Dogs!

It is nice to see worthwhile programs getting some media coverage, especially in the day and age of relatively worthless social causes. Having taken a dog through formal training with limited success, I am always impressed with the behaviors taught to service dogs, be they seeing eye dogs, assistance dogs, etc. I didn't realize though just how specific the training can be or what dogs (and their trainers) are capable of. In this weekend's WSJ, there was an article about psychiatric-service dogs and a training program that places dogs with prison inmates for the training.

Puppies Behind Bars is the non-profit responsible for placing dogs in prisons for training. They have achieved a number of successes not only with the dogs, but with their handlers as well. I remember reading an article in Smithsonian Magazine a few years back about the organization. It is a great way to defray some of the costs of expensive training for assistance animals, using the resource of unlimited free time that those incarcerated possess. I hope other creative thinkers find similar win/win situations like this one.

I only got to race once this past weekend, since I really didn't feel like trekking down to Colorado Springs to do a 16 minute, uphill time trial. The Longmont Crit was plenty of race for the weekend though, with a deep, deep field of 100+ riders in the P/1/2 race. The good news is that I am slowly getting better at riding crits, the bad news is that I still haven't managed to do anything in one yet. I still put in efforts too early and don't maintain my position at the end of the race when it is most important. It was interesting to get out there after riding easily all week. I was almost afraid that my legs wouldn't know what to do when things got going. I felt pretty comfortable in the first 20 minutes which hasn't been the norm for me in the past. Next weekend will be an off weekend for racing since I don't feel any great need to do the Mt. Evans hill climb. Strange to think that I only have a few weeks left of local racing. Then there will be one more big block of training and then off to Austria.