Gus Tails - Episode 57
A special episode looking back at Gus' domination in the 2017 Texas Brewery Running series
Welcome to the 57th episode of Gus Tails where we look back at the life of Gus the Basset Hound. Our last episode (Episode 56) covered the snowstorm of December 2017, a visit from the deer neighbors, and ground breaks in Driftwood.
Every episode of Gus Tails contains a link to the previous and, once it is published, future post. This makes it hopefully easy to walk back and forth through the life of Gus and his friends.
If you are new to Gus Tails and want to start at the beginning then Episode 1 of Gus Tails is for you!
On learning to stroll
Gus loved to walk and being outside. In his young adult days I took him for a walk around the neighborhood every day. Gus truly believed that every living creature was his friend and at the sight of another animal or human he would bound towards them as only a Basset Hound can. Once a 60 pound Basset was on the move it was hard to stop him from reaching his goal. The opposite was true as well: once a 60 pound Basset decides he had walked enough there was nothing one could do to get him moving again.
The first time he did this was on a slightly longer than usual walk around our neighborhood in West Columbia, Texas. About half a block (roughly 300 yards or 275 meters) from our house he decided he would walk no more and laid down on a green patch of St. Augustine grass. No matter what I would say or do, he wouldn't move. I really didn't have a choice. I picked him up and carried him home. Great exercise it was, but not exactly what I wanted to do on any kind of regular basis.
To avoid any more incidents of carrying in my arms a 60 pound Basset home I purchased a dog stroller for Gus. I didn't ask him about it in advance so I knew there was some risk that he might just turn his noise at the whole concept of a dog stroller. The large box arrived a few days later. I opened it up, put the stroller together on our driveway while Gus watched the neighborhood.
Once the stroller was ready for action I called Gus over. He walked around and sniffed the roller, then walked to the open back end, put his large head in the stroller, then placed his two beefy front paws inside the stroller and waited. At this point it looked like he was pushing the stroller much like a young child gets behind a grocery cart. He just stood there and then I realized he was waiting for me to lift him up and place the rest of his Basset body in the stroller. I did. We went for a long stroll that day and he loved every minute of it. He particularly liked how people thought it was absolutely adorable that he now had a dog stroller.
With Gus adapting so quickly to the dog stroller we stretched out our walks to 2 miles or more. When we moved to Wimberley, Texas in 2016 I would take him on longer 3-4 mile walks up and down the Texas hill country.
Around this time I learned of the Texas Brewery Running Series (part of the national Brewery Running Series). These are 5k events that start and stop at local breweries, cideries, taprooms and tasting rooms. A little exercise and a little beer is a combination that is hard for me to resist. In 2017 I signed up for several of the events and in April 2017 Gus competed in his first 5k at Guadalupe Brewing in New Braunfels, Texas.
Gus and I prepared well in the weeks prior to the event. We were taking long strolls, and we appropriately loaded up on carbs before the event and got plenty of rest the day before.
The morning was bright and just warm enough at Guadalupe Brewing in April 2017.
The route was a long’sh loop and four times around would get us to our 5K distance. Each loop I stopped for a short beer and Gus would grab a dog treat and a little water. Gus and I mostly strolled but we jogged almost half the distance. More than a few people admitted to being embarrassed by being passed by a Basset in a dog stroller. Gus didn’t mind, he just let his ears unfurl in the wind.
The good news is that Gus retired as the undefeated dog stroller champion in the Texas Beer Series in 2017. Upon his retirement he stated “It’s time for another dog to be champion.”
Next week we look at Gus and the year end holidays of 2017. Hope to see you in Episode 58 of Gus Tails!