Walking the Dog Makes Me Feel Like a Bad Parent

I often suggest to parents that they communicate commands to an emotionally volatile child the way they would to an undisciplined puppy: in a tone that's sharp and clear, not unloving but not emotional.

Maybe that's why, when our dog acts up, I often accidentally call her by my son's name.

That's not the only thing about walking our sprightly white Lab around the neighborhood that makes me feel like a bad parent, though. It's more the sense of being unable to control a creature who depends on me to know what's best and enact appropriate safeguards. Being unable to hold on to the pooch when she wants to chase another animal or sniff at some yet-unmet human gives me the same feeling of frustrated authority that I get when my son won't communicate or go to bed or stop making rude comments. Do what I say, dog! Boy! Because I'm the mama! Yet they still keep pulling at the chain, often in such strong and unexpected ways they leave me skidding on the ground with skinned knees.

I don't know if obedience classes would work on this already senior-aged dog -- they never worked on the boy, to be sure -- so I tend to use the same kind of "change the environment" techniques I've mastered with my son. Walk on the opposite side of the street from houses with known dogs. Make the dog sit and hold on tight when other leashed dogs go by. Walk at times of day when we're least likely to run into fellow pedestrians. Change routes in a flash if there's too much foot traffic.

When it works, I feel smart, but it's not exactly a relaxing walk. Like I needed more to micromanage.

Read more: Special Needs News | Site of the Day | Older Dogs Make Good Special-Needs Pets

_{Photo by Terri Mauro}