Dog Walk
You’re at work all day, so at night - after you’ve showered and had dinner - you can finally take your best friend for a walk, something the dog has been waiting for the whole day.
I see all kinds of dogs at night. It’s like a safari - that’s when they’re all out. Big hairy dogs, grey fluffy dogs, and chihuahuas with raisin-sized brains. They must be so happy all the time. The people seem happy too. They don’t necessarily smile or show any clear emotion, but you can just tell that at least they don’t mind walking their dogs. It’s not a chore like most of the things they did that day. It’s a responsibility, but not a burden.
I believe walking your dog is just as much about the four-legged animal as it is about the two-legged one. It’s one of those activities where you have no choice but to fully dedicate yourself. For those twenty or so minutes, you are simply busy walking your dog. And all the limitations that come with holding a leashed animal are, paradoxically, freeing.
Making sure your dog doesn’t run into the street, doesn’t fight with another of its kind, and cleaning up after it because you’re a good citizen - all of that keeps you busy enough that you don’t have the space to be busy with anything else. You simply have to walk your dog. And maybe that’s exactly why people do it.
No matter how fun your dog is, it will never understand you the way the people in your life do, and I think that’s what makes it so liberating. It removes all the intellectual and social pressures you face throughout the day. When you interact with your dog, your mind can just relax, become less human, and more dog-like. Maybe that's the break we're all looking for.
The more people I see with their dogs at night, the more I realize you don’t walk your dog - your dog walks you.
And sometimes, you just want to be walked.