Flip Goes Off The Leash

Some things you should know about my other dog Mya. She is jacked. She's 38 pounds of lean muscle. She comes on my runs with me and does 7 to 10 miles like it's a 10 minute walk. She can sprint up a mountain in 10 seconds and can outrun any deer. She is the fattest, most in shape animal I have ever seen. She also always comes back when I let her off the leash.

A quick story: When Joe and I first adopted Mya in 2009, we lived in Morristown, NJ. Within the first month of having Mya, I started taking her for walks in Morristown near a place called Fort Nonsense. It was a wooded area, away from the city, that had a neat area where I could play with Mya. I decided after having her for a month, I could try and let her off the leash. Everything went well for the first 10 minutes. Threw her some sticks, played fetch, she ran around and seemed to have a great time. Then Mya saw something in the woods and peaced out. Back then, I was not aware of her speed and she was gone in less than 5 seconds. I spent 15 minutes calling and looking for Mya before I decided I should run back to the apartment and get Joe to help look. So I took off.

Now to get back from Fort Nonsense to my old apartment, you have to take 5 different side streets and cross 2 major roads. Just as I was getting to the last major road I had to cross before I got to my apartment building, I had to stop at the traffic light. For some reason, I thought to look behind me. There, running down the sidewalk straight for me, was Mya. From that moment on, I knew I would never be able to lose her.

So, back to Flip. Ever since we had brought the crate home, all had been fairly quiet with Flip. In Bedminster, Joe and I live near a creek/river that runs through a forest so I thought I'd take both dogs for a walk off the leash there. Knowing my experience with Mya, I figured Flip would be fine off the leash as well. Haha - silly me.

We get to the woods and after I had worked my way deep into the forest and near the river, I let the dogs off the leash. Mya, like usual, hung around for a little bit before taking off after something. Flip took off after Mya. Now, something you should also know about Flip besides his "smile" - he has the longest, straightest legs you've ever seen AND he's a total klutz. Picture a gangling, awkward teenager and magnify that by a thousand and that is Flip "running" in the woods. His legs got tangled up underneath him every 10 seconds and it was all he could to do keep up with Mya the Beast. Needless to say, both dogs disappeared from view. 15 minutes later Mya came running back through the woods and found me. Flip, however, was no where to be found. I started to head the direction Mya had come, calling Flip's name. Nothing. I walked deeper into the woods. Still nothing. Finally, through the trees, I saw Flip. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth and he could barely make himself walk to me. In fact, he took at least 3 breaks along the way to sit and catch his breath. Guess Flip isn't quite in shape yet...