My new favorite thing

20120222-195542.jpgAbout 2 weeks ago, Jack came back home to live with us. Grandmommy Mann had double knee replacement surgery (I KNOW RIGHT?!) on Monday and so they didn’t need that burden anymore. He is back to the land of staying in a crate 8 hours a day and sharing attention with a toddler.  He is not pleased but I knew I needed to step it up too.  We have been having pretty mild days lately so I have made it a goal to get home and take him for a walk.  Many days this week it has just been me getting home early so I pack up my boys and we head out for a stroll. It is AWESOME. It has become routine in such a short time now.  I get out of the car and Landon is yelling “Jack Jack c’mon.  We go on a walk!”. Then he is following me “where is my stroller mommy?”. He happily climbs in with either some trains or cars and off we go.

Now to toot my own horn a little, I am very proud of the fact that my dog is a rockstar on walks.  I worked really hard when he was a puppy to get him walking on a leash properly. He always stays beside us, doesn’t mix it up with other dogs we pass (most of the time), and stops when we need to stop.  We are about walking, not sniffing and pissing on everything. He is so great that I have never worried with pushing a stroller and taking him along.  He hangs out right by Landon and happily goes along.  So much so that I can hook him to the stroller and walk away to take a picture (see above). He is an amazeballs doggy and I just love him.

But really why I love this little walk is how it helps complete me as a working mother.  I get time to chat with Landon, work out, exercise the dog and just enjoy the nice evenings. It’s 20-30 minutes of pure bonding and I love it. He tells me what they did at school. He counts cars and dogs. He tell me the colors of the trees. He talks to the birds. He comments on that tree where we saw a cat one day “nope. No cat today”. I just makes my heart burst.  There is no tantrum. There is no whining. Just conversations with a VERY talkative toddler and a stroll with my dog. Seeing him enjoying nature and being with his dog dog is just spectacular.  These are the parenting moments you live for :).

11 thoughts on “My new favorite thing

  • February 28, 2012 at 8:13 am
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    Sigh. This makes me wish we had a dog. But I’m so afraid it would spend so much time crated up and where I live the winters (normally) are pretty harsh… OK, so I need to move and get a dog!

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    • February 28, 2012 at 9:48 am
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      I love my dog but getting a dog after you have little kids? OY! A lot of work. I got all the hard work out of the way before even thinking of kids. I can’t imagine doing it now. It did help me prepare for kids though. It is just another being that needs you for fun, food and attention. I can’t always do it 🙁

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      • February 28, 2012 at 4:43 pm
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        I agree with Brandy! We adopted our two dogs before we had Owen. If we’d had a kid first, there is no way on God’s green Earth that we would adopt a dog. We love our dogs, but it definitely adds to the parenting frustration at times!

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  • February 28, 2012 at 10:09 am
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    Oh. My heart.
    I am the world’s worst pet owner, I swear it. It’s my biggest embarrassment, he doesn’t get nearly the attention or exercise he needs:(
    This makes me think I should just take the 20 mins to take him for a damn walk already! Dex isn’t great on a leash (uh, maybe if you took him for more WALKS, dumbass…) but one or both the older girls could come with me. Hmmm….

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    • February 28, 2012 at 4:27 pm
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      already told you this but thought I would add in case anyone else is looking, The Gentle Leader is our friend. Granted a lot of people think it is a muzzle and tell their kids to back away but it isn’t. He can open his mouth and everything just fine but it makes him submissive and not pull. I swear he loses like half his ego when that thing is on. And if he does pull after a squirrel or something, it just turns him around. He doesn’t have the same muscles in his face as his neck. THere are also some other systems that pull their chest. Like a harness but it synches when they pull. My inlaws have this for their dog but i am still a gentle leader fan.

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  • February 28, 2012 at 2:59 pm
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    I miss having pets & I certainly miss my dog, but I chuckled when I saw your photo… Cause what I don’t miss is the fact that if that were my son sitting in a strolller with my dog’s leash attached you’d see one of two things… Kid upended with face in the grass with the lease still attached but no dog or just a picture of a blurred sidewalk… Kid & dog gone cause now I am running to chase them down! 🙂

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    • February 28, 2012 at 4:24 pm
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      It didn’t happen overnight. We are strict dog parents. and it took a lot of practice. I used to walk him for hours as a puppy. I recommend the Ceasar books if you ever have a dog again. Great stuff.

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  • February 28, 2012 at 3:27 pm
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    Gosh you make me feel like such a dog mom jerk. I don’t work and couldn’t tell you the last time I took either for a walk. In my defense we have a fenced in yard and they get to play in it all day most days. Way to go. You inspire me, not even kidding.

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    • February 28, 2012 at 4:22 pm
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      I wish I could do more honestly. I have been trying to take him on a long walk/run on the weekends. He isn’t much of a yard dog. He will only play when we are out there so I might as well walk and get something out of it besides muddy paws. I can throw the frisbee but he gets bored pretty quickly. Now this dog did half marathon training with me. 10 miles and he would just look at me like “can we play?” He is a machine….and he is 7!

      But since being able to take Landon along without a break down, it rocks. I get to please everyone.

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  • February 28, 2012 at 4:44 pm
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    We have two mutts, and I love seeing them interact with our toddler. Unfortunately, we don’t get to pamper them as much as we did before we had our son. Way to go, Brandy!

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  • February 29, 2012 at 4:49 pm
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    Wonder if my cats would like to go for a walk? Seriously, I cannot wait until the days get a little longer so that Daniel and I can go on evening walks. By the time we get home at 6, we are rushing into the evening routine and it is dark soon after.

    Reply

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