The Wisdom of Hound Dogs

Everything smells good: that's the one thing you can never forget when walking a hound dog.

Not only does everything smell good, everything smells irresistible, mysterious, compelling and any other adjective you can think of that would require a noble hound to veer off course and take you with him.

Since Jack lives by his nose, teaching him to walk on a leash, and still remember that I am attached to the other end, has been tricky. We live in a tiny town surrounded by hills, and woods that are full of deer, rabbits, foxes, birds, chipmunks, bears and all sorts of other wonderfully smelly creatures. I sometimes think Jack and I have our roles reversed. I'm learning to heel pretty well, though, and have hope that Jack will soon figure it out from my example.