The Camaraderie of Walking Your Dog

Owning a dog brings many, many rewards. But one I hadn’t anticipated or thought about was the sense of camaraderie you feel when you walk your dog.

In the mornings I take our two dogs for an off-lead walk. There are regulars that walk their dog at roughly the same time and so you get to know the dogs, their names, sometimes but not always the owners’ names. If you haven’t seen a face for a number of weeks, you clock it – you ask – ‘Have you seen Ajax up here lately?’

It starts to matter – you start caring what happens.

Local dog walking friends   

Recently Georgie, our Golden Retriever, was very poorly. I had an idea why – she’d found a disgusting pool to drink from and before I could get there she’d enjoyed a substantial liquid lunch. I happened to have shared that walk with a dog-walker friend, and her dogs had also ran ahead and enjoyed the free ‘meal’. 

I rang her that evening just to see how her dogs were and the first thing she said was, ‘How’s Georgie, is she okay?’ Both her dogs and mine were very ill that evening and we kept each other informed of progress by short texts. It really felt important to be in contact with someone who understood.

And this is the key – we all have friends who are dog-free. But I don’t think they quite get it. Exactly what it is that makes having a dog so special. How they quickly become part of your life and part of your family.

I love my dog walks and I love seeing my friends. Most of us only see each other in this context. We don’t go out for dinner or go to the movies but we do know about the every day joys and struggles of having a dog, sometimes we learn about each others’ children,  illnesses in families,  new romances, house moves and so on. They are supportive and inclusive and long may it stay that way.

If you’re thinking about getting a dog this might be one area that is an added bonus to your new arrival. It won’t happen instantly but you will get to know the faces that make up your local patch, and start to care about them, and hopefully it’ll be a great thing.

And your dog will benefit too, learning to trust a whole new group of humans and canines  - and if your dog is a rescue dog this will go a long way in transforming his or her life.

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8 Responses to The Camaraderie of Walking Your Dog

  1. chalk .cheese,apples & gossip works for me x

  2. Thanks Derrick!
    Anyone else? What works on your dog walk?

  3. I’m finally getting a chance to check out your blog! Can I just tell you how excited I am to find a full out dog blog?! Makes me so happy!

  4. Hi gingela5 – thanks for popping by. Woaaaa for ‘full out dog blogs’ :)

  5. that is so true! Though I have been trying to become better about asking the owner’s name up-front so I know that too. :-)

  6. Lovely blog! I love this post — I adopted my dog (my first dog ever) over the summer, and I’ve found the camarederie of dogwalking one of the best things about dog ownership!

  7. Thanks Lisa. Yes having a dog is great and meeting all those lovely doggy people ensures one never gets lonely!

  8. Don’t stop to eat the road apples as you make your way in life. Don’t drink the stagnet water, don’t worry for a wife. Just keep your tails up gayly and take all comers that may.

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