Who's the Pack Walk for?

Me, in all my bulky, Pack Walking glory ;)

So, I started taking a daily Pack Walk with my Pack about five or six months ago. I was sort of testing out Cesar’s theory about the importance of a Pack Walk. After about six weeks of the walk, I noticed a MARKED difference in Madea, our most excited/anxious dog. It was great for the kids and the rest of the dogs and I enjoyed it, just knowing that I was doing what was best for my dogs.

After a recent two week hiatus from this activity I came to realize who the Pack Walk really, truly has the most benefits for. ME!

You see, I struggle with depression. It’s gotten worse as I’ve gotten older and runs in the family. Life is a bit overwhelming right now and to be honest, work sucks. Thankfully I have my kids to keep me going so I don’t slip into total and complete comatose depressed oblivion. But I can get to be a pretty cranky mom! And we all know that children or dogs won’t follow a cranky depressed Pack Leader – they need a calm, assertive one!

The children have started staying behind on our Pack Walks. It’s pretty much a power walk and I felt a bit bad for the wee ones. They would much rather prefer being planted on their little butts in front of the boob tube watching and singing along to a Cedarmont Kids DVD (it was the Christmas DVD tonight ;) for 45 minutes than trying to keep up with a marching mother. We have 24 hour security so there is always a responsible adult on the compound and I tell them that if there’s a fire or the house starts falling in, to run outside and get on the big trampoline.

For an introvert, the Pack Walk gives me some alone time without chattering children, and a break from being “mom”. I can relax without worrying about either child getting hit by a car (Frankie gets pretty focused when he’s on the trail of grasshopper or dragonfly!) and just march along at my own pace. It’s my “Me Time” ;).

It also gets my endorphins pumping which simply feels good! I also have a bad back and a vigorous walk with The Pack really seems to help it. A lot!

To be honest, there is also a real feeling of accomplishment in being able to calmly walk half a dozen dogs along through such a target rich environment of people, vehicles, chickens, monkeys, cats, barking dogs, goats, birds, you name it! I truly do feel like The Pack Leader and my dogs are so much more obedient at home, without any additional training! I noticed this when it came to clipping toe nails. Bridger’s always put up a fight and I was floored when he just calmly laid there wagging his tail the last time. It has got to be so much better for him than me sitting on him!

And last but not least, I always end up having a good laugh on our Pack Walk. And laughter is good medicine, right? Like today when I was marching coolly along with my Pack, visions of Cesar in my head, only to have Happy Bill strutting along with a big piece of jack fruit clamped firmly in his mouth. He must have walked for 10 minutes that way! It’s hard to be cool when your dog's packing along fruit!

Our Happy Bill :)