Dogillusions

When I take Maggie for walks, I do it "hands free", as it were, with a very long leash that I attach to her harness and then let drag on the ground behind her. I give her freedom that is, in fact, merely an illusion of freedom, and I break this illusion in a shocking way when I step on the leash to prevent her from going astray. Eventually, we arrive at a field near my house where I unleash her completely, and where she, upon realizing that the leash is off, begins to run around but not run away. It is unclear if her continued proximity to me has to do with independent good behavior or if she still expects to be snapped back if she gets too far away. In effect, at this point, I am not sure who, between us, is perpetrating the illusion. Well, today I left her in the back yard when we got home, so that I could remove my muddy shoes and then retrieve her from the deck, so that I could wash my muddy dog. When I went out on to the deck, she was gone. I went back through the house to the front door to see if I could intercept her before she got too far, and she was sitting right in front of the door, patiently waiting for me to let her in. Maggie is a lot smarter than I give her credit for. Perhaps we need no illusions between us?