Dog H2O - Cats Not Allowed

I've previously mentioned that I grew up in a wonderfully mediocre suburb of the Twin Cities, it was a place of parks, large lawns and completely devoid of sidewalks. As a result of our enormous back yard, our dogs were never leash walkers and when they were, it meant someone was walking them down the middle of the street.

But, because I am now a Minneapolis resident I have the wonderful experience of living in a neighborhood with sidewalks! It's a neighborhood filled with people who are walking to the train or their bus stop, walking to a local establishment, walking with their small kids on the sidewalk or walking with their dogs.

Calhoun and I often watch some of the regulars pass by on our sidewalks with their dogs, out for their daily walks. But, we have lamented the fact that Sogn is so well conditioned that he generally needs more exercise than you can get on a walk to be truly tuckered out (we're talking 10 miles or so with Calhoun on his cyclocross bike through the woods). Not only does he need more miles than we want to get in on a walk, but he also is not a great leash walker. We let him run a lot next to a bike or free in the dog park we also have not really taught him to walk on a leash (we have picked our battles).

But, with the weather so hot the past few days Sogn hasn't been run next to the cyclocross bike because he'll get too overheated, so I took the buster on a long walk the other day! We got to take a stroll on the sidewalk and it was awesome!

It was awesome for a few reasons. First, because it was hot out and he was hot he was a great walker, no energy to excessively pull on the leash. Second, every time I walk around my neighborhood I feel like I see new features of the neighborhood, and this weekend all of the lilies were in full bloom. Finally, a friendly neighbors put out Dog H2O!

I do get nervous taking Sogn so far on a walk because the poor guy does get really hot. And although our goal was to make it to the river so that he could get wet before walking back I started getting really nervous about him being very thirsty after about 10 blocks. And there, before us on the sidewalk, was the lovely sight of Dog H2O! Sogn didn't drink any of it, I'm not sure why, but this house is now a regular stop on our walks!

What a wonderful treasure to find on the sidewalk.