[Darkling]

Do you have a dog?

Do you have one of those extending leads?

We do on both counts.

This dog can be a bit of a donkey.
If she does not want to go in a particular direction then she simply won't go.
It is either a matter of going where she wants to go or carrying her.

I've tried entering into a battle of wits but that always ends the same way.

I walk to the extent of the lead.
She stands there and looks at me.
I call her
She stands there and looks at me.
I tug gently on the lead.
She stands there and looks at me.
I stand there and look at her.
She lies down and ignores me.
I let the lead go slack.
She gets up and turns around.

One day my father took her for a run over the sand dunes and the lead fell out of his pocket.
He didn't hear it drop.

He tried retracing his stops and went back another time but it wasn't to be found.

Now we have a new extending lead.
It is longer than the old one.

At first Bell (our dog) was unsure about it as when she was walking in front of us she would expect the lead to go tight but it didn't and she kept looking over her shoulder to see if we were still there.

She's gotten used to it now.

Now she can refuse from eight metres instead of five.