Day 23

Another successful run up & down the mountains of San Francisco!

Ok, we did (most of) one block 3 times. But she was panting at the end, & actually, on the jog down the hill, plopped her butt down & refused to run another step.

Zoey says, "Please help us meet our goal of $600! If we hit our goal early, maybe we can stop this madness early."

(No, Zoey, we won't.)

Day 22

The air is still! The air is not moving, even a little bit!

We just got in from probably the best run yet. I think she enjoyed herself.

Zoey says, "If you donate right now, maybe she'll take me out again."

Day 21

Horrible, horrible, scary wind today. So, more soccer & general frivolity in the garage for the dog, and for me, more exertion in the form of battling the headwind on my bike.

The wind hasn't brought in any fog yet, so Zoey has gotten to spend the entire afternoon basking in her favorite patch of sun in the 70-degree back porch:

For dogs, mental exercise is as important as physical exercise. For dogs healing from injuries, sometimes it's the only thing you can do to help them work out their energy every day. After Zoey's surgeries, but before she could walk on her own again, her foster mom Val spent a lot of time teaching her things to give her little brain a workout. Here is a video of Zoey showing off one of them: catching treats in midair.



Val told me once that when she first started teaching her how to do it, Zoey would just sit there, letting the treats bounce off her blocky little head. How far she's come!

Zoey says, "There's only one thing I love more than when treats rain down on me from the heavens, & that's helping Lyon-Martin! Please donate!"

Day 20

Another stupid windy day. We went out for a very quick tour & came back in. Poor thing just hates the wind.

She did great though, & really gets what she's supposed to be doing. I think she enjoys the short half-block or one-block sprints more than the longer couple-of-block-long jogs. I think I do too. This project should probably be called Sprinting With Dog instead of Jogging With Dog.

As usual, when we got home, she flopped on the kitchen floor & worked hard to restore all that energy she just expended:

One of our favorite someones has suggested that perhaps Zoey can provide a personalized, autographed photograph of her adorable self to everyone who donates. Great idea! Zoey is very into it. We'll get started on those right away, & send them out on June 1 to celebrate the (no doubt) successful end to our project! 

In the meantime, it's not too late to get on Zoey's exclusive list! Zoey says, "Don't you want a photo of me? I am perfect for your home, school, or office? My fawn color goes with everything! Please donate!"

Day 19

Woo, what a day! It was hot & sunny, so we waited until evening to go out. After a long, arduous day of snoozing in the sunshine outside, & wagging her tail in her sleep inside, she hardly had any energy left over for our run.

 When we got home, she was not interested in my stalking her with the camera:

She just doesn't understand the demands of her public.

As I mentioned yesterday, thanks to the generosity of all the kind & generous people who have donated, we are within spitting distance of our $600 goal! As a special thank you, here is a video of Zoey drinking (read: spilling) water after our run tonight. I put the bowl on a rug that turns dark brown when it gets wet, so that you can get a sense of what a mess she makes as the water squirts out of her mouth & over the sides of the bowl, & then as it drains out of her underbite & missing teeth when she looks up.




Zoey says, "Hey I can't help it that I'm adorable. If we meet our goal early, there will be more of my cutenesses in store! Even more cutenesses if we beat the goal! Please donate!"

Day 18

Today was a banner day!

Not only did we have AJ's company on our run this evening, we were joined by one of our favorite people of all time: Amanda!

In addition to hiking the mountains of San Francisco together, we did a fun thing where we posted Amanda at the end of a block, jogged with Zoey to the other end, & then sprinted back to Amanda as fast as we could. We did that a couple times, & Zoey definitely had fun with it. Happy butt wiggles all over the place.

When we got back to the house & took Zoey back into the yard to take care of her business, we got to share the music coming from the neighbor's party. Zoey was really into it:

After some inspired dancing by all in the back yard, we came inside to find the very exciting surprise of Mr. Paul Weir's donation! Paul, you've brought us up to 90% to our goal of $600! Thank you so much!!

Zoey says, "Mr. Weir! You & I share a love of spreadsheets & a love of supporting Lyon-Martin! Other friends, please follow Paul's lead, & either take an Advanced Excel class, or donate to support the cause!"

Day 17

The wind! The wind keeps blowing! Today we had AJ's company, however, which made everything much better, & we all got some solid jogging training in.

After the run, AJ enjoyed a delicious treat:

And Zoey showed her appreciation for AJ's joining us tonight:

Zoey says, "If you donate to Lyon-Martin, maybe AJ will get inspired & we will all run together all the time! Fun! Fun! FUN!"