I love to take my dog for a walk because it makes her so happy. She whines in anticipation and, once we hit the front porch, goes into a ten-second yelping exclamation of sheer joy. At first, the neighbors thought she was in pain but now they know she just can't keep her excitement to herself. "Look at me! I get to go on a walk!"

We are lucky enough to live very near a large agricultural field that has dirt roads crisscrossing it. The roads are used infrequently by trucks and farm equipment but very frequently by the entire neighborhood. We all use them to bike, push strollers, jog, fly kites, and walk our dogs. It's a great resource.

Because Ted is a dog (akin to being a two-year-old child all your life), she can't make a lot of decisions for herself. She doesn't drive so she can't pick out her own food at the grocery store. The phone is a bit difficult for her to manage so she can't call up her friends to invite them to a party. Most things in her life simply aren't within her control.

The one place Ted has choice is on our walks. I let her decide everything: which path she wants to take, what clumps of grass to sniff (my friend Bernice says dogs are reading their pee-mail), how long to snoof and wag her tail at something invisible in the shrubbery, which dogs to greet or ignore. If she feels like going fast, we go fast. If she wants to lie down to cool her tummy, I wait and, like a faithful servant, offer water from a bottle poured into a nylon bowl.

I only interfere if there is some danger in what she thinks she might like to do. Diving into a ditch filled with thick green scum, which she only rarely shows an interest in doing, is prohibited. Like the good dog she is, she shakes off any disappointment and contentedly goes on her way, watching small birds and large dragonflies dart around us.

I'm not big on control, in my own life or my dog's. A modicum of discipline, yes, but not Big Brother, overseer, 'I'm the boss and don't you forget it' control. I use a leash because I think it is the only sane and safe thing to do with traffic on four sides but it is attached to a harness, not a chain around Ted's neck. She can strain ahead as hard as she wants without any harm to her or the need for any worry on my part.

Taking your dog for a walk, as some people do, and then not allowing him to sniff and snoof and bark happily and investigate and pee and all the other things that make a walk enjoyable is cruel. It would be exactly like taking your child to Disneyland and saying, "No! Stop! Don't look! You're not here to have fun, you stupid boy!" Always remember that a walk for a dog is Disneyland. Even Nirvana. Don't ever take away that fun, that pure unmitigated joy, by being a control freak.

Here are some rules-of-paw:

1. Walk with your dog every day, if at all possible.
2. Use a harness not a choke chain, especially on small dogs (all dogs, really).
3. Let your dog walk you. Except for safety's sake, leave the decisions about where to go and stop to her.
4. Don't be a drag. Unless you're limited physically, walk at her speed. Ted gives me a workout I wouldn't give myself - and I'm much the better for it.
5. Think of the walk as your dog's Disneyland and your gym. It is highly beneficial for both of you: a universally recommended way to restore mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
6. If you haven't got a field, find a park, a river walk, a wilderness area. Dogs need to feel free to enjoy without being jerked off neighbors' lawns every time they want to take a little sniff or a little wee.
7. Talk to your dog. Tell her how good she is. Express interest in what she's doing. Point out things to her. "What did you find, girl?" "Look who's coming, Ted. It's Maggie and Hannah." Just as with children, this not only strengthens the bond between you, it makes your dog smarter. (And just as with children, never speak harshly to your dog. If you do, apologize.)
8. Bring water and a bowl in a backpack for an occasional pick-me-up.
9. Speaking of pick-me-ups, bring bags (one to use as a glove, one as a receptacle, and a third to put the other two in) for bowel movements (a healthy result of walking). Reduce your carbon pawprint by using Poop Bags (http://www.poopbags.com/?gclid=CO36p-asmJkCFQwxawodgmnVYg)
10. Read 'What Dogs Need' by Mary Jane Checchi (http://www.checchibooks.com/pawprint3.html).

By giving your dog a rapturously happy life, she'll do the same for you. Walkies!