I guess every dog and human has their own way of doing things. For Mom and me, we write most of my blog posts while walking. She has said that she can’t write without seeing me, and I give her such great inspiration – I let her run with those thoughts as I know I am the engine behind the posts, and I am a secure enough dog to let her think it is all her idea! Usually when we leave home for a walk, either we have an idea and we need photos or, as is the case today, we had not thought about the blog at all but then were suddenly inspired along the way. The latter is more fun as you never know where the ideas will lead! Mom and I are plugged in most of our waking hours, so while walking and/or running we have the “no phone, no music rule”. It is so wonderful to just be Mom, Katie and I all focused on each other and our surroundings. Great bonding time!
Nice to see you reading my blog!
Back to the post of the day. We often hear that walking the dog is boring, really? Our suggestion is to never take the same route for a long walk more than once a week. Try to go somewhere different once a week, and when you travel the same routes, look at the surroundings and see what is new or different or walk the route in the opposite direction. Is it a seasonal change, someone has new siding, we found our new trash company by wondering what these new cans were all about that we saw on our walk one morning. Be observant and your walks will be so much more fun. Mom also helps us look for critters and sometimes counts them for us. That may sound silly, but she enjoys doing it and when she says wabbit, we know there is a wabbit to be found! You don’t have to be hiking the Swiss Alps to have a great walk.
On our two hour adventure walk last Saturday we left home just expecting a nice walk but then inspiration knocked at our door. We only had the cell phone camera, so the images aren’t top, but that was not the purpose. The purpose was to see what crazy, new, things we could find on a route we take one to two times a month.
First, we noticed this cute bumble bee at a park we have passed often, but never really taken note of before.
We still had not had thoughts of this post yet but then we came across this piano on the woods. Music on the trail is what we decided to call it. It is sad because it really is littering but since it was there, why not play some tunes?
Passing between the rock quarry and the new housing development, we found this big old digging machine. Why not have a seat for a moment?
Anyone need a nice, well worn, kind of damp leather couch? I hear that outdoor living rooms are really in, which brings up the question – is this supposed to be an outdoor living room on the front lawn or junk someone should haul away for free? Either way, it was a nice spot to take a short break as it was getting warm out.
How about this jumbo boulder…straight out of the Flintstones in Bedrock! I look like a tiny mouse on top of it!
Point of this FitDog Friday post is that any walk can be fun. Tune into your environment, use your creativity to jazz it all up, and get fit at the same time!
I am joining in the FitDog Friday blog hop sponsored by SlimDoggy, Peggy’s Pet Place and To Dog With Love Stop by and see what other dogs are doing to stay fit!
Like you our inspiration is found on our walks all the time. Outside and away from the computer & the frenzy of a busy household with kids there seems some space for ideas to form. Aren’t we lucky to have dogs in our lives 😉
Mom can’t imagine life without a dog. She loves her kitties too but dogs are something more special, closer to a human, but better 🙂
Those are marvelous suggestions! You live in a much more interesting area than I do though! Have a great Friday! Barks and licks and love, Dakota
It is not that fascinating but you have to seek out the fun and interesting places.
You guys sure make the most out of every day! It’s always fun to read about your adventures! And your pictures always bring a smile to our face!
Thank you! Mom always said she needed at least one dog to “hang out” with as most people are not interested in doing as much walking and running as she is. The three of us do have a lot of fun together 🙂
We have the same rule too, no phone/ music on our walks/run. LOVE your palyground. What you found a keyboard, Golden Laughs. Have a Pawsome Friday! Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
That’s what I’m saying, you never know what you might find on a walk that can be a fun photo and/or inspiration 🙂 TGIF and happy FitDog Friday!
I like your once a week rule! I don’t think walking the dog is boring. I love letting them sniff around. We are out in the sticks, so there is always a new natural thing to see!
Most of the dogs we know don’t get out much and we find that so sad, or they go around the same block every day. Getting out and exploring is so fun but so many humans just don’t do it, especially in the US, in Europe there is more dog walking.
Guess we’re not alone when I admit that most of my post ideas come to me while Gizmo and I are out walking…We see all sorts of things that pique curiousity and have me composing in my head…I hardly ever leave home without the camera these days as you never know when a photo op will appear…I don’t “know” all the neighbors, but I know lots about my neighborhood by observing changes we spot on our walks
Mom hates the cell phone camera but it is better than nothing. We know all about so many people in the area from our walking observances. A good walk or run really clears the head, improves the mood, solves problems and is just plain wonderful!
Great post! Yes, walks are fun! Never boring.
We don’t think they are boring either but maybe for humans that lack creativity they are.
If they would just learn to stick their noses to the trail they would find how wondrous the world can be!
Emma, we can always depend on you for some great ideas. You are so right about a walk being what you make it. I try to change up our routine as much as possible as I know our guys get bored with the same old walk or run. Watching out for new things to see is fun too – that’s one reason we like all the farms in our area – we get to watch the crops grow and change. Those peppers at the end of our street are getting bigger, we’ll need to examine them pretty soon! Thanks for joining the Hop.
A walk is what you make of it. I know Katie and I are much more energetic if we are somewhere new or that we haven’t been to in a while. Here we watch the corn grow…that stuff is tall!
Great post and you are so cute sitting in the bumblebee! You find lots of great things on your walks! It isn’t quite as exciting around here but you have a great tip about not taking the same route. Have a great weekend!
You just have to find ways to make the walk fun like counting critters or something.
