Walk with Grace(land)

My dog Graceland Kiari (GK) doesn't like to run. She gets that from my side of the family. She's big, fluffy, drool-y and all around a little lazy. She's a newfoundland toughing out Chicago summer so I cut her some slack in that regard.

One of the highlights of my day (though I sometimes forget to view it as a highlight when I'm first waking up and wishing to stay snuggled in bed) is taking good ol' GK for her morning walk. When we first rescued her a few months ago, the prospect was actually a little daunting since she's 100 lbs and had very poor puppy manners before going to school. Now however, she's hip to the routine and her tail wags at the mention of the word "outside" or if I make a move towards my shoes. Our walk has become one of our bonding times and she feels good about herself for making sure I get the exercise I need.

I was not a dog person before GK. It's not that I didn't like them, I just didn't like to be slobbered or jumped on and in my experience dogs came with heaping abundance of both. I wasn't really a cat person either... just sort a petless examiner of the animal world, though I've never outgrown the girlish desire to own a horse. Anyway, GK has taught me to love and appreciate dogs for their amazing capacity for unconditional love and empathy. She knows when we're sad and sidles up to us, supporting our emotional breakdown by letting us pet her. She's no dummy. It's not that she gives with expectation - she just makes the most of what she's got.

This morning I saw, for perhaps the 2nd or 3rd time, this guy out walking his much smaller dog while reading a book. The first time I saw him I remember thinking that there was no way that I could walk GK without paying attention to her every move. If she decides to pull after a squirrel and I'm not paying attention, I might lose an arm. I attributed his ability to bury his nose in his book to the fact that my dog outweighed his by about 70 pounds and didn't give it much thought after that.

Today, however, I'm questioning what it communicates to your dog when you can't be bothered to give them your undivided attention for 15 minutes. Granted, I have no idea what this guy does or doesn't do with his dog inside his own home, so let's leave him out of the equation. I know that it isn't always convenient when GK wants to go outside. Sometimes she wants to do anything but what we're supposed to accomplish around grass and trees. It's not always a stellar morning, because we all have our days. However, if I didn't give her my full attention, I'd miss the cute way she looks up at me for approval or wags her tail, pleased as punch to be outdoors. Aside from the potential safety issues of not paying attention to your dog (they are still animals who have innate instincts to attack!) I actually get sad when I think of all the great GK & KW moments I would miss if I wasn't paying attention.

Dogs don't have that long of a lifespan compared to humans, though compared to insects I suppose they get rather old. They love us, even when we don't deserve it, through those short years. I want to make sure my beautiful Graceland knows that I love her just as much. I'm not home all the time and often working from home when I am, so those precious minutes that we're out for a walk are HERS. I think it's the least I can do in gratitude for the way she has changed my world.

I know you love your pets too. Feel free to share stories of them with me in the comments!

Light & Love,

Kieta