This article is inspired by James’ blog post on walking.
Orla is my Labrador. At the time of writing, she is 3 and a bit years old. Like any other dog, she requires a walk every day and most days we do indeed walk her. Admittedly, there have been days where I am too mentally exhausted or brain-deep in a hobby that I can’t pull myself out of it to go for a walk, but I’m trying to be better as Orla needs a walk.
Those are days that I need a walk the most.
Thankfully, Orla is very flexible, she doesn’t mind what time we go and whether it is somewhere new or a path we have trodden a hundred times before. In fact, she prefers our daily route as she loves to catch up on the news that other dogs, cats and critters have left for her
She explores the path, grass and shrubs with her nose, firmly placed a centimetre from the floor. You can hear her flexing her olfactory bulb through snuffling and snorting — not unlike a little piggy. Colloquially named a ‘Sniffari’ this is her favourite mode of walk. She’ll run for a ball throw a couple of times but soon tires of it as it doesn’t stimulate her brain in the way she enjoys.
So every day — rain or shine — we perambulate down the path, past the kids play area, through the cycle path gate and into the field. Sometimes we see lots of dog friends, other times we see none.
We walk near a river. The rush of the water of cobbles grounds me. There is a spot in the river fence that is broken away, which opens a small area with flat boulders where you can sit. I’ve welcomed a few turns of the wheel here. It’s tucked away and peaceful, perfect for meditation or gentle reflection. I sit here when I get overwhelmed by the churning of the capitalism machine. There are spiders and bugs in the bushes, they sway in the wind or scuttle across the rock and into the undergrowth.
Orla likes it too, though she gets bored of sitting so we return to our walk, we recall and go on lead to avoid someone’s more sensitive pup, then go back off lead to sniff some more. We do some tricks to practice obedience, jump and sit on the bench, loop around the trees, wait and recall.
We both come home feeling good. She goes for a drink, I wash my hands then we have a cwtch.
It is only human — and canine — to feel better after being outside. It’s easy to forget, but this is the ‘being’ in human being.