How I Lost a Leash and Collar

Today Isaac and I were hiking in a state forest where I am pretty sure dogs are supposed to be on leash. And he was on leash, until we got to this part of the trail that was super steep, very muddy and slippery, and had some big rocks we had to climb over. I probably should have turned back but I was closer to the end of the trail than to the beginning and didn't want to turn back.

But to get over this really difficult part of the trail, I decided to let Isaac off leash so I could have both hands free to hold on to boulders and trees to help keep my balance and so I didn't have to worry about Isaac tugging on the leash and causing me to slip (normally not a problem but on a really steep and slippery trail, the slightest tug could make me fall).

When I let Isaac off leash, I usually remove his prong collar, too. I used to leave it on, once upon a time, and he ran into some brush and I guess it got got on something and he managed to break free and lose the collar. So now I take it off.

So I stuck the collar and leash into my pocket. He was still wearing his flat collar with his tags.

Well, we got over the difficult part of the trail and I called Isaac back to me so I could put his leash back on. I reached into the pocket of my jacket for the leash and discovered it was gone. Apparently it had fallen out of my pocket.

I retraced my steps part of the way but didn't find it and I just was not up to going over the most challenging part of the trail again. So Isaac and I had to finish our hike with him off leash.

He heeled very nicely and we got back to the car and then I stopped at the first pet store we were near and bought a new leash (I left him in the car while I ran into the store, since he had no leash).