So many great photos today! I’ll bet that couch is on Craigslist and was waiting for someone to come and get it. Not the piano, though. That’s just weird. People shouldn’t leave instruments lying around in the woods.
Thanks! They can leave their instruments in the woods, but just long enough for me to come by and take a photo with them 😉
Honey and I would love to go walking with you. We agree that there’s no excuse for being bored on a walk.
Although my pictures aren’t as good, we wrote a couple of years ago about all the ways to practice agility on a walk in our neighborhood. Your wonderful post made me think of it. If you’re interested… http://www.somethingwagging.com/everyday-agility/
We also like visiting playgrounds but our closest one has a big sign saying no dogs are allowed. We visit early in the morning as scofflaws.
That is a good post. I think Sugar did something similar few months back. We don’t worry about those no dogs signs either when we walk early in the morning. Since we don’t pee or poop on the equipment, we are probably cleaner than most of the kids! We just love walking and discovering. I bet we would be great walking pals if we lived close.
Great way to make an every day walk a fun adventure. It’s like our theme this week “Be More Dog” (inspired by 02 in UK) – enjoy the simple things and seize the moments (or the photo, the disc, the stick, the treat etc). Have a great weekend from Talent Hounds
That video is so awesome! Just love it! People get all caught up in fancy stuff and forget that the free and simple things in life are often the best!
We love to see new things on our walks. Sometimes we see new things in old places too. Dogs are never bored walking, they just want to go.
People are the ones that need something entertaining.
A lot of my posts are conceived on our walks as well. I find if I’m totally stymied, it’s best to just get out there and see what pops into my head.
It’s a really good idea to try your route backwards, it’s funny how much you can notice. Great post Miss Emma.
Thank you…but we still have Big Bird on our brains!
Posts that come from nowhere are always my favorite, love it when inspiration strikes. We also have a “walk a new way” rule here that has led to a lot of new discoveries.
It just keeps it all more fun and interesting!
Emma, whoever says walking a dog is boring doesn’t know HOW to walk a dog. Even though many mornings we take the same route, we always see something different or new. Like today, the whole field was covered with dragonflies…they were sitting everywhere on top of the blades of grass and as we walked by, they flew up and greeted us and then landed again. If only Ma had her camera…it was quite a site!
You found some great (and unusual) things on your walk, which is always fun!
*Cairn cuddles*
Oz
P.S. I left you a little “treat” on my blog today so please stop by and see it. You may have it already but I just ask that then you accept it again.
Some great finds! Our little hoomans go to a park that looks like the one in the first pigture and they said they saw a man walking his ferrets there! Imagine seeing that!
Nutty, Nacho, Buddy & Basil
xxxx
Oh, that would not be good with me around…my instincts are pretty strong!
You sure found some interesting things on your walk! It was nice of someone to make their sofa available as a rest stop!
Believe me it felt good at that point!
You are so right, Emma, we need to change things up but also to open our eyes to things that have changed around us. On the days I might be lacking inspiration for the blog, a good walk usually clears my head and some kind of idea is formed, often from what we see on our walks. I’m not quite sure we’ll find things as interesting as the things you found, but we’ll keep our eyes open!
One never knows what one might run across, that is half the fun of it!
Well I certainly did enjoy you taking us along with you, that was fun!
Thanks…fun is my middle name!
Wow Emma, you found a lot of really interesting things on your walk! Our neighborhood isn’t all that interesting, so we’d have to drive somewhere first to have a different kind of walk with different sights and smells. I guess we might just have to start doing that, ‘cuz it’s so boring around here!
We walked like 7 miles to find all those places, the immediate neighborhood isn’t all that thrilling 😉
Yes, walks can be boring if they are routine. We also like to vary our path a little most times. I have also seen some other bloggers write about stopping mid walk for a mini exercise or training session. Anything to spice up your walk and stay motivated is good 🙂
Yep, motivation is the key…nothing like a wabbit or squirrel to get me moving!
Wow, you found a lot of stuff. Can’t believe someone would just dump a keyboard in the park. Litterbugs! Love the photo of you on the big rock. You’re so good at posing for Mom!
I’m a natural, at least that is what mom keeps telling me. I love being in front of the camera!
Great walking tips! Love your photos and that one with the keyboard made me laugh out loud. What song were you playing, Emma?
I ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog…of course…something to howl along to 😉
Hello Emma, Our walks are mostly all different, even if we do the same walk we can usually add a little bit or do it the other way around. We find odd things too – naughty people do ‘fly tipping’ and there were some really scary babies in the last lot we found! We find lots of gloves in the winter!
Uh oh, don’t want to find scary things! I know you guys have some great walks!
Emma…what an inspiring walk. You and your mum sure found a lot of neat things. “Music on the trail” sounds like such a nice title… maybe you should write a poem about all your findings. 🙂
I’m not sure if I am good at poetry, but it might be something to try.
I don’t minds going on walks but running with my ball is the best. You have such wonderful places round you Em. Have a super weekend xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
Oh no, don’t tell me you are one of those tennis ball crazed types??? Yikes! We love walking!
That’s one pawesome walk! And you play music! Wooooowoooooo, Ku
Multi talented dog 😉
wow, this is a really creative way to ‘spice up’ the dog walk 🙂 will definitely try it!
We had a really fun time.
Looks like a fab walk. Typist has the same rule when walking her dog – a walk is all about quality time with her and her dog!
Good for you and your typist!
My bipeds enjoy our walks and find them refreshing.