What's Tony Thinking

Walking the Dog

Since December our daughter’s dog, Georgie, has been living with us. She’s a rescue dog, who showed up beaten and bedraggled somewhere in Texas. She struck it rich when Laura took her home.

I believe that she is mostly an “Australian Kelpie,” though there are probably a few other things in the mix. The Kelpies were introduced to Australia from Scotland to herd cattle. When Laura worked on a cattle ranch in Queensland, “stations” as they are known Down Under, she reports Kelpies on the job.

Having no cattle to herd, Georgie keeps a close eye on me. Literally. If she is stretched out on the floor or the couch, and I make a move, her eyes are open to see what I’m up to, and if it might include a walk or a bone. If that’s happening her tail whacks like a metronome.

Georgie, perhaps owing to her early life, is a “velcro dog,” meaning she attaches to one person. For this chapter, I am her stickie. When Laura is back, who knows. Maybe, I’ll be chopped liver?

It is not uncommon for me to open an eye in the early morning, say 5:00 a.m., and find Georgie’s face a few inches away, her eyes staring at me expectantly, as if to say, “let’s go!.” Her devotion is sweet, but for this introvert, a little intense. (Just to be clear, we don’t let her onto our bed. We have our boundaries!)

We’ve settled into a routine which usually includes three walks a day. The first and last are shorter. Fifteen minutes to half an hour. Enough time to sniff all the usual spots, as well as to add her own contributions for her colleague’s olfactory inspections.

There’s one longer outing, a hour to ninety minutes. This usually includes some off-leash trail or beach running, or a combination of the two. This is a lot more fun, for both of us. Georgie loves to run. Sometimes there will be another dog who is up for playing, which includes running, spinning and jumping. She has quite a repertoire of spin moves, from 180’s to 360’s.

She’s not a retriever, so we don’t do the ball thing. We’ve owned some ball chasers in the past, part Goldens. Georgie is sort of disappointed when during her free run times we encounter a ball chaser. They are so fixated on their tennis balls that they aren’t interested in playing. So sad.

She also likes to go on errands in the car. She’s a big fan of the push button car windows in the back seat. Took me a while to figure out why the back windows were often open when we got home.

Here in our neck of the woods in northwest Seattle, the Ballard neighborhood, there are alleys. We walk the alleyways, which are often more interesting than the streets and don’t have as much dog traffic. These days, on Seattle alleys, you see a lot of ADU’s, “additional dwelling units.” Some were once garages. Others are just smaller structures added behind a main house. It results in a hodgepodge that is the opposite of suburban or new development sameness. Fun to see what people are coming up with.

Sometimes walking the dog results in social encounters. The dogs sniff. The people visit. But often with dogs on leash, dog owners work to avoid contact for example, crossing the street or putting a parked car between passing dogs. Off leash most dogs work out their interactions. On-leash, required by law, they can be more aggressive. Especially, the little guys, oddly enough.

You might think that walking the dog would count as exercise. Maybe, sort of. But with Georgie, at least, it’s a lot of stop and go. Stop, sniff, investigate, then go, albeit reluctantly. Stop, sniff, pee, then the big back-leg dust-off flinging dirt or leaves, as if to say, “good riddance.” It’s like driving in Seattle, a lot stop and go. Not a cardio workout.

On returning home, her big thrill is playing chase on the stairs up to our place on the third floor. I check the garage to see that our neighbors are out then let her off leash and give her a “go.” She’s off, getting in a couple trips up and down to my one.

Dogs get deep into your heart. Maybe it’s the tail wagging when they see you? Or it could be their eyes? Those big, liquid pools focused on you. Or the ears? So soft. She’s a good girl, which I tell her often.

But mostly I think it’s how much dogs enjoy life. Whether it’s a run, an ear-scratch, a bone or going for a ride in the car, it’s all grand, tail-wagging stuff. Which seems like a good reminder to the rest of us.