There are days I don’t feel like I have time to walk the dog. Today, definitely, was one of those days. So, besides talking myself into the walk (dog will be happy, dog won’t be so worrisome and stop eying the garbage, I did eat one donut too many this morning, etc.), sometimes I take something to do on the walk.

I don’t advise this for every walk. I personally multi-task like a fiend, but I also recognize that you need to pick some times to do just one thing and be in the moment. Besides, dogs like it when you talk to them, even on walks. And some dogs need more supervision during a walk. My dog, Bronx, has been leash-trained for a year, but there are days here and there when an errant cat who passes too close gets the better of his attention. (Maybe that is some deficit in my training, but here we are.)

However, if I feel frustrated by the fact I need to take time out for a 40 minute walk, I try to see if I can get something else done. Today, I stuck the hands-free piece in my ear, connected it to my cell phone, and I made the weekly call to Mom as we (me, Bronx, and Mom) walked. Walking while talking to Mom has a few benefits for me:

1. The obvious: Bronx gets his walk.
2. The next obvious: I’m getting a bit of a workout.
3. Mom can hear me huffing while I talk. This is because I pick up the pace when talking to Mom to make it clear that I am watching my weight ‘because it doesn’t get any easier as you get older’.
4. I can take out my frustration physically by walking even faster when I am being directed on how to be a better mother, sister, gardener, cookie-maker, etc.
5. I can get off the phone in a moments notice with “the dog is (insert activity here)”, so I am taking care of an urgent activity but I am a responsible person for walking my dog.

(I love my mother—really—but some days, aarrggh!)

These are some of the other things I have gotten done on some of our walks

• taken care of a phone call
• caught up on podcasts that I saved as MP3s and copied to my PDA or mp3 player
• listened to business or educational CDs
• previewed music my 8-year-old daughter insists on listening to or wants to buy (somebody needs to explain Hannah Montana to me, seriously)
• dropped off Blockbuster DVDs (15 minutes out of the way)
• dropped off mail (20 minutes out of the way)

I’ve been trying to work myself up to dictating notes as I walk in a way that I will not look completely crazy to passers-by.

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