The Many Benefits of Walking your Dog

Long walks are just better with a dog at your side – Anonymous

I’d rather be walking my dogs, where “sit”, “stay”, and “fetch” are the only complicated decision of the day – Anonymous

Sal and I walk our two labs, Sophie and Nolja, almost every day.  It doesn’t matter if we are home, camping, or traveling in a car.    It’s hard to forget since the dogs will keep reminding us until we get their leashes and walk out the door.  Our dogs love people and “most” dogs, and an important part of their walk to them, Is greeting other walkers and dogs. 

Recently we found a trail near our home that is about a two mile walk round trip.  Most of the walk is along a creek.   There are many people walking their dogs, joggers, and just plain walkers.  The longer we walk this trail, the more people we meet.  Sometimes we pass by each other and just say a quick hello, but other times we stop and chat for a bit. The benefit of walking your dog isn’t just exercise.

Over the almost 20 years living in the same house, we have met many of our neighbors when walking our dogs.  During the COVID lockdown, we met a great number of the neighbors on our street since most of them were home much of the time and their excursions were generally walking their dog or just walking.   That was a terrible time, but during that time, we stood on the sidewalk many times chatting with our neighbors and just getting to know them.   

One thing that gives me a chuckle, is when I run into someone that I often see when walking and they say hi to Sophie and Nolja, and then turn to me and say, “I’m sorry,  but I don’t remember your name”.   Dogs are a uniting factor.

My husband Sal and I generally walk the dogs together, but once in a while I’ll walk them by myself.  I don’t listen to music when I walk alone, but I do have conversations with my dogs.  They are very attentive as I discuss the issues with them.  When I say “treat”, I know that I have their complete attention. 

There are always a few interesting folks that you meet along the way.  One woman, well known to dog walkers on the trail, let’s her dog run the trail and doesn’t use a leash.  When Sal asked her to keep her dog close to her, her response was, “I want my dog to run free”.   That’s a great option if you are alone in a yard or field, but not on a sometimes-busy trail.    Most folks are great and keep their dogs on a leash and give room to walk by without being crowded.  I’ve learned that many small dogs can be aggressive more often than big dogs. Our dogs are pretty docile, but our yellow lab will respond in kind if another dog growls or barks at her. 

On days that I don’t feel like walking for one reason or another, I generally walk anyway.  How can I disappoint Sophie and Nolja?  Once we finish breakfast, both dogs follow us around until we are ready to head out the door for our daily walk.  Exercise is another benefit of walking your dog.  I don’t know about you, but Sal and I just can’t let our dogs down, but I guess that is a good thing.  Onward!!

Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can’t eat or play with it, just pee on it and walk away. – Anonymous