A Walk With Your Dog
A Walk with Your Dog
By George Barnett
You have
decided to start a fitness routine that involves both you and
your dog. That's great! And it's great for both you and your dog
as you will both benefit from the walk, the fresh air, the
exercise, and the opportunity to poop in the neighbor's yard.
Well, okay, maybe that last one should be limited to the dog,
but it does bring up an important point when you are walking
with your dog. That is, your dog has a different agenda on the
walk than you do.
You want to walk to lose weight,
lower your cholesterol, improve your circulation or any number
of other reasons that all have to do with your health. These are
all good reasons for getting off the couch and walking. Your dog
will share your enthusiasm for the walk. When you go though your
routine of getting ready for the walk, your dog will become more
excited and animated in anticipation of a walk with you. But for
entirely different reasons.
As you leave your home for
your walk your dog will be pulling on his leash, anxious to get
into the neighborhood. His tail will be held high, which means
something to the dog, and it is very possible that his nose will
be scanning the ground as you walk. The dog's nose is a very
sensitive organ and we humans have learned to put the dog's nose
to work for us. Humans have yet to build a machine that is half
as sensitive as a dog's nose. Your dog is just a family pet, not
trained to hunt for criminals or lost skiers. Nevertheless, he
still has that nose and he wants to put it to good use. Your
walk is his opportunity to do that.
You may notice that
some dogs take their duties, as dogs, more seriously than
others. A dog from a working breed may give some passing
attention to the various scents that fill the air near ground
level. For a dog like this it is more in the nature of reading
the morning paper. A dog from a hunting breed, on the other
hand, will study a scent in great detail. For this kind of dog
it is more in the nature of a technical journal that must be
scrupulously examined and analyzed. There is far more
information in the scent that your dog is sniffing at that we,
as humans, will ever know.
What this means to you is
that a walk with your dog will not be undertaken at a consistent
speed or pace and may involve numerous stops, especially in
those areas where other dogs are known to pass. This is where
your agenda will be different from your dog's. Using an
extending leash can help to reduce the disparity between your
pace and your dog's.
But this is not a bad thing.
Walking your dog is still good exercise. In fact, studies indicate that even
moderate exercise, like you might get by walking with your dog,
can significantly reduce a man's risk of heart attack and the
benefit is even greater for a woman. In addition, your dog will
prove to be a great motivator. Dog's are creatures of habit and
when your dog starts walking with you he will quickly develop
that habit. On those days when you just don't feel like walking,
your dog will, and he will let you know that, no matter how you
feel, he still wants to go for that walk.
So, before
you start a new exercise routine go talk to your doctor. Then
talk to your dog. Everyone will agree that a daily walk will be
a good thing to pursue.
One last thing. Another habit
to build, besides the walk itself, is to take one of those
plastic grocery bags with you on your walk. Your dog will not
have any inhibitions about defecating in your neighbor's lawn.
"When ya gotta go, ya gotta go." Should you dog do something
indiscreet clean it up using the plastic grocery bag and maybe a
garden trowel. That is what a good neighbor does as well as a
responsible dog owner.
Enjoy your walk! Your heart, and
your dog, will thank you.