Dog Guilt

Maybe I’m being over-sensitive. As a single dog-mom, I have a lot of dog guilt. This probably doesn’t bode well for actual parenting of a baby human, should that ever occur.

But I read a recent post about dog-walking frequency—dog-walking frequency! who even needs to read this?—and felt judged.

Judged by a writer who doesn’t know me. Yeah, the guilt is that deep. And I thought guilt wasn’t an emotion I much felt …

The paragraph in question:

“If you live in a big city, you often don’t have a home with a big yard in which to let your dog run and play. Instead, you’ll probably hire a dog walker to come at least once a day. I’ve heard that some dogs are left inside their homes for the entire day with piddle pads while their human companions are at work. So, these dogs are walked in the morning and once or twice at night. Still others are provided access to a doggie door to come and go in their backyard as they need to.” (dogster.com/lifestyle/do-you-walk-the-dog-behavior-every-day)

Oh, will I? Will I hire a dog walker? Will I walk my dog twice in one night?

I mean. My dog Denali was presumably starving, being beat in junkyard before she came to live in the splendor of this single woman’s apartment or! house-with-yard in the terribly shabby locations of Austin, Aspen, and Newport Beach. We don’t call lil Nali a ghetto success story for nothing. Forgetting all the external trappings of a glamorous faux-celebrity dog’s life, I love the hell out of that dawg.

But for an active pup, IS love enough?

[I interrupt this nonsensical blog post to tell you that I swear just minutes ago, as I was composing this lovely piece of digital literature for your enjoyment—on a break, heh—a coworker walked into my office, chatted me up about my dog, and PROCEEDED TO SAY, “she goes all day without being walked?” Are you kidding me, universe?!]

I know I take great care of my dawg—my annoyingly frequent dawg social media posts alone are kinda proof—but this guilt is hard to stand!

… deep breath … perhaps it’s just a reminder to be grateful for her companionship. A reminder that though she’s okay if I don’t go let her out at lunch, she’s better if I do. That she’s okay without going to the dog beach or park to play frisbee but she’s happier if we do. Guilt on my part for not helping her lead a happier life, which in turn makes my life happier because she makes me so happy.

Just look at that face!