In his defense he was provoked.
There’s a heavy-duty carabiner on the end of Tobie’s heavy-duty rope, so that I can clip it to a heavy-duty loop of braided 550 cord that I slide over my heavy-duty belt – all against the moment when Tobie decides to launch after something while my attention is elsewhere.
It doesn’t happen often – Tobie is a lot less impulsive about such things, or maybe a lot less ecumenical about what he’ll surrender to his impulses over, than Little Bear was. THAT was a dog who needed a heavy-duty walking leash, that I didn’t ever dare take my hand off. But still – when Tobie does give in to the temptation to launch after something, he does it right. And this isn’t the first belt he’s broken.
The first time, he broke the plastic stiffener that’s sewn between nylon layers. I bought a more expensive version of the same idea: This time the stiffener held up but the ratchet teeth broke off. I had a hell of a time getting the belt off my pants. Now that I’m on Social Security I’m going to try the real thing, forgetting the chinese knockoffs. I like this style of belt but the cheap copies are the weak point in my “no you can’t chase that elk” strategy.
Yes, it was an elk. They’re suddenly all around us. Tobie went nuts yesterday over something I couldn’t see, and when I went outside with my rifle to save the day he had just been baying at an innocent elk in the wash. This morning when we got to the road at the top of the ridge there were tracks everywhere so I knew they were around and should have been paying more attention: One broke cover and Tobie saw it before I did. I was looking elsewhere and not holding the leash. Expensive mistake.