Mimi Pollow: My favorite walking companion for the last eleven years has been my dog Silas. He is a peke-a-poo. His first volksmarch was at the Northern Virginia Volksmarchers event in early May 1996. He was only three months old and was carried for half the walk. This was also the first walk he ever worked at. I was working at a checkpoint. Silas was sleeping on the chair next to me. Every time someone came up, I would stand up to stamp their start card (a personal idiosyncrasy) and Silas would do so too. He was only three months old, had just done a 5 KM walk, and needed his sleep. I began holding him in my arms on his back, just like a baby, so he could sleep while I worked the checkpoint. He slept through our whole shift.
Dennis Overcash: I have walked with two of our dogs. Our English Cocker named Pooch had always walked really well with us- pulling us everywhere along the trail even in the right direction occasionally. We took him to the Global event at Keesler AFB in 1994. As we rounded the last corner and within sight of the start point he had had enough. He sat down in the shade of a wall and refused to move. There we sat with the dog for what seemed to be an eternity, probably about 20 minutes with the finish only a few hundred yards ahead. An English Cocker by the way weighs in at around 40 pounds and what he wants to do he does. Our little Beagle mix called Droopy is a good walker, however he has one walking habit that he does faithfully. He passes all fields and unimproved areas with little notice. Just entering civilization again he'll then find a nice manicured lawn and have his bowel movement. It is never in the places that would make no difference. He waits until the most inconvenient times. We don't usually plan very well for this, but after leaving the start point we generally are able to find enough trash (paper cups etc. on the sidewalks etc to pick up after him).
Patti Erickson: We were walking up on the Billy Goat Trail off the C&O Canal Towpath in the D.C. area in Maryland. It was a bright, sunny winter's day and there was no one within hearing. I decided to let her off lead to run around as she so loves to do. (This is not recommended and almost all parks require dogs to be on a leash at all times.) So, she was running around exuberantly, up and down the hollows of the hills rising up from the banks of the Potomac River, which had ice on it out to about 10 yards from shore. She saw a bird out on the ice and took a flying leap onto what appeared to her to be solid ground. But the poor thing plopped right through the leaves and twigs which were disguising the small area of melted ice, into the frigid Potomac water! She was off lead, so I couldn't assist her. Luckily, she got a foothold on the mud and bounded back up the hill to me with the most pathetic, surprised, wet-doggy look! I felt like an idiot, which I was! The moral of the story is: Think! And obey the leash rules, even when there's nobody around that the dog might bother!
Marilyn McCarthy: My dog is a black dog and the sun really bothers him. I tried to make a cover for him out of a t-shirt, but it didn't work. He is resourceful in looking for shade when we are doing walks. Several people in our volksmarch club remember times when he would always be heading for shade on walks. I ended up carrying him several times on a walk in Page/Strawberry AZ because it was hot and hilly and he did want to budge. Most of the time he is a real trooper and has been a great companion, since most of the time, it is just the two of us doing the walks. When I travel to walks, we camp out in the back of my truck which has a camper shell. I specifically bought the truck so that we could take road trips and he could sleep with me in the truck. It has worked out great.
Robin Rosenstock: Sherpa, my German Shepard, and I started walking while living in Germany about 7 years ago. When we first started walking, true to his heritage, if he thought we should be going faster, he started herding us along by circling the group. Since he was on a leash, we all became very good at hopping over the leash as it came around! He did learn to become a better group walker eventually.
Carol Koch: I have a spouse who is not particularly interested in walking; and while I have a few friends who enjoy it, getting together or walking at the same pace seems to be a problem. Sam is always willing to go, matches my pace, loves it, and is good company. What more can you ask in a walking buddy?
Next Page>
More Dog Walking Stories>> 10 Tips For Walking With Your Dog, 2, 3
Post Your Story
