Recently I’ve been walking my friend’s dog. I usually take my walk for exercise at a local park here in the mid-morning hours before I have to get ready for work. So I figured, “why not take the dog, too?” Surely, he’s just sitting there at home, lounging on the couch while my friend is at work. I’m sure he just hopes for someone to pass by the house so he can do that dog thing and be curious and bark and all that.
So the other day I stopped by the house. He barked once, but then recognized my voice, and sat waiting patiently while I unlocked the door and opened it. Yes, as stated previously, I do talk to the dogs. They may not understand what I am saying, but they know my voice and realize I’m just that non-threatening human who sometimes gives treats and almost always will rub behind the ears.
This dog’s name is Boomer. I call him Boomie, and sometimes even Boomerang, just because I can. He doesn’t seem to mind.
So the first day of our walking together, I brought him to the park and as soon as we stepped out onto the dirt track, it began to rain. Now, normally in such situations I would get back in the car and forego the walk for the day. But I looked down at Boomer. He looked up at me with the saddest expression, his eyebrows gathering together as if to say “Please, please, can we just please play?” And so there I was with the invisible SUCKER stamped on my forehead and leash in my hand and, well, I just had to stay and walk.
I am not a power-walker by any means. So most dogs have to get used to my pace and realize “oh, this is that slow but steady human here.” Boomer adapted well, and after five minutes we were walking side by side. The rain subsided after a few minutes and so we continued on. But then after the fourth trip around the track (I usually do 5 and 1/2 laps), Boomer started veering over to the side where the taller grass was. All of a sudden he just plopped down on that grass and wouldn’t move!
Ok, so now I’m thinking “what the heck is wrong?” I quickly bent down and felt his chest and belly to make sure he was breathing normally for a dog. He was. Then he rolled over and offered his stomach for me to massage, and I got to thinking “wait a minute.”
I tried every command I could think of to say to him, but Boomer was not moving. Now I was getting worried “Don’t die on me here, Boomer!” I frantically said to him. That’s all I’d need. Walking a friend’s dog for the first time and I kill her favorite pet! Boomer closed his eyes 3/4 of the way and I thought for a minute that I was going to have to do CPR on a dog.
After about 4 minutes, he lifted his head, jumped up, licked my hand and started trotting away as if to say “Psych! I got you!” We got to the end of our walk for the day and Boomer seemed happy.
The next day I picked him up in the afternoon, and it was quite hot out. We didn’t even get one lap around the track before Boomer did his “drop and plop” thing again. I looked at him. He looked at me. And I said “ok, Boomer. I get it. It’s too hot for you today.” So we spent some time just sitting in the grass. Boomer looked at birds and I talked on the cell phone.
Here’s a picture of Boomer checking out the birds in the trees:

Today I went to pick up Boomer and realized that he’s getting used to the routine. He greeted me at the door with tail wagging and seemed excited to go for the walk. It was mid-morning again, and I figured out that, much like me, Boomer enjoys that time of day. He wasn’t sluggish on the walk and was very playful through most of it.
But then about half way through the walk he began to veer off course again. This time he was headed for a mud puddle. I figured, “oh, maybe he wants a drink,” and so I let him go to the water. Don’t be grossed out, people. Boomer is a dog. He licks his privates and pees in the wind. So, yes, dogs do drink from mud puddles.
Just as I gave him some leeway on the leash, I saw what he was about to do. You see, I momentarilly forgot that Boomie is a MALE dog. And just like little boys, male dogs like to get dirty. A female would have tentatively placed her paw in the water and maybe lapped a sip of water. But not Boomer. Instead of putting his face to the water, Boomie jumped full on into the puddle, and sat right down in the mud! He would not budge for about three minutes, and then he bounded out of the puddle, shook himself off, and continued the walk. The next time around he did the same thing. I let him, just to see if he’d actually sit in the mud again, and sure enough, he did:

I couldn’t get too mad at the dog for having some fun on the walk. He is definitely breaking up my exercise routine, which I’m not too pleased about, but he is making the walk more interesting. I’m thinking that he may just get bored with the track thing, so I’ll have to think of other places to take him.
But you know that when I dropped Boomer off back home, he licked my hand and gave me that sad look as if to say “thanks for the walk, but are you leaving me here all alone?????”
“Yes, Boomie. Until next time.”
I wonder what he’d do if I jumped in the mud puddle and sat there with him? I just might try it. You never know….
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