I have been taking the dogs out into our front yard for a post-lunch play session for quite a while now. Ever since the great dog escape I have been putting Zoe on a long leash and letting Sam run free. That has worked pretty well. Sam can run around and escape from Zoe’s attacks, and then come back for more punishment.

A few days ago when I took them for their morning walk, Zoe was so full of energy that she could hardly contain herself. She desperately wanted to run. So Thursday afternoon, I decided to put Sam on a long leash and let Zoe run free. I expected her to run in big circles around the yard, but she didn’t. Instead, she ran about 30 feet away, and then turned to stalk Sam. That went on for a while. And then Zoe walked down to the bottom of the grassy part of the yard and into the woods.

I called her. I yelled for her. She ignored me and continued into the woods.

If this had happened 35 years ago, back when I had knees and could run on them, I would have chased her. These days, all I can do is walk at a determined pace, which is not enough to keep up. But I had Sam, I thought, and Sam could find her.

So I took Sam down through the narrow band of trees at the front of the yard to the street. Based on the direction Zoe had been walking, I planned to take Sam to Fouche Gap Road and head her off. But when I got there, Sam continued across the road towards the other end of Lavender Trail. I figured Sam knew what he was doing, and was following Zoe. So I let him go. We went up the steep grade towards the dead end, where I had found all the shotgun shells a few days earlier. I tried to jog a little, which demonstrated, if I needed it, that 30 minutes on the stepper is not an eight-mile run.

When we got to the top, my phone rang. A neighbor up the road in the opposite direction had caught Zoe. So, Sam was faking it.

When I managed to get back home, I drove up to our neighbor’s house and retrieved Zoe. She seemed glad to see me and hopped right into the car.

It’s clear that Zoe did not learn her lesson from when she disappeared for four days. However, I have learned my lesson: I cannot let Zoe off the leash. That’s a disappointment. I had hoped to have a normal dog, like all of my other dogs except Zeke, who could be trusted not to run away.