Dog walking Archive
Close to You
After Richard and I made the commitment to adopt our rescue mutt—but before we met him and brought him home—we visited a pet supply store for the first time in years. We perused aisle after aisle of brushes and beds and bones, and we pawed through piles of sweaters, toys, and collars. I tried hard
Category: Dog accessories
Fun with Roadkill
I enjoy about many things about sharing my days with Willie, and our daily walks together offer many opportunities for new experiences. Though we walk the same routes each day, these sojourns are never boring or static; we wave and wag at a few neighbors, we see many deer and wild turkeys, and one of
Category: Dog
Rainy Day Dog
After a long, dry spell during which the lawn browned, the tomatoes wilted, and the pond receded, last night the heavens opened with a drenching, purifying rain – a rain that silenced the birds who normally welcome each dawn. The metal barn roof thrummed beneath the onslaught as the gutters overflowed. I yawn and stretch
Category: Dog
Secret Santa
Construction of a new house began early this year on a road Willie and I walk nearly every day. We’ve watched and listened from a distance as the foundation was poured, as the framing was completed, and as the roof and windows slowly appeared. “They plan to be in by Christmas,” the excavator told me
Category: Dog walking
P-town Pup
Our friend Janet has had a Cape Cod vacation condo in Wellfleet for years. And for years she’s encouraged Richard and me to come for a visit while she was there, or to simply go and use her place at our leisure. Somehow, we never managed to take Janet up on her offer before this
Category: Dog
Litterbugs
We live in a rural – or at least semi-rural – neighborhood, surrounded by fields and farms and private homes set on large wooded parcels. Our road is not a particularly busy one, though during the course of our half-hour morning or afternoon walk I wave to maybe a dozen or so drivers whom I
Category: Dog
The Power of Biscuits
A few weeks after my conversation about dog training with Ann, I brought Willie with me on a writing retreat at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Rodanthe, North Carolina. One morning at sunrise the two of us left the cottage and walked across the dune to an empty beach where I let him off
Category: Dog
Nights in Rodanthe
Willie’s first significant road trip involved ten hours in the car on the way to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. With the consent of my friends, I brought him with me on a week-long writing retreat where Willie shared a beach cottage with the five of us. Willie snoozed on my lap or on the
Category: Dog
The Beat Goes On
On my twice-daily walks with Willie I strive to maintain a brisk and consistent pace. The first few days were pretty taxing on me – especially walking uphill – but I’ve acclimated to this new routine we share and look forward to these walks almost as much as Willie. Almost. But even when I’m not
Category: Dog
The Voice
Willie hardly makes a sound. He doesn’t whine, and he doesn’t bark, though he communicates with me a great deal through eye contact, body posture, and tail wagging. His basic states of being are: happy (to see me); excited (to go for a walk or to eat); contented (after a walk or a meal); and
Category: Dog
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