Walking my dog

Before we got Hetty, I imagined walking my own dog would be one of my favourite things. I like walking. I’ve always walked a lot. Surely it would be even better with a dog?

After over two years of dog ownership, I can report that it isn’t better for me!

Regular readers will know I run a lot. And when I’m not running, I’m walking. On running days, I will walk twice a day. On non-running days, I will walk three times a day. I’m restless and I’d much rather be outside than inside, so I walk.

When I walk on my own, I keep a steady pace. I’m pretty quick, but I still take time to appreciate what’s going on around me – the weather, the seasons, the people and the things I see.

With Hetty, there’s no steady pace and there is far less appreciation of the world around me.

When we step outside the door, Hetty gets so excited about going for a walk that she keeps jumping up at me. Not just standing up at me. Literally jumping. Every time she jumps, I stop and wait for her to calm down. I usually have to stop five or six times before we get to the bottom of the drive.

If we cross the road, she does the silly jumping again. Which isn’t ideal, when you’re trying to cross the road quickly and safely and not get run over.

If we’re heading to the local park, she sprints the last couple of hundred metres, dragging me with her. We enter the park over a stile.

I am 100% certain that one day she is going to drag me across that stile so hard and so fast that I’m going to land flat on my face.

Sometimes (often) she takes a walk at a leisurely pace. Dogs like to sniff. Dogs need to sniff. I get that.

But every five metres?!

Every leaf. Every blade of grass. Every twig. Every possible place another dog could have had a wee.

She’ll be blocking the pavement sniffing, while families are rushing by to get to school and I cannot shift her. Because if she’s busy sniffing, she isn’t moving for anyone.

If she sees or smells something she particularly likes, she wees on it. She can squeeze five or six wees out on a circuit of the park.

Dogs are supposed to love walks. But sometimes Hetty can’t be bothered. She’d much rather stay at home on a blanket, watching the television.

So sometimes she just stops and refuses to move. It’s remarkable how strong a 10kg cockapoo (yes, she finally made it to 10kg!) can be when she wants to be. She really digs her doggy heels in. You can just about move her by dragging her, but that feels very wrong, so I won’t do it. Occasionally I’ve even picked her up and carried her just to get her moving again.  Sometimes I’ll give up and turn round to take her home. It’s amazing how she suddenly moves with enthusiasm then.

As a puppy, she loved all people and all dogs. She wanted to say hello to everyone. She had no fear at all.

Lately, she’s become rather nervous. She doesn’t know what she wants.

If she sees a dog in the distance, she will just lie down and wait for it, refusing to move. Sometimes the dog won’t go anywhere near her, so she’s left with a dilemma. Keep waiting or get moving?

If the dog does approach, sometimes she sniffs it and lets it sniff her. Sometimes, after waiting all that time to say hello, she decides she doesn’t like the dog after all and either growls or runs away.

If there are people in front of her or behind her, she refuses to move. She’s either interested in them, scared of them or both. I now have to time my walks around the time I know people will be walking to the local school, so we can minimise contact with people and dogs.

Sometimes I can’t believe that I put myself through this nonsense three times a day! It’s lucky that she’s so adorable and brings me so much joy in other ways.

She walks far better for my husband and sons than she does for me. Sadly, they don’t take her for walks very often.