Dog Walking

Walking is nearly a religion for me.  It has saved my life, I'm sure.  One of the best things to motivate me to get out there and walk is my dog.

I've had a dog most of my life and find it hard to conceive of ever living dogless.  Bad days or good, the dogs always want to go see (and more importantly, smell) the world.  It makes me happy to make my dog happy.  What an incredible beneficial evolutionary adaptation for both species!  Our happiness and well-being are mutually reinforcing - and for very low investment, because all we need is each other.

My dog heads out the front door and turns right on the street, the direction of the park.  This is the dog's perennial optimism, even though we never go that way at night.  The park is way more interesting to him than the neighborhood (though clearly there is no such thing as a boring walk).  He turns right, and if I follow, his ears swing up and his tail reaches a higher angle.  He sets off on a ground-covering trot, ears bouncing with every stride and the tail swinging gently back and forth in time to his stride.  I look at those ears and tail, and it makes me smile, because I've made him happy.

I want to move more, and having a happy-to-go-anywhere dog is very helpful!