Dog Walkers Make Good People

I used to have a neighbor in New Hampshire who was not universally adored. For the sake of community harmony, I’m resisting the urge to go into specifics. However, let me be clear that nothing he did was horrific, but rather just a bit annoying. All of his offenses fit into the category of the usual space and noise concerns that any of us who live around other people must learn to tolerate.

 

This man was not always as thoughtful as possible, and his actions definitely inconvenienced me multiple times. Secretly, I was quite pleased that he lived around the corner and down the street a bit, as the distance shielded me from the worst of his transgressions.

 

Still, I saw him frequently when he took his dog for long walks several times a day, every day. There were other neighbors who walked their dogs regularly, but none were as consistent as this man was.

 

He was like a postal worker whom neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night (all of which regularly occurred in New Hampshire) could keep from the completion of his appointed rounds. When it was blazing hot, he was out walking the dog with a water bottle they shared. When it snowed, he was suited up with coat, hat, gloves and boots while they walked together.

 

How could I feel anything but respect and affection for a man who cared for his dog in this way? I suspect that the regularity of those walks at least partly accounted for the dog’s perpetually cheerful face, look of complete contentment and overall glow of health. This polite, happy dog, unlike his human companion, would easily have won a neighborhood popularity contest.

 

This man changed my philosophy of neighbors. Rather than dwell on the problems, I embrace the idea that we should all love thy neighbor, especially if thy neighbor always walks his dog in fair weather and foul, several times each day. However much my other neighbors might have disagreed, he seemed like good people to me.

 

--Karen B. London

Comments

[Elise Walker]

Well, I think you're trying to find the "good" even in people who are rather annoying or thoughtless. I do know another person who is very affectionate with his cat, but is a little gruff to children. I wonder why some people like animals better than other people. Perhaps because animals are easier to deal with than demanding humans.

[Liz]

I appreciate someone taking notice of a dog-owner fulfilling a commitment with love and daily dedication. I, too, am out in all weather (in Wisconsin) trying to enjoy time with my dogs, give them exercise and establish routine.
Some of my neighbor's have said unenthusiastically, "Boy, they sure get walked a lot, don't they?" Kind of gives me the impression that many different sorts of people still don't walk their dogs. Whether a dog walks once day or once a week is irrelevant and unnecessary to them. However, I've had other neighbors tell me how nice it is to see our smiling faces each day (at least my dogs smiling faces).
I guess that what we value (and despise) most in others tells a lot about what we value most in ourselves.
I've had neighbor issues as well, and still can look at them as wonderful people because of a few important positive traits. Your old neighbor sounds respectable to me!

[Randall Johnson]

No matter how many times he may walk the dog, a bad neighbor is still a bad neighbor. And I don’t think the frequency of his dog walks is enough to qualify him as a ‘good’ person, as there as countless factors to that go into determining ‘goodness’. Sorry, but dog walking doesn’t carry that much weight.

And what about those people who CAN’T take their dog out for a walk on a regular basis for reasons of illness, disability, or an unexpected change in circumstances, like the loss of a spouse that leaves the surviving spouse responsible for raising the kids, taking care of the house, and holding down a job? If these folks can’t walk their dogs outside the house several times a day come rain or some shine, does that make them ‘bad'?