Many people hear over and over how much I love the Greenway. I live right by it and do all sorts of activites on it. Both homes I have owned, have been in EN and had close access to the Greenway. Currently from my house, I can access the back loop of Shelby Bottoms, circle it and be back home in about 15 minutes, on my bike. This is a route I do almost every day with my dog. I ride the bike and she runs.
Example:
Now Ellie is 10 years old. We have been doing this since she was about 3 yo. She loves it. We go almost every day and she pretty much stalks me around the house in the mornings until I take her. Jumping on me, circling around and nudging me. It’s annoying, but endearing too.
What tickles me about it is her behaviors she has learned through the years when we are out there.
Example: We see deer all the time on the loop. There are certain spots that the deer have created trails in the growth and are more likely to be seen from our the path. Ellie has learned where these spots are. When we get to these areas, Ellie gets on “high alert” in search to see a deer. If we do, she stops completely. (Which isn’t easy for me if I am not paying attention, to slam on the brakes.) Being a bird dog, Ellie has to “creep” a little and ease up toward them, once we are close, she breaks wide open and does a full on sprint. (Also, hard on me, if not paying attention.)
Did I also mention how fast this dog can run? I mean, SHE CAN RUN! I can be pedaling, almost as fast as I can go, just to keep up with her. She is crazy fast. People have joined us on occasion, Friends, My Dad, the husband, and well, actually, no one has ever been able to really keep up. She’s too fast!
Most days unless something gets her fired up, (Deer, squirrel, big leaf ahead, etc) she goes from “Medium” speed to “high medium”. She is very competitive also. When she turns it up to ‘High” it is almost always because she sees someone else on the Greenway up ahead and has to pass them.
Just today, we got out early and didn’t see a soul until we made the first turn in the loop, up ahead, there was an older gentleman going about 2mph on a bike. Ellie wasn’t having it. We speed up to full speed. She absolutely had to pass this man and get in the lead. What she didn’t do in her moment of excitement, was scan in her usual “deer sighting spot”. So here we are, flying down the path to pass this man, practically not even moving. We hit the spot and almost ran smack into a deer crossing the path. I mean we almost collided! And this is the 2nd time this has happened. Wish I had a video of that!! Anyway, Ellie won the race and her little pride/ bragging stride continued all the way home. I wonder what she is thinking sometimes, I can tell she clearly thinks she is a winner and the best, quickest and coolest dog on that Greenway. And I must say, I have to agree!
After her runs in the Summer, she enjoys a nice little dip in the pool to cool off!
Ellie the Wonder dog!
