dogs on leashes

If there were leashes on any of the neighborhood dogs circa 1960, I don't remember them. We lived on a lazy little one block long street, and I remember a dachsund (they were casually called 'weiner dogs' because of their long bodies and short legs) and a bassett hound. Dogs followed the kids in their families up and down the neighborhood - like they were 4-legged siblings. Puppies were a little in the way some times. They hadn't yet learned the rules of the street. Adult dogs, though, were bright and protective of the kids.

Well - I'm remembering an exception to this - our own dog! We got a collie named Zip around then. Collies were popular because there was one with her own television show - 'Lassie'. Everybody watched 'Lassie' - week after week she followed Timmy, the kid in her household, everywhere. She rescued him, or other animals or neighbors, from the calamity of the week. Zip - our dog - wasn't quite at that level of maturity. Our folks kept him on a rope attached to the clothesline post during the day. Even then, there was many an evening our mom rode slowly through the neighborhood calling Zip's name out of the car window. He was good at untying knots.

Soon after this, we moved to the country, and Zip got a big fenced yard, and a golden retriever named Duke to keep him company. We got Duke because he'd been owned by hunters and was expected to retrieve ducks from the water. He failed to get out into the water, much less fetch a duck, and the highly frustrated owners gave him to us. Duke ever after jumped into every puddle or pond he came across. He just didn't like hunting or the noise of the guns I guess.

I see the speed of the many cars on the streets, and I see lots of leashes, and dogs kept in crates indoors, and I know times are different now.