Something I also pondered during the 3rd leg is why the dogs come off a 6 hour rest so rough? It's not that they don't want to leave (on the contrary, they left great!) but I've noticed a great difference in how the dogs look after we get a ways into the run after a 6 hour break. Perhaps it's mental...maybe I'm just tired...but it's as if they "shut down" too much.
But I'm also tired and the 3rd leg of Eagle Cap is always in the heat of the day, so perhaps that's part of it.
Either way, we lost a lot of booties again and Rowdy and Saxon did what they could in lead. It was a short run - 35 miles - but took forever! The terrain was steep but the view was impressive.
The dogs ate their snack pretty well, but we were all hot coming in to the last checkpoint. I was pretty discouraged - knowing our longest, toughest run lay ahead...and I'd intended to to rest 1 and 1/2 hours or less. Needless to say, that plan changed.
Looking back, I should've taken a slightly longer rest on the first checkpoint and definitely a shorter rest on the last leg...but I figured a good rest would help Falcon, Saxon and Jingle (the three rookies) finish. And, they ate well, so I wanted to let the meal settle a bit.
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