Off leash adventure

Kozmo has been testing me.

Last night in class our trainer told us that at 7 months Kozmo is just like having a teen age kid. All I can say is that I now have a better understanding of why certain species eat their young. Kozmo is lucky I am a vegetarian.

So Kozmo has been going for off leash hikes and making me very, very proud. Wednesday night we head to our regular trail through the park. We start off beautifully and I'm thinking to myself how much I love the smell of the woods and how happy I am that it is light out longer and we can enjoy more time in the woods on weeknights. My happy thoughts are interrupted by Kozmo going down a muddy bank to the stream. No problem, he often does this and gets a drink. In a flash the little bastard runs through the stream, up the other side of the muddy bank to the basketball court. It's a nice evening so there are kids playing basketball. I don't care that he went to see the kids as much as there is a road along the basketball court AND the human crossing of the stream has a bit to be desired in February.

Not so gracefully I make my way across the stream and up the muddy bank. At the same instant Kozmo and I both see a sandwich laying on the ground in the parking lot. Kozmo is faster so he gets there first. I have no idea how old this sandwich is, if the meat is spoiled, if there is something in the sub that could kill my sweet puppy. Before I can move my old feeble muddy feet over to him, in one motion he has the entire six inch sub in his mouth, is down the bank, across the flipping stream again and hiding under some bushes to finish his treat. (by the way, my trainer told me he just got a big reward for running away from me)

I'm muddy, my dog is muddy and I have no idea when he is going to get sick or die from this disgusting sub. We resume our walk. Because I am an idiot and I need my dog to run and get tired I try to let him off leash again. He does well and starts to regain my trust until we get to the part of the trail where he can see the sandy area for the volleyball court. Three times we let him run and play fetch in this area. So he runs as fast as he can to the sand. I call him. We have a stand off. Eventually he comes back, I reward him, and he's back on his leash. I am still waiting for him to get sick and am still pissed.

We resume walking on our leash and I stop to let him get a drink at another part of the stream. Rather than taking a drink he jumps into water up to his belly. The good news is that he's going to be a great water dog. The bad news is my white dog is now totally filthy and I'm pretty wet and muddy. We get home and both go straight to the bathtub. Kozmo's bath is first. He is gross. Now my tub and entire bathroom are muddy. Finally my dog, myself and my bathroom are clean. It's 9pm and I haven't had dinner. I love Kozmo.