Most of the time, Lucy and I have walked around the block, which, in my case, is 1.25 miles, and has plenty of hills.

Last night was the first time I took Lucy out after dinner. The time worked for me, but I’m not so sure Lucy was a fan. She was happy enough when I grabbed the leash and took her outside, and for the first quarter mile, she seemed happy. But after the first break in the first hill, she started struggling against me. We had a little chat, walked a few more steps, and she struggled again. This time, she sat down, stood back up, shook her head, and managed to get her leash off her head.

For a few seconds, we stared at each other. This was unexpected. Then she realized she was free, and bounded off down the road. I followed, she ran further, circling me, but always out of reach. I walked the other way to see if she’d follow, but she didn’t. Eventually, she must have gotten bored with her freedom, and she trotted back to the garage and the door to the house. When I got there with the leash in my hand, she was excited to see me, and sat down to have the leash placed back on her head.

Off we went again, up the street. Once again, about a quarter of a mile in, she resisted. I encouraged, she sat. I pulled, she pulled back. I gave up and we walked home with no idea what had bugged her so much.

When Derby has visited, it has been easier to walk him along the main road because there are fewer smells of both the human and canine variety. So I thought the same would be true for Lucy. My plan was to walk along the sidewalk in a pleasant stroll, Katie and I holding hands and talking while Lucy happily trotted along beside us.

Not so much.

Both Lucy and Katie were very excited about the idea of a walk. Katie desperately wanted to hold Lucy’s leash and be the real walker. Lucy was fine with Katie holding the leash, but also wanted to be in charge, she was able to pull Katie wherever she wanted to go. Katie managed to say on her feet, but only barely.

As I struggled with Lucy and her poor leash manners, Katie noticed the dandelions which have sprung up in the grass. She decided to pick all of them so she could wish for everything in the world. This meant that Lucy was pulling me forward (and into the street, into yards and into the air) while Katie was calmly wandering off looking for her wishes, and then trying to find places to stash them all.

Finally, we were able to cross the street and make it to the sidewalk on the main road. I have walked this stretch of road many times, but usually in off hours when there is very little traffic. The addition of cars and trucks doing 55 or so made it a different experience. Also, I learned that one of the people along the way has a pit bull who happened to be outside as we walked by. Lucy was unconcerned, but I was reassured to see that not only was the dog tied to the doghouse, but the doghouse was chained to the tree. Katie also didn’t notice the dog, and kept wanting to wander into the yard to pick the dandelions she saw there.

We cut the walk short and went home. I think I need to get a training collar for Lucy today, and an ice pack for my arm.

Katie thought for half a second and asked, “Where’s her slowly?”