We all saw it, don't pretend like you didn't. Bailey and Eric's liddle terrier in the pink spandex suit frolicking in the snow? It was everything doggo lovers needed to see when the snow (and spirits) were low and Bailey thought it'd be fun to talk about Lana, how she fits within their active outdoor pursuits, what happens when terrier faces meet wet, dense snow and well - all the things dog lovers like to know.
With that, let's get to it.
bailey + eric
DILOLANA
Hi everyone, meet the third member of our little pack – Lana the Wheaton Terrier.
She is our spicey, misbehaved, sometimes lazy, usually loud, seven-year-old training partner. She’s not training for the BIRKIE this year, just regular, everyday training so she doesn’t get left behind when her parents leave - her greatest fear in life.
So, what does a day of training look like for Lana?
First, you have to sleep, usually upside down, for ten hours. As we all know, rest and sleep are key ingredients for any successful athlete.
Second, breakfast. You can never forget to fuel during the most important meal of the day. One cup of kibble and table scraps will do.
A short warm-up around the block is usually next, taking time to truly appreciate the outdoors – stop to smell the neighbor's dog's poop, pull aggressively towards squirrels, and probably bark at the garbage truck.
This is, of course, followed by more rest as the humans leave for an unknown amount of time to an unknown place.
Eventually, the humans return and then the true training starts. Sometimes an evening run takes place, sometimes a ski, sometimes a longer walk. Sometimes there will be cross-training with a swim in the lake chasing sticks.
After the workout is completed for the day, it’s time to replenish those muscles with more kibble. Followed by, once again, more sleep. If the day went as planned, there might even be some time left to shake a raccoon or penguin around for ten minutes.
In reality, Lana is a pretty wonderful, pretty fluffy, incredible little buddy. Nothing makes her quite as happy as when she sees us lacing up our running shoes and grabbing her leash. But, she does have some quirks...
bailey + eric
The Quirks
No one gets left behind, not if there's the chance for bacon.
If one of us is running without the other human, she will not run as far. If she feels she is getting too far from home with only one human, she will put the brakes on. And by that, I mean she will completely stop moving until you turn around to go get the other human. We would have to physically drag her forward if we wanted to go any farther. She will also do this if she knows either set of grandparents is at home, but then you’re lucky if she even runs one block before trying to turn around. She can’t risk missing an opportunity to get bacon from grandma!
The face plowing.
The snow is her favorite thing in the entire world and fresh powder guarantees zoomies. She has skijored many kilometers with us – rarely pulling, and largely just trying to keep up. She does have a tendency to rub her face in the snow. We’ve seen other Wheaton's do a similar thing – snowplowing, were they stick their heads in the snow and run, pushing the snow up and over their bodies. Lana? She sticks her face in the snow and just rubs it around incessantly. Inevitably, she gets snowballs on her face. We try to prevent these by stopping her from rubbing her face in the snow and picking off the snowballs, but sometimes the conditions are too perfect for snowball formation and we're already a couple of miles into a hike/ski, and we can’t get the snow off fast enough. A couple of times in her life she’s ended up with snowballs obstructing her vision, so Eric has had to carry her for the rest of the ski or hike. Though not fun for Lana or Eric, it does make for a funny memory! Now, Lana gets to wear a hot pink snowsuit to protect most of her body from the ferocious snowballs.
Naming her Lana, anyway.
We came up with a plan to name her, seven years ago, when we were only six months into our relationship. Write down five names, then we would cross off three of the names on the other person’s list and pick one name from the remaining four. We got this far, and the four remaining names on the list were Ailsa, Nala, Freddie, and....I honestly don’t remember the fourth name. However, Lana was NOT on the list of four. Eric had crossed it off my list during the initial phase. However, I was paying for the dog, and she was ultimately MY dog at this point, so I decided to name her Lana anyway. Needless to say, Eric finds this story hilarious and tells it whenever he can. Sometimes, we still call Lana “Freddie” instead, it fits her quirky personality a bit better anyway!
the closer What We're Thinking About.
This crazy snow season has us on our heels. That we didn't realize how little we'd be skiing, that we have a super fun idea we want to do with Bailey + Eric's technique review and it's got us twisted-up, and that there aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things.