On morning walks, I often wonder what the world looks like to our dog Milo. Many experts on canines, including Alexandra Horowitz, recommend taking a walk in your dog’s footsteps and imagining what he sees, smells, and experiences. I call these stop-and-sniff walks, and I’ve started doing them whenever I have enough time in the morning to let Milo set the pace.
I have some ground rules: no more than one hour spent outside, and I follow Milo’s lead—within reason. That means no unsafe terrain where snakes might lurk (rock piles, tall grass) and no trespassing on someone’s private property. Here’s what I’ve learned from our stop-and-sniff walks.
We amble, we circle, we meander. We are almost never on a path, or at least, not a path that I recognize. I believe these twisty, turning trails follow the rabbits and kangaroos.
I have some ground rules: no more than one hour spent outside, and I follow Milo’s lead—within reason. That means no unsafe terrain where snakes might lurk (rock piles, tall grass) and no trespassing on someone’s private property. Here’s what I’ve learned from our stop-and-sniff walks.
We amble, we circle, we meander. We are almost never on a path, or at least, not a path that I recognize. I believe these twisty, turning trails follow the rabbits and kangaroos.
We never wander all that far. Most of the time, we’re no more than two-tenths of a mile from home. Who knew that Milo, like Thoreau, believes in the value of discovering all the possibilities of a single patch of ground rather than exploring the entire world?
That patch contains multitudes. When I looked at the ground rather than up at the sky, I saw all kinds of fascinating things.
That patch contains multitudes. When I looked at the ground rather than up at the sky, I saw all kinds of fascinating things.
Rather than approaching kangaroos gradually from a distance, we happen on them unexpectedly, in the cool shadows of trees.
On these walks, I learned to look down and appreciate what I saw. I learned to use my ears and my nose, not just my eyes. I learned to cultivate patience. After all, there’s always time to chew a stick.
I knew how valuable these stop-and-sniff walks would be for Milo, but what I didn’t know was how good they would be for me too.
“I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden
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