The Wonders of the Dog Walking Community

We have been a family with a dog now for nearly four months. As this is our first venture into the world of dog ownership, it has been a bit of s steep learning curve.  We love Liberty, she is nearly six months old now and it has been joy to watch her grow from a tiny pup into the almost fully grown dog that she is now. But it hasn’t been easy.  She is a chewer.  She chews anything and everything that she can get her sharp teeth into.  In the garden she is a digger.  Our once fairly tidy garden is a waste land of chewed up shoes, bits of chewed cardboard, pots that have had all of the soil dug out of them and lots of large holes all over the lawn.

Having said that, she is a gorgeous dog, a really great companion and good fun to be around.  She makes us all get out for daily walks and it is this part of being a dog owner that has been a revelation to me.  I suppose as a non-dog owner and the mother of a child who was terrified of dogs up until recently, I wasn’t really aware of how many dog owners there are.  Now of course, I see them all and there are so many people with dogs.

It is like I have entered into a secret community, one that you can only enter once you have a four-legged friend of your own. It is amazing.  I haven’t yet met a dog owner who was unfriendly. There is a big field near our house and this is a particularly popular meeting place for the local dog community.  I quickly realised that they were all so friendly.  I feel like I know some of their life stories already.  We talk about dogs, about training, about life.  It is fascinating.

The one aspect of the dog community that I have really loved is that other owners love sharing their advice.  As a complete novice, I am thrilled to listen to anyone who has advice for me.  My husband must be sick of me going home and telling him about a new dog owner I have met and what they have suggested we should or shouldn’t do.

But the main thing is how friendly everyone is.  I don’t know any names but we all recognise each other and each other’s dogs.  When we meet some of them, they all know Liberty’s name and make the biggest fuss of her, which she loves.  She then gets to race around playing crazy dog with her four-legged friends while we stand around talking and laughing at the dogs.

Then we say our goodbyes and part ways until the next time.  And it happens wherever we go.  My daughter commented the other day that it always takes much longer to go anywhere these days as we have to allow for so many stops to talk to other dog owners.  She is right and I know she gets a bit frustrated by it, but me, I love chatting, so I am quite happy to be a part of this new community.