Walking Property Trails with Spencer

Spencer's "good boy" abilities were tested the other morning on our walk. We went with Mario to discuss where some new trees should be planted and then the two of us continued onto one of my favorite loop trails. This is the same trail that not too long ago I saw a snake hiding its head from me. Thankfully, this time there were no snakes and the walk was great. Well, great until we got to the main trail below the big spring and was faced with a huge, gnarled pile of massive tree branches. The wall of green completely blocked the trail.

I studied my options. One was to climb over, the other was to try to climb around and the last choice was to go back the way we came. I really didn't want to turn around and go back the way we came. We were about 2/3 the way through the walk and the hard parts were behind us. I looked at scaling the steep slope to go around the mess but I couldn't completely see what I would be getting into that way. I really wanted to climb on top of the heap of branches and vines but this would not be possible with Spencer clipped to my left hip.

After much consideration I decided to quietly unhook Spencer's leash so we could navigate the obstacles separately. I took the high road on top of the stuff and as I predicted, Spencer chose to crawl below. I think it took him a while to realize he was off leash because at one point he stopped and was quiet. The vegetation was so thick I couldn't see him. I told him to keep going and he continued through to the other side, beating me of course. Once he emerged he was sure he was free and decided to begin surveying the landscape for something to hunt. I called him back to me but he stopped about ten feet away and turned around down the trail.

I walked calmly down the trail and noticed a different behavior in Spencer. He did as Roxy always does and only went so far and then stopped for me to catch up before he galloped farther down the trail. He did this a few times before I decided to stop and call him to me. This time he came running to me. I was very happy and surprised. I praised and pet him thoroughly and then clipped him back on the leash. This was the best outcome. I thought we were going to have to retrieve Spencer at the street corner while he ran circles around the passing motorcycles.

A friend gave us a small, inexpensive camera which I brought with me to the otro lado. I quickly discovered the camera was only good for selfies. Here's one with me and Spencer after a long walk.