I've been stepping up Ranger's conditioning over the past several weeks. Compared to how he looked a month ago I can see some genuine muscle development. In the past month his chest has expanded 1.5" in diameter. From two weeks ago his top speed sprinting alongside my bike has increased by 0.3 1.8 mph (to 19.7 mph--and he still had more to give me). His average speed is now 12.8 mph over 2-3 miles. When I give him a drag weight to pull on the trail he isn't nearly as tired when we get back to the house as he was even two weeks ago. His feet are much tougher. It's really cool to see all of this happen.

 Now, if I could do something with his ears....

 In all, I'm really impressed by this little dog-he's really coming into his own now that's he's coming up on his second birthday. He's done everything I've asked him to, so he's definitely earned his place. He hasn't saved my butt yet (in the way that Lucy and Beau each did at some point) but he hasn't been put in that position, either. With any luck he won't be.

While on the trail or biking I've been working on his commands. He's really good with "let's go!", "gee" and "haw." His "whoa," "on-by," and "settle" need work. His "stay" is still virtually non-existent. I've been teaching the directions by repeating the command every time we make a turn. He's catching on well enough that I can get him to turn the correct direction when we are at a trail crossing.