Walking My Human

The truth about walking my human.

Suzanne has been writing about walking a beagle and how beagles think so I just had to have my say. Humans can get too full of themselves sometimes and even think they are in charge! I want to set the record straight.

Aside from getting us lost on our very first walk, Suzanne is not a bad human to walk.

She tries at least, but there are problems.

Walking my human problem # 1

She wants to walk in a straight line or follow a designated path. Sometimes we follow sidewalks, or paved paths in the park. There are good smells along the edges but she doesn’t even notice them!

Poor humans – they have such a poor sense of smell. They don’t even know what they are missing. I guess that is another reason they need dogs.

Walking my human problem # 2

She refuses to greet every dog we pass. I don’t always want to chat with other dogs – especially if there are good smells. I am not going to share with them what I know about the critters in the brush pile we just passed. But Suzanne should really let me decide who we should talk to.

Walking my human problem # 3

She gets distracted by birds. (Sign up for her newsletter - you'll see.) I get her going at a good pace and bam! She yells “wait!” So I stop fast and I wait. I try to humor her. I am thinking she has found food or made a new friend that I should greet. But no, she is looking up into a tree at a bird. A bird. It is too high up to chase. So what is the point? We wait for it to fly away and then we start walking again. So odd.

Confusion

I am confused by walking my human. I have no idea why she even want to walks. Really.

If there are no birds to stop and stare at, she will walk at a brisk pace – too brisk.

I have to jerk the leash to make her stop when I find a good smell, which she would know if she was paying attention!

Walking my human: the good stuff

The good thing about our walks is that she is like me and gets bored easily.

We vary our walking route and she likes to go different places on our walks. That makes me happy.

I want new smells and we get lots of those in a new place.

She also brings water and treats. That is the most important part.

I need treats when I walk so I don’t eat too many of the things she tells me to leave.

I need treats after all that self-restraint. Or when I don’t have so much self-restraint. I still need treats.

I can't help it - I'm a beagle.