08/29/2026
When you walk your dog, are you sometimes in a hurry to get it done? Does it feel like another obligation on the list? Do you decide where they go, how fast they walk, when they stop, and how long they’re allowed to sniff? Maybe you were taught that dogs should heel, keep moving, and follow our lead.
Think about everything our dogs give to us.
Their unconditional love. Their loyalty. Their companionship.Their forgiveness.
They’re pure JOY when we walk through the door!
They sit beside us when we’re hurting. They feel our sadness, they absorb our stress and anxiety. They comfort us without needing to understand the story. And some come into our lives agreeing to help carry burdens that otherwise would have been ours alone…..illnesses, disease, depression.
They give us so much.
Shouldn’t we, at the very least, give the walk back to them?
Let THEM lead.
Let them stop and smell that one blade of grass for what seems like an eternity. 😂
Let them investigate every tree, every bush, every mysterious scent left behind by the neighborhood dogs. Let them wander. Let them explore. Let them mark. Let them experience their world through the extraordinary senses they were given.
Don’t rush the walk. Revel in it. Watch them. Watch their noses working. Watch their ears perk up. Watch their tails. Watch the excitement when they discover something completely ordinary to us but absolutely fascinating to them.
And instead of thinking, “Come on, we have to go…”
Try thinking: “This is your time. Show me your world.”
Slow down enough to really be WITH them.
You might discover that the walk becomes something entirely different.
Not an obligation. Not exercise…..But a conversation…A sensory adventure.
A moment of connection between two souls who experience the same world in completely different ways.
And if you become quiet enough… you may even begin to feel their excitement, their curiosity, their wonder and their joy.
They spend so much of their lives adapting to our world.
Don’t They deserve for us to step into theirs? 🐾❤️
