Rant: How-To (correctly) Walk Your Dog

I don't have a dog, so I can't say I know how to walk a dog from personal experience.  But, come on, it's not that hard.

Step One: Put a leash on your dog.
Step Two: Walk on the left side of the road or a sidewalk.
Step Three: Avoid traffic.

Simple, right?

You'd think so. But...no.

Today on the way home from errands I saw two examples of how not to walk your dog.

The first lady was doing something correctly, she was using a sidewalk on a busy road so as to not endanger her dog. She was doing a great job of keeping her dog safe and out of traffic.

But, my problem with her was that she was PUSHING her dog - not walking - PUSHING.  As in, the dog was enclosed in a mesh stroller and she was pushing him.

Really?!

Don't dogs enjoy being outside on walks? Don't they love the sights and smells of nature? Don't they like peeing every 5 seconds on everything they pass? They can do none of these things from an enclosed stroller. It was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen.

The second dog-walker I passed was actually a pair of dog walkers - so they were doubly disappointing.  Again, they had one part right, but seemed to neglect the second and third step.

It was a couple and they each had a dog on a leash.  Congratulations! You're letting your dog use their own legs and explore the outdoors under your supervision.  Way to go!

But...these bozos were walking on the right side of the road, in the middle of the right side of the road.  What made this worse was when they heard our car coming (cause how could you NOT hear our car) they didn't budge!  They didn't move a foot out of the way.  They didn't even pull their dogs in close to protect them from the car.  How can you just ignore oncoming machinery that could kill your pet? How can you keep walking in the middle of the road when a car is coming?

How do you know that the driver sees you and is going to drive around you?  You can't know that. It's especially hard to know that when you're walking on the wrong side of the road and therefore don't even see the driver.  

The driver could be texting, or talking on the phone, or rocking out to some sweet Steve Winwood jams - in other words - they could be distracted and not see you!

(And yes, I'm aware that if the driver of a car was texting while driving and hit you and your dog, it'd be their fault.  But take some personal responsibility and get out of the way. Geez.)

That's why you step to the side of the road when a car comes.  It's not only polite, it's what's safest for you and your dogs.

So, in case you all missed it - when walking your dog:

Let the dog walk, stay on the left side of the road, and step to the side of the road when a car comes.

/End Rant.

Oh, wait...I have an Etsy shop? (and a Blog, apparently)

So...after a long hiatus (over a year, maybe year and a half? I don't quite remember) I've decided to re-open my Etsy shop in an attempt to make some mad money.

I had closed down originally as I was pregnant and VERY sick with 24 hour relentless morning sickness.  Looking at a computer screen made me vomit...and well...you can't have an Etsy store without looking at a computer! The sales weren't worth the extra stomach problems.

Then I had the baby that caused the morning sickness and I was living life with no sleep.  I got back into my regular everyday job, but didn't have the time for Etsy.  I didn't have time for sleep either, which made life quite interesting and somewhat surreal.  I'll never understand how newborns manage to sleep all the time, and their parents don't sleep at all. Isn't there some kind of middle ground we can reach? A compromise those babies can agree to so that maybe we could get 4 hours of sleep a night? That's not too much to ask, they can have the other 20 hours of the day to sleep.  And really, you know you don't get enough rest when 4 hours of sleep is your White Whale.

Now that my son is 10 months (and still has bouts of constant wakefullness due to those awful teeth that seem to be taking their sweet lousy time to get here) my life is starting to even out and I decided to re-open the shop with my in-stock inventory.

I had a box of pretty lovelies that I had put away - but they deserve homes and wonderful owners who will treasure them as unique one-of-a-kind pieces.

So if you, or someone you know, loves to be different, loves to be ecclectic, or bohemian, and loves to have adornments that you can't get at a department store, then come my way and visit me on Etsy!

I make everything my self, and most pieces are one of a kind.

See something you like? Use the coupon code FBFRIEND20 for a 20% discount on your order! And friend me on Facebook to keep up with shop inventory and other cool things I find on Etsy!