Off Leash

Yesterday we decided a family bike ride would be sufficient exercise for the dog.It's super important for him to get exercise. Each morning it's something - a run with me, a 2m walk, a trip to the dog park, a roller-blade or a bike ride. Mostly he needs to tool around the neighborhood, peeing, sniffing and hopefully sprinting a bit, to wear out his energy from sleeping over night.Even though he's gotten older, and therefore less wild, he still needs this time outside, running around.So on our bike ride we come to an elementary school with a huge field, and the main gates are open. We figure a ride around the basketball courts will be nice - no cars, open space. Then we realize the rest of the area is closed off, and even though we have not made any major plans for this, it could be a perfect time to take the pup off-leash.Now, last week he experimented with unadulterated running without my consent. It was horribly scary but also really encouraging - he sprinted down the beach, and then sprinted back to me. So we went for it.And it was a blast.Carter ran and ran and ran to his heart's content. He always chased us and followed us up and down the field as we walked or ran away from him. The best was when he'd run crazy pig-run circles around us. He was born to run.Normally I am against off-leash, and the dog park gives me anxiety, but I'm so glad we got to do this today. It was a very bright moment in our time of owning Carter. He's gone from insane to aloof to loving to really seeming like he cares about us, or at least where we are in relation to him. Like we're part of his pack. Or he's part of ours. Either way, it was a good thing. Yay.