A Public Service Announcement to Vizsla Owners

All right listen up folks, what I'm about to tell you could save you all from experiencing stiffness, body aches and a general 'run over by a mack truck sensation'!

This afternoon Miss Ziva came to me indicating she would love to go outside, take care of the customary business and then just play around a bit to let off some steam. Ok I say .... let me

grab my sweatshirt and sneakers (remember we Floridians are experiencing the cold

right now too) and we'll go out and enjoy the golden sunshine along with the brisk breeze.

Collar and leash, check, sit and wait at the door, check, mom exits first, check, waits at the top of the stairs, check and down we go. First stop, just the right spot of grass to do the pee thing, sniff here, sniff there, no poop this time mom. Fine and dandy all toilet issues addressed and here

comes the twinkle in her eye.... She grabs a bit of the outer husk she has ripped off a coconut

she brought out of the Mangroves and away she goes... racing back and forth in the side yard, man can that girl run! Suddenly she stops and does the play bow, followed by that look, come on mom, run with me, run with me, let's play. So of course I start running, back and forth, just not nearly as fast as she travels, I mean really people how could I resist those playful peeks out of the corner of her eye.

After a few laps I start to tire and evidently ran one lap too many. Half way through my last lap the toe of my right sneaker catches in the yard and before I could do anything about it I'm flat out greeting the turf up close and personal face down! My knees, right shoulder and chin hit with a thud. Stunned I just laid there trying to figure out if all my body parts were still attached and movable. I gingerly turned over laying on my back staring up at the most beautiful crisp blue sky and realized there was Ziva standing over me looking down into my face with a look of concern... 'ya all right mom?!' Even though my body was already starting to ache I was proud as punch that my beloved red dog came back to her mom standing at the ready for me to tell her to run get help... I can see it now... Ziva running from house to house telling all the neighbors 'MOM'S FALLEN AND CAN'T GET UP'

She waited until my head cleared enough to wobble to an upright position and walked by my side

to the stairs taking a step at a time until we got up to the porch and into the house. Then to my further amazement she stayed right with me in the house at times laying her head in my lap or placing a paw across my legs to let me know she cared. You have to remember this is from a 6 month old pup.

Well in closing this post, I guess the moral of this story could be - 55 year old women with back problems should not be running and participating in crazy romps with dogs that exert enough energy to power a small town. But ya know what? After the aches and pains disappear in a few days, don't be surprised to find me right back out there acting like a kid again enjoying the glorious sunshine, the swaying palm trees and the unconditional love of my rip roarin', coconut totin' red dog!