Walk (the Dog) Like an Egyptian

Years ago, I took a dance-movement class with a choreographer named Andrea Ariel. She tried to set us inexperienced dancer-movers at ease by telling how, when she first started learning to choreograph pieces, she imagined dancers as two dimensional, like paper cutouts. As a result, her early works featured dancers moving awkwardly, arms outstretched and angular, like figures in Egyptian wall art—like this fellow here.

I often think of that class as I walk my dogs around my neighborhood. The age difference between Muzzy (2) and Roma (14) is pretty obvious now. Muzzy pulls ahead; she's in the lead and on the prowl. Roma, however, creeps along, either because she's tired or she's bored senseless from walking the same three blocks every day for seven years. Or she simply wants to torment me. In any event, I walk the neighborhood sidewalks with my arms outstretched and my rotator cuffs extended to their limits by two leashes pulled taut by two dogs with differing agendas. I always feel faintly ridiculous. Then, to make things even worse, that old Bangles tune starts rolling around in my head. You know the one I mean. Part of it goes like this:

" . . . All the kids in the marketplace say

Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh

Walk like an Egyptian.

 Slide your feet up the street; bend your back; 

Shift your arm, then you pull it back

Life is hard, you know (oh whey oh);

So strike a pose on a Cadillac

. . . Walk like an Egyptian."

-z

Walkabout with Dogs

Once again the New York Times confirms the obvious—that people who walk with dogs are more likely to be fit and to exercise consistently than those who walk with fellow homo sapiens. Are you surprised? I didn't think so.

In a recent entry on her regular blog, Well, Tara Pope-Parker explains how a study of 54 senior citizens living in Missouri were divided into three groups—those who walked with dogs, those who walked with human partners, and a control group (i.e., couch potatoes). The folks who took a bus to a local animal shelter to walk with a dog every day increased their walking speeds nearly 30 percent (compared to less than 5 percent in the walkers with human companions).  They also were eventually able to give up walking aids, such as canes or walkers. The reason? Dogs  never say no to a walk. On the other paw, human companions were constantly trying to talk each other out of taking a walk. The excuse? "It's too hot." We, the survivors of the hottest summer on record in Texas blow our noses in your direction, Missouri. Hahahahahaa! Weaklings!

Among the comments posted to the blog entry—and I paraphrase—"You don't have to pick up your human companion's crap, but you do have to listen to it." At Dog Park, we have the best of both worlds--walking with humans and with dogs. There's crap galore, so bring plenty of bags.

We hope to see you at the Dog Park. Bundle up, though. Wind chill will put the temps in the 30s. Brrr.
-z