Running with Dogs

Today I took my dog for my run with me. This posed a whole set of new challenges for running.

Let me preface this story with some background on my dog.

His name is Bosco and he's a Black Lab. He is just a year old as of the beginning of March. He still acts like a puppy, because he is still just a puppy. Last week the vet told my sister that Bosco is a little on the chubby side. He needs more exercise. Now, I've always left the "taking care of the dog" business to my sister. It's technically her dog, I just live here. So, my sister was going to take Bosco for a run with her the other day. She let him have his leash to play with (bad idea) while she answered the phone. When she was done with the phone call, he had eaten half of his leash. Yes, my dog can be dumb sometimes.
Now we have a leash that was this long _____________________
and is now this short ___________

Today I took my dog for a run with a leash that is half of what it once was. This was not an easy task. Bosco's never really been on a controlled run before. He usually just runs around in a field chasing a ball/stick/flashlight (when it's dark out). He was underfoot so often it was beginning to be a safety hazard to my being upright. Seriously. By the end of the run I think he had gotten the hang of it. He knew to stay on the sidewalk beside me, and to stay off the road. There was only once where he chose, at the last second, to go to the right of a tree bordering someone's yard while I was on the left, on the sidewalk. The outcome looked hilarious to all watching, I'm sure.
I think I need to train him some more on the art of running. Like how to keep my pace and not drag me along for a ride. Like how to stay on the sidewalk and not run on the road. These are all things I know my sister has worked on while she took him for walks. But he's a bit dumb sometimes. The male equivalent of my dog is a big beefy dumb jock. Like Moose from the Archie comics.

Even when he's dumb as a stump, I still love my dog.