Fredo the Wonderdog!

Whenever I show up to a group run with Fredo the Wonderdog and there are runners there who have not yet met Fredo, they always ask, "How far will he run?" Or, "Will he run the whole way with you?"  When I respond that yes, he'll run the whole way, and we'll be running 14 miles today, they don't believe it.  And then others, who have run with Fredo, will chime in and say, "He's run a marathon!" "Watch out for Fredo, he'll make you run faster than you want to!"

Fredo is a running Wonderdog, and I'm so thankful I discovered that about him.

We didn't know he was a wonderdog when he first found us.  In fact, we tried to give him away.  See, the Quinns have an addiction, and though we often try to quit, we're never fully successful.  The addiction is to animals, mostly dogs.  So when Brian saw this black and white, beagle-sized blur of a feisty dog chasing a dump truck near his office in January of 2009, he tried to coax him in to safety.  But the little blur would have none of that, and took off.  All day Brian worried that Blur would become a lump on the side of the road, a victim of drivers in the area who appear to have no regard for the lives of animals.  Then on his way home, only a mile from the office, Blur ran across the road not far from Brian's truck, and started giving the business to an angry pit bull chained up in someone's front yard.  This time, Blur accepted the offer of safety and jumped into the truck.

I remember the phone call from Brian, saying he'd found a stray near work that wasn't in too bad of a shape, but was underweight, not neutered, covered in fleas, no collar...and he was going to call the Starks (some friends of ours who we are constantly trying to pawn found dogs onto).  In the meantime, I called my boss, who is a sucker for dogs in need (though he would never admit it), to see if he was interested.  I pulled into the driveway at home just after Brian had, and then I saw his face.  That cute little black and white face, looking happy, looking at me...I don't know why I expected to NOT have the reaction I did.  After 48 hours with us, we knew he was ours.

Now, it hasn't always been happy times with this wonderdog.  He is a roamer--he likes to be with his people, and when his people are gone, he tries to find us. We made numerous modifications to doors, locks, screens and our fence to prevent his Houdini-esque breakouts.  Crating him didn't work--with a metal crate he scratched his nails on the sides to the point of bleeding...and with a plastic crate he actually chewed his way out!

So at some point, I decided to try to take him running with me to burn off some of his anxiety.  I started him on my short runs of 3-4 miles, and he loved it.  I gradually took him on longer runs, up to 6 miles, then 7, then 8.  I found a harness that was perfect for running, and we found a rhythm together.  He runs at the end of the leash to my front left.  All I need to do for a turn is tug a little to the left or right, and he'll head in that direction.  Sometimes we'll be approaching a turn that we only sometimes take, and he slows a bit and glances over his shoulder as if to ask, "Are we turning here today?"  He can even poop on the run--very convenient (okay, I slow a little for him).  

In 2009, a friend and I decided to run the Jacksonville Marathon (which takes place in December).  For the first time in a while, I was NOT going to train with a group, I was training solo.  So Fredo became my training partner.  As my long runs increased in distance, he stayed with me, step by step.  When we got to 15 miles, I could sense that he would begin to tire (mostly because of the heat), so on runs longer than that, I would call Brian to come pick Fredo up at the 15 mile point.  After the December marathon, I jumped right back into training for a February marathon, and since the weather was getting cooler, Fredo actually made it through an 18 miler with me.  Amazing!

In 2011, I focused on triathlons, and trained for my first half ironman--my training runs went up to 14 miles, and Fredo joined me for pretty much every run.  He got an eye infection that year and I had to leave him at home for a few weeks while it healed--oh, that was horrible!  Not only for me, losing my training buddy, but for him, as well.  He knows when I get my running clothes and shoes on (vs. getting dressed for anything else), and he did not like being left behind!  I remember he had a cut on his foot once that kept him sidelined from running...and seeing that he is a dog and doesn't know any better, he would have been out the door with me and running if he had a choice!

After the HIM, I went right into training for a March marathon.  Perfect weather for marathon training, especially for Fredo!  We ran over the winter months, and yes, Fredo ended up running a marathon-distance training run with me.  I hadn't planned it, but for my final long run of 24 miles I ran with a friend who happened to be training for an ultra marathon.  As the last few miles of our run took us on a paved trail past the parking lot where our cars were, he suggested that we just keep going a little farther so that Fredo could run a marathon...although my legs were not in agreement, Fredo seemed game, so we did.  Fredo ran a marathon in 4 hours!  Now, that's running time and doesn't count stops for water or bathroom breaks, but still, that's just over a 9 minute pace  for 26.2 miles!  Do you see now why he is the Wonderdog?

He has been with me through my Ironman training, though unfortunately not as much as usual because of the heat and my changed running schedule.  But he has joined me for all of my long runs, including a 16 miler this past Saturday.  It was a horrible run for me, but Fredo had a great old time, as usual.  I've got an 18 miler next weekend and 20 the weekend after that.  I wasn't sure this year if he could manage those distances, because he is getting older, but based on the way he easily handled 16 this week, I'm thinking he'll make it!

I don't know how many more long runs he has in him, but I know that I will be devastated (as will he) when he can't run with me anymore.  We don't know his age, but we know he older than 8 and more likely 9 or 10.  He does lick his front paws (ankles) sometimes as if they are sore, maybe some arthritis?  But he doesn't limp or complain.  He also sleeps a lot more after a long run nowadays, and sleeps hard!  I will keep a watchful eye on him as he ages to make sure the running isn't hurting him, and I will enjoy every minute I have with him as my buddy.  The joy he clearly finds in running makes my bad runs better, and my good runs great!  He is Fredo the Wonderdog!

Oh, I almost forgot...33 days!