The weather here in SW Ohio has cooled off dramatically in the last week, which enables me to resume walks around the neighborhood with Murphy. He still seems to be pretty spry, but he will soon be 12 years old, which is getting up there for a golden retriever. He seems to run out of gas at about a mile, so I limit his walks to about that length, and I avoid the hot summer weather with him, so we haven’t been out together for a while. I do enjoy taking longer walks at a faster pace alone during the summer. I know Murphy enjoys getting out, so, I’m happy to have him join me again.
In areas with little traffic I let him off leash so he can sniff whatever interests him, and he’s quite good at staying out of the street. A dog’s nose is his primary source of information about everything he encounters, so sniffing around the neighborhood is like reading the local newspaper for him. As we walked we came upon another dog walker, with a little happy fur ball straining at the leash. He commented about Murphy’s lack of restraint. I told him that Murphy enjoys his freedom, and I like to accommodate him whenever I can do so safely. I believe the same is true of all god’s creatures. Freedom is the natural state for essentially everything. It is much too scarce in human societies and among our pets too. Train your dogs to behave reliably off leash and enjoy watching them as they enjoy examining their environment. Let their curiosity be satisfied while they enjoy their freedom outside their familiar territory.
