How+To+Walk+the+Dogs+by+Emily+Anderson

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What seems like a simple activity consisting of putting the dogs on a leash and taking a walk outside turns into an act of routine and practice when it comes to the Anderson household. Avoiding the pull of my homework waiting to suck me in each day after school as the year comes to a close, I have been taking my dogs out for a walk increasingly often as a way of avoiding these duties without feeling completely unproductive. I have begun to notice each day that this uncomplicated act has become yet another activity with rules to follow.======

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If one wants to take my dogs, Foster and Fang on a walk, one must act according to their personalities. Foster is kind of the outsider; we got him from my grandmother living in Florida about a year and a half ago when she passed away and although he and Fang get along, it is obvious that he is still getting used to living with us in New Hampshire. When one first sees Foster, it is impossible not to chuckle a little. First, we think he is a mix between some sort of terrier and a Chihuahua, for his ears are the biggest part of his ten-pound frame, and he has these long hairs that come out of the sides of his mouth and hang down so that they look a little like a mustache. He is a sight to see. If his amusing looks don’t win you over when you meet him, his behaviors will. When Foster gets really excited, he begins to do what is known now as his “tap dance.” Foster gets so excited about the simplest things that even him simply going on a car ride makes him jump up and down for joy, showing you how much he really wants to go in the car, and since his nails are not clipped they make a tapping noise on the floor. If you weren’t convinced before if you should take him in the car or not, you will be once you see this dance, for no one can resist him when they see this cute action and he uses it to his advantage. As for Fang, well, his name could not be more of an antonym to his personality. Fang is a purebred, apricot miniature poodle, about sixteen inches tall, who is easily frightened by such things as a hairbrush or someone walking to fast by him and is quite feminine in nature despite his male physique. He’s the dog who tries to get along with everyone; while some dogs will reject new dogs that come into their territory, Fang quite accepted Foster right when we first got him and only wanted to be friends. We have had him for about three and a half years so we are used to his quirky antics, but one thing that we have been increasingly noticing is how much he loves to dig. He will go out in the backyard and spend hours digging holes, following the scent of some little chipmunk, not really caring about finding the chipmunk but just loving the excitement of the search, a mix of curly hair and dirt flying everywhere as he digs and digs. He will often get so excited that he will jump up in between digs as if he sees an animal and then continue digging, when it is really just him trying to make the process more exciting. He will come inside with clumps of dirt all over him; for such a feminine, easily frightened little dog, one would not think of him as loving to dig and get completely filthy as much as he does. It is necessary to know these few things about Foster and Fang before venturing out on a walk with them.======

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The first thing to do when heading out on a walk with our dogs is to walk downstairs unsuspiciously, heading toward the door but giving no clues to the dogs of what you are planning to do. If you fail this step, the excitement will start too early and it will be impossible to put the leashes on. Soon enough, when you reach into the bag of leashes and pull one out, one of the dogs will hear the jingle and start the process. They both run from wherever they are as fast as they can, Foster doing his tap dance at his fastest speed and Fang whining so loud that it sounds like we are torturing him. It is these things that slow down the beginning of the walk, for it is almost impossible to clip the leash on Foster when the dogs are running around in excited confusion, Fang nudging my hand repeatedly and almost screaming to me how much he just wants to go. It is only Foster whom we have fear of wandering off, so we take Fang without a leash. Finally, after much difficulty, the leash is on and the dogs and I are ready to begin our walk.======

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The whining and tap dancing continues outside as we make our way up the driveway, but by the time we reach the top, the bountiful excitement has turned into pure adrenaline. Foster and I walk simply down the road while Fang races back and forth, running fifty feet in front of us then turning around and racing back. He must travel twenty times farther than we do because he continues going back and forth like this for the whole trip. We will often walk by neighbors coming outside to get the mail or whatnot and wave hello or stop to talk for a little bit. At this point, my dogs look at me longingly and soon enough, we continue our journey again. Both dogs sniff around during our walks, but for different reasons; Foster is interested in finding another dog’s scent and covering it up with his to make it seem like he is the bigger dog when he is only about ten inches tall in reality, while Fang sniffs around in the woods, looking for the scent of a small creature so that he can begin his digging that he loves so much. One would think that since Fang goes without a leash and runs away into the woods constantly that he would not care whether Foster was on the walk with him or not, however, that is not the case. Fang always runs back to Foster to check up on him, almost as if he is taking care of him. When for some reason Fang goes on these walks by himself, he acts differently, walking slowly by my side, no excitement in his eyes. Each member of the walk has their own important role and the experience without them would not be the same. It is these things that make taking a walk with my dogs so much fun.======

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Our road is not very long so before we know it we are back at home and the walk is over. This is not a sad thing for the dogs though, for the excitement continues into the house, still pumped up from an exciting walk. Then, the calming down process begins as Foster runs immediately to his bed and curls up and Fang is still pacing around the house looking for something to do. One then must clean the dirt off of Fang. This does not only consist of wiping him down with a towel but also taking a paper towel and digging the dirt out from the roof of his mouth because he bites huge amounts of dirt as he digs and it gets caked in his mouth. Soon enough, Fang realizes his fatigue and settles down, for he is always exhausted after the walk from all his running, even though Foster and I didn’t walk nearly as far.======

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Taking my dogs on a walk is a process that we have perfected over the years. It is a pleasure to see such a simple activity bring such joy to my dogs each day, even though the process is so routine, but it never gets boring. What started out as an activity of leisure that I was doing to avoid sitting in my room doing homework has turned into a procedure in itself with rules to follow and all. If it’s not homework that I’m doing, it’s my premeditated responsibility to my dogs. I guess I can never truly escape my duties.======