a medium-sized pup furiously dunking her head into a bowl of water, you can probably imagine the splishy-splashy mess she makes while playing her game. Oh well – it’s what makes her happy, and it’s working, too.

Our afternoon route was a bit of a doozy – and it’s one that I’ve dreaded, to be honest. There’s a traffic stop right down the street from our house – East 29th Street and Carter Creek Parkway. It’s a heavily trafficked crossing, but the way traffic is filtered through it becomes the most frustrating part about it. It wasn’t really set up for pedestrians, either, despite the fact that sidewalk was just created all along Carter Creek Parkway to aid folks getting down to the park, so it makes no sense that there isn’t a traffic button at this stop. I’ve never really had difficulty judging traffic crossings, mostly because I’m what we like to call “overcautious”. But I guess that’s better than being hit by a car, I suppose. This crossing blew my mind.

After sitting at the stoplight at E. 29th and Carter Creek for about 45 minutes, I successfully mastered when I had a 13 second window to jog across the road. It felt really good to cross it, though, because I’ve always been scared to go that one alone. And – being on the other side – there’s a really nice park that I can take my son on nice afternoons, so that’s a major bonus. That being said, Sandy and I agreed that it wouldn’t be the safest crossing to manage with a kiddo, so we came up with another plan. We contacted the city about adding an audible crosswalk at this crossing. We’ll see what comes of it.

Walking to the park wasn’t too much of an ordeal. There were a few mailboxes, which prompted me to steady Piper a bit. There were plenty of new smells, too, so she was particularly distracted. Being so much shorter than Larry, I have a difficult time determining when she’s burying her nose in the ground. Something I’ll have to master – and quick.

Heading toward the park was a breeze. We took the loop around Tanglewood Park, which passes plenty of benches, a gazebo and a playground area. We stopped to sit under the gazebo for a bit, and then we set off toward my house. Piper wasn’t having that. She pulled just about every trick in the book to stall our homeward bound journey, but Sandy offered plenty of advice to counter each and every one. Piper really likes it when you sing to her, so when you see a blind goofball humming the Indiana Jones theme song down the sidewalk, that’s most certainly me. We did make it home – and across the busy street again – and we were all just about exhausted.

Catching up on the Daily Wag? You can always subscribe to the feed and peruse the archived entries. You’ll also see new posts as Piper and I continue training in College Station. Thanks, as always, for following our journey!