Dark when you get home

Ugh, I hate the dark. Dark when I walk the dogs before work, dark when I get home from work at 5. That means no dog park, no hikes, no off leash jogging at the conservation. Seriously, it sucks.

We can still leash walk but even going for a longer walk doesn't compare to letting a 15 month old sighthound RUN. A couple days a week we have an indoor horse arena that we get to use for training which is super helpful.

Indoor training. We can still train our 2-on-2-off contacts indoors with a little ramp. Shaping and tricks... though honestly our place is so small that it's still easier to do most of that at the arena anyway.

On leash jogs in the city. But I don't go for as long and we take way more breaks because I don't like the idea of my 15 month old jogging on the road for half an hour straight.

I try to make up for it on the weekends and on Mondays (my day off) with a long hike and/or an off leash jog. Mind you, these are things that we normally do anyway, so it's not really making up for any lost evening activity.

I still do a lot of walking and outdoor exercise when I get home from work around 6:45pm. I have a concealed carry permit, and winter means lots of clothing to easily hide a small pistol. I've never come close to having to use it, but it gives me peace of mind walking at night in the city.

The cold sucks for me more than anything...I'm a wuss.

Solution: Send me Tipper till Spring

I fortunately have the option of taking Siri to work with me on the days that I go to work super early. Mondays I work in the evening so I exercise her in the morning, Tuesday's she stays home and deals with it, and Wedensday we go to the park at lunch. I have all the other days off, essentially.

I hate the lack of light this time of year. I'm a night owl but still. It'd be nice to see my dogs in the sun more than once or twice a week.