Hide and Seek

Fall arrived and with it new excitement as the ankle-deep carpet of maple and oak leaves made strange noises as we walked. At first, that noise startled Spencer but he quickly learned to dash through them with wild abandon, making them fly! Occasionally, a leaf in the wind would fool him into thinking he’d found another frog and the chase was on! As the summer park people had battened down the hatches on their mobiles and gone away, I took the liberty of freeing Spencer from his leash….ahhhhhh, the utter freedom of it. The utter joy. There is nothing so good for the soul as to watch a dog take to flight, front paws, back paws extended, out-stretched, back arched in the exuberance of free run, and tail wagging like a flag in a storm!

Spencer can run like the wind, turn, pelt hellbent for leather straight at me, then turn on a dime…there was no catching him but I pretend to try just to give him more reason to run. Not a spring chicken, I’m winded by these efforts!

One day I wondered what he’d do if anything happened to me? I watched while he was on a tear then stepped behind a large oak. It took a few seconds for him to realize there were no steady, leafy, schur-schurring steps behind him. He stopped, turned, looked intently, cocking his head this way and that. I thought he’d discern my peeking but no. Spencer advanced a few steps, still happy, still cocky; suddenly, his whole body seemed to deflate, his tail drooped. His self-confidence was seeping away at an alarming rate! “Where is she??!!!”

I hadn’t the heart to continue but called out “Come!” as I stepped out from behind the tree. What a welcome! If ever I wondered whether he was aware of his old dog-walker trudging along behind, that little test put the question to bed. His confidence returned, his swagger said, “We’re in this walk together – and don’t you forget it!”

Now hide and seek has become another good game for us to play. No more fooling that cracker-jack, Spencer!