You know how Fritz loves to get loose and run free? Well last weekend we decided to get photos taken and we thought it was a good idea to bring Fritz along. That was our first mistake. Our friend Lukas, photographer extraordinaire, agreed to do a session with us and we started in Hart Park in Newhall. J and I were both wearing Jeans and a black top so I thought it was a good idea to put Fritz in his black collar and leash. That was the second mistake. The black collar is just a bit too big for Fritz and I'm pretty sure Fritz knows it. We walked to the park and were deciding where to start with the pics while Fritz, rather excited, was pulling on the leash. I looked down at Fritz and with a low, slow-motion voice, yelled out "Waaaatcccchhh ooooouuttt, heeeee'ssss ppppuuuulllllliiiinnnnngggg...." and like that he slipped out of the nice black collar and had already made a lap around the park.

I happened to have been wearing shoes with little heels that kept getting stuck in the grass, so I tossed them off and began working on a scheme to catch the little monster. There also just happened to be a couple of police men in the park who yelled over to me "HEY LADY! That dog has to be on a leash!!" I held up the empty collar with the leash still attached and yelled back "YEAH." Fortunately, Fritz did not follow his usual routine of searching for the nearest exit to the busy street or running to the nearest stranger who happens to be petrified of dogs. Instead he ran about 10 laps around us stopping only briefly when a smell would catch his nose, but not long enough for us to catch him. Then he decided it would be fun to run up the road that goes uphill behind the park where there just happened to be a cranky man with a little cranky dog. J was up the hill before me and my bare feet, and got within 20 feet of the cranky man who yelled back at him "HEY, get your dog on a leash, mutter, mutter, mutter." J said, "Yeah, sorry, we're trying to. He got loose." The man, getting crankier, yells back "I saw you take him off his leash!" By this time I had caught up and simply held up the empty collar, leash still attached, and repeated, "He got loose."

At this point, probably with the help of an angel, Fritz got tired and slow and we were able to get ahold of him. Since we didn't want to go through that again, we fashioned a noose, I mean collar, out of his leash and made sure it was mighty snug. Meanwhile, our photographer friend was snapping pictures of the whole ordeal. I haven't seen any pics yet, but I'm guessing they're pretty funny. The rest of the session was smooth and uneventful, but I have no idea how my hair looked after that.