The life and times of Zeke

My dog Zeke has become significantly less of a weenie in the past week as shown by two separate events:

1. My friend Mike and I took him on a walk. Unfortunately, in this instance 'walk' does not mean a normal pet/owner recreational activity in which a leash is used and the dog indeed walks. No. To keep Zeke from cowering under my wheelchair, I leave him off the leash and, amazingly enough, he seems to stick with me fairly well. Nevermind that an unleashed dog is illegal in these parts -- Zeke and I are above the law! Or at least I'm disillusioned enough to pretend like it.

Anyway, we took Zeke on a paved path that leads to a lake near my development. Zeke had a great time sniffing the bird poop, the geese poop, the rabbit poop, and all other forms of poop. I had a great time trying to avoid the aforementioned poop. After the excretement excitement died down, Zeke noticed the geese. He cocked his head, sniffed the air, and yelled, "Goose movement!" before he took off full speed toward the birds. He grew magic wings and flew into the lake while squawking geese scattered in every direction.

Meanwhile, I was bug-eyed and worried about his swimming skills and Mike was on the bank muttering something about not going in to save him. Fortunately, Zeke's doggie-paddling skills are as brilliant as his computer skills. I learned two things that day: (a) Zeke loves sniffing poop and terrorizing geese and (b) I should probably keep him on a leash.

2. Apparently, I don't learn well, because two days later, Vince, Steph, and I took Zeke on another walk without a leash. Yes, folks, I am really THAT stupid. Actually, I must have retained some knowledge because we originally started out with him on a leash. But that knowledge must have drained out my ear somewhere between my house and the lake because when I saw that no one was at the lake, we unleashed him. Who can deprive a puppy of his fun?! Not me.

Again, he had a great time with the poop and the geese. Who doesn't like poop and geese? Again, not me. But this time, Zeke found something new to chase -- CARS! A road runs by the far side of the lake. A car flew by and Zeke took off after it. I've never seen a 12-lb. dog move so fast. And that was it... He was gone. Disappeared. About this time, Steph and Vince broke into a sprint after him. I've never seen a brother-in-law move so fast!

After awhile, he came trotting back with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth (Zeke, not Vince) and looked at me as if he was saying, "That car was one lucky SOB. Who knows what damage I would've done if I caught it." It took approximately 20 minutes for us to catch that little wisecrack and put his leash back on.

Lessons learned: (a) Despite what Zeke tells me, he really should have a leash on for his own safety. And (b) I shouldn't let Zeke sweet-talk me so often. I'm such a sucker for a cutie.