Walking the Dog

After a lazy hazy summer I decided I needed to start walking the dog after work. The first day I got a late start. I leashed up the dog. I thought I'd take a three mile walk. Tank was ready to go. He kept prancing around the house with his leash on. I headed out and Tank pulled me along. It was a hot day. After about 20 minutes I decided maybe I only wanted to take a two mile walk. At this point Tank started slowing down. He was no longer leading me. In a few more minutes I was pulling him along. Thank goodness the kids were home from school, supposedly doing chores but I'm sure they were just watching TV without the Slave Driver home.

I called up Middle Child. He didn't have any witticism for me this time like these other times I wrote about here and here. "Hey, can you get a bottle of water and a bowl and come meet me and Tank over by your school. I don't think he's used to walking very far."

"Sure Mom, I'll be right over!"

And then Tank promptly plopped on someone's front lawn in the shade. Finally Middle Child found us. When he gave me the bottle of water I asked "Where's the bowl?"

"Well, it wouldn't fit in my pocket. So I thought we'd just use the lid." The minuscule lid that would provide about a teaspoon of water. After he realized that wouldn't work we took to pouring the water down his throat. Normally I don't think he'd like that but he didn't care that day!


We finally got home. Since then I've been walking the dog three times a week. I go more often, but Tank isn't up to walking that often. I thought it was pretty funny that I'm in better shape than he is. He's getting better about the walk. He no longer plops in peoples front yards. But he does drink gutter water, which is not normal. Normally he won't drink water unless it's fresh today, no leftover water for him.

Yesterday I got home from work, let Tank in the house, and changed for our walk. "Tank, Tank," I called, wanting to hurry and get back before the kids got home from school. I finally found him on Baby's bed, his new bed since he's been banned from the sofa. He was laying there. To the unpracticed eye he would look sound asleep, but he wasn't. He was playing sleep so he wouldn't have to move! He's done this a few times, usually in the morning when it's cold and he doesn't want to go outside. He's pretty good at it too. So I let him stay home and rest. I'll drag him out tomorrow and he won't be able to get out of it because I'll know he rested recently.