The Denotation of the Dog-less Walker

As our group is progressing, we have been visiting areas that have the potential to be more populated and busy that our first couple walks.  This means that having people without dogs as part of our group is even more important!  The number of dog-less walkers we are able to have on each walk does often determine the number of dogs that are able to attend.

 

The job of the dog-less walker is to keep an eye on the group as well as to check what is going on both behind and in front of the group.  It is good to know if there is another dog approaching (on or off leash), children in the area, or even a random person who may decide that he or she wants to rush the group.  The dog-less walkers can both inform the group that these things are happening, as well as step in to answer any questions that people we encounter may have.  Those of us with dogs will be keeping an eye on our dogs which makes it difficult to handle a situation that may come up.  We do have 'business' cards to hand out now as well which direct people to our website for additional and more detailed information about our group.

 

Although the job of dog-less walker may sound like a big responsibility, it is actually a very fun role to have within the group!  When I have filled this role I really enjoyed being able to talk to the other group members and get to know their dogs.  Also, as a group, we are so appreciative of those of you who attend with out a dog for we couldn't walk so safely and confidently without you! 

 

In the case of encountering other dogs, kids, etc., it is best to keep our dogs close to us, to stay calm, and keep moving forward as long as we have the space to do so.  If not we can have a dog-less walker ask the other party to give us space.  On our last walk we encountered a situation where a woman was walking her dog, saw us coming, and froze in the middle of the trail (in an area where there was very little room to go around).  The people in the front of our group had dogs and when close enough asked her if she could give us a little room to get by.  As we got closer and asked again, she was able to communicate that she did not speak English and/or didn't understand.  She remained in the middle of the trail and proceeded to bend down and nervously bear-hug her dog.  She was of course unsure of the situation... that plus her awkward stance in the middle of the trail caused dogs in the group, many already prone to reacting, to really react.  All we could do was stay calm, move forward and shake it off.  It turned out to be a great learning experience!

Shiloh and the Salish Sea