Inge, that is such a cute story. When I lived in Chicago, I took
Bartleby on walks in the spring and summer mostly. He was adrenal, so
he didn't care for snow. He did the same thing your baby does. When
we got close to my apartment, Bartleby would start to sprint toward
home and even ran up the stairs faster than I could. Then when we got
inside, it was immediately playtime.

I live in the desert now, so I haven't had the same success with
walking. Right when we moved here, I took Bartleby out a couple of
times, but he didn't seem to like it as much. There's more hardscape
and no grass in my neighborhood. We plan on putting synthetic grass in
the backyard, so I will probably try backyard walks when that happens.

I have had many reactions to people seeing Bartleby on a leash. Some
thought they were too good to walk on the same sidewalk as him, and
others thought he was a rat or mouse (to be fair, that was a kid, but
still someone old enough to know the size of a mouse, in my opinion).
I even got asked if he was a new breed of dog.

Natalie Fontane
www.scrivenersretreat.com

[Posted in FML 6813]