Walking the Dog

It started out in the early spring as a way to help a neighbor who broke her ankle and couldn’t take her dog for walks. She has a fenced-in yard so the dog – Bailey – could do her business outside but needed exercise and to work off some energy. I needed both of those last things too as I was still getting used to my new hip (for those wise asses among you, we have indoor plumbing so I am good there).

       I had never consistently walked a dog before as we’ve had cats that lead pretty cushy lives indoors so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Bailey’s an energetic young dog so we worked on reining in some of that energy and stopping her from pulling. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for us to get into a rhythm on our daily walks. We bonded a little more each day and she began to respond better to me.

       I was informed the first day that she was shy about pooping in front of people. That was fine with me as I was not looking forward to using the poop bags to pick up her droppings and then carrying them until we got back to the house. That shyness lasted a couple of weeks and when she got over it, naturally we were in a very public spot as far away from her home as we could be. Oh well. I got over the whole poop bag thing pretty quickly as it’s a fact of life for dog walkers in our town, and I adjusted our route to make sure we went passed the two bag stations/drop bins at nearby parks so I always had fresh bags and a place to dump full ones.   

       Thanks to that fenced-in yard, we didn’t have to take those walks in the rain. That made me appreciate having cats that only require cleaning their litterbox in the basement. For those of you cringing at that, go back to the last paragraph and pick the lesser of the two chores. I’ll take the litterbox any day especially since it comes with the bonus of not having to walk a pet in the rain, then deal with drying it and myself.  

       Our neighbor is now fully recovered and takes Bailey to a park daily bit I still reach out to walk the crazy pooch once in a while when the temperature and weather cooperate. It gets me out for some much-needed exercise and it’s fun to be with Bailey for a while. She enjoys the walks as much or more than me as she gets to explore her own neighborhood, and she knows there’s a treat or two waiting for her when we get back to her driveway. Funny how even after not taking a walk for over a month she remembers the treat part and starts looking back at me for it as soon as we get close to her home.

       What started as helping a neighbor had a positive impact on me and came with unexpected benefits – for me and Bailey. I got to know our neighbor better, bonded with a dog that likewise bonded with me, got to explore more of the neighborhood in a new way, met dogs and their owners, and of course got more exercise. Bailey got to meet new people and dogs, expand her “territory”, and worked off some of her excess energy. This was a good deed that morphed into much more and I’m grateful for what it has brought to me.

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com  10-14-2024