I got nostalgic -- can I share a story from the past?
One of my teachers gave us a puppy from her dog's litter when I was in 6th grade. We lived a block from the community park so we walked the perimeter of the park. This was pre-off leash and pickup ordinances, so after crossing the street to the park, I would take him off the leash.
I would whistle to him to keep up and just walk on, and if he didn't follow promptly, I ran and hid behind a tree, then whistled. (the park dated back to colonial times and had huge trees) I just stood leaning on the other side of the tree, and in no time, he would run full speed past my tree with a panicked look on his face, catch sight/scent, stop dead and sheepishly trot back. He learned not to stray too far off the leash, and got pretty adept at the hide-and-seek game.
Thinking back, it must have been a comical sight to anyone watching us, but I never thought anyone WAS watching. With this stop and go pattern, it took a while to walk all the way around the park. I just looked it up and it's apparently 1.5-2 miles around that park.
Of course he passed a long time ago. I kind of miss him.
