Stay back!

Recently, Cooper and I were just finishing a long downhill section in Horsetooth Mtn Park when a young male runner approached us. When we’re running on singletrack, I often have Cooper run behind me, so I can see the ground and hopefully circumvent me lying bruised and broken at the bottom of a hill somewhere. Knowing the trail was narrow and wanting to avoid tripping this poor schmuck with my giant dog, I told Cooper to “stay back!” The man immediately stopped, put up his hands in an “I’m innocent!” fashion, and slowly backed away.

This is not the first time a dog command has created social awkwardness for me. Our slow down cue while running is to say, “hold up!” Numerous times, I’ve said these words in the presence of a fellow runner or walker only to have them hesitate and turn in my direction with a perplexed or expectant look.

A well-intentioned cue to calmly meet a stranger also blew up in my face when I calmly announced, “say hi!” Cooper obediently sat for his greeting, but the stranger looked confused, and stuttered, “Umm…hi.” Yeah, dude, I was talking to my dog, but thanks for being polite.

We abandoned the “say hi” cue shortly thereafter, which may explain why greetings have a propensity to devolve into getting whipped to death by Cooper’s exuberant tail.

Unwittingly, I’ve created the perfect “attack” cue, as several men have indicated that his tail is decidedly nut height.

In the kitchen:

Hummus 

This is a very basic recipe. It’s a great base for any other flavored hummus you can imagine.

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved
2-3 cloves garlic
3 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
3 T tahini
Salt to taste

Place chickpeas, 1/3-1/2 cup of reserved liquid, garlic, lemon juice, and tahini in a food processor. While processor is running, add olive oil until desired texture is reached. Add salt to taste.

All ingredient quantities can easily be adjusted to taste.