You might have a smart phone, a smart TV, even a smart house, but do you have a smart dog leash to walk your dog? No longer do you need to relinquish the comfort of your easy chair or hire someone else to do the job. Just hook the smart dog leash to your dog’s collar, program in the route you want the dog to take and send them on their way. The leash will levitate behind your four-legged friend keeping its charge in check. What could possible go wrong?
Meet Rover, fifty pounds of running, chewing, pulling canine power. How will Rover like his new leash? Following instructions, I programed in the route around the block, hooked the smart leash to Rover’s collar, and walked down the driveway holding the leash handle.
Rover trotted forward tail held high; he loves going for a walk. Then at the end of the driveway I let go of the handle.
When I opened my hand the smart leash continued forward suspended in midair following Rover around the corner and out of sight. From here I can follow their progress on my smart phone. I will receive a beeping alarm if anything goes wrong.
My phone started beeping almost immediately.
When Rover turned his head to glance my way for praise and approval and discovered an unmanned dog leash hovering behind him, his eyes popped. He backed away in alarm, eyes wide, teeth bared, growling fearfully at the floating leash. The leash continued to follow him.
Then Rover freaked!
Now this dog can run like a thunder bolt under normal circumstances. Up the ante with a dog leash held by an invisible handler and you have an unstoppable force. Or so I thought.
The leash pulled back, how I couldn’t tell you, but for every two dashes forward the leash dragged Rover one dash back. Then the smart leash surprised us both by wrapping itself around a tree, stopping Rover with a jerk, indeed flipping him head over paws to the ground.
Confused and subdued and unable to go anywhere on such a short leash Rover began to whine pitifully. Should I go to him? I wondered what the smart leash would do next.
Soon the leash unwrapped itself from the tree and did the wave urging Rover forward. Hesitantly Rover complied, tail down, glancing back warily, but soon he trotted along peacefully enough. I held back on interfering. Apparently Rover decided a walk with an invisible handler is better than no walk at all.
They were nearly home when Rover’s sworn enemy Miss Kitty teasingly dashed out in front of him. The chase was on. Once again the smart leash pulled back. Rover pulled even harder. With no tree to conveniently grab on to, the leash zoomed forward lassoing Rover’s legs and hogtying his feet, effectively bringing him to a stop. Miss Kitty was long gone.
But this time Rover was not easily subdued. He wrestled and bit at the leash growling angrily. I headed out to intercept.
Finally Rover gave up the struggle and the leash released him waving him forward once again. But Rover had had enough.
Turning on the smart leash, he attacked the hitherto unreachable and more vulnerable controlling handle attached to the other end. The images reaching my phone were violently disturbing.
Knowing they weren’t far off, I ran to stop the fray. I didn’t even make it around the corner when Rover intercepted me gripping the “dead” smart leash, ripped to pieces, in his powerful jaws. With utter disdain Rover spit out the offending leash at my feet and then marched off proudly up the driveway for a well-deserved nap.
