Wearing Out the Dog

Our neighbor Melissa has told me about taking her dog Percy up to Central Park in the morning.  Dogs are allowed off-leash until 9 a.m.  It's a ways to the park from Tudor City, so by the time they get back, Percy has had a 7-mile workout.  And it knocks him out for most of the day.

This Saturday, Marley and I got up early (for a Saturday) and were out of the apartment by 7:05.  We half ran and half fast-walked up to Central Park.  We stopped a few times so that Marley could take care of business and take water.  We were in the park before 7:30.

We entered Central Park at 59th Street and 6th Avenue.  After we got about 100 yards into the park, I let Marley off-leash.  He was a bit tentative at first, but then started running on the grass and up onto some boulders.  He sat on a boulder and took in his surroundings and must have realized that he would be free to roam.  His face was the picture of happiness.

I walked through the park, mainly going northward, with some east-west meandering.  Marley ran ahead and back, meeting & playing with other dogs.  Marley was good, never getting more than 75 yards away from me, and always within my sight.  There were bicycle races going on, so I had to keep Marley away from the road.  Only once did Marley cross the road ahead of me, but there was no traffic at that time.

When it was time to leave, it took a few minutes to get Marley to take the leash.  I lured him by offering water in an area with benches near a large statue.  On the way home, Marley met a couple of dogs he liked and they played.  By the time we got home, I had walked & run over 6 miles.  For Marley, it was probably close to an 8 mile workout.

I took Marley out again about 1 pm.  Incredibly, he wanted to go to the dog run.  We went, but his energy level wasn't what it usually is.  Marley went to sleep early on Saturday, and he was still a bit wiped out on Sunday.  I was still sore on Sunday.

We'll be going back to Central Park on a regular basis.