City Park Days, Simplified: A Calm Post-Walk Check for Dogs

The first real park day of the season always sneaks up on me. One week we're doing quick sidewalk loops, and the next Sunda is nose-deep in tall grass, tracking something only she can smell, completely in her element. I love those days. I just learned, somewhere along the way, to give them a soft landing — a short check at the end so the good part stays the part we remember.

It is not a production. It takes about three minutes at the door, and most of it is just paying attention with my hands. Here's the whole thing.

Start at the paws

Paws do the most work and pick up the most, so they go first. I check between the pads and toes for the obvious things — a bit of gravel, a sticky seed, dried mud — and brush them off before they get tracked through the apartment.

In summer I'm also feeling for dryness. Hot pavement and dry grass quietly wear pads down, and a quick smooth of Le Paw Cream at the door keeps them soft instead of cracked. It's the single habit that's made the biggest difference for us, and it doubles as the thirty-second reset that keeps street film off the floors and the bed.

A slow hand down the back

Next I run a slow hand down her back, sides, and belly — not a search, just a calm pass to notice anything that wasn't there this morning. A burr in the coat, a bit of dried mud, a patch that feels warm or tender. Nine times out of ten it's nothing, and that's exactly the point: you learn your dog's normal so the rare not-normal stands out on its own.

After grass and trails, this is also the moment for a quiet tick glance. No fear, no drama — just a look in the warm, hidden spots: behind the ears, under the collar, in the armpits, between the toes. A calm habit beats a panicked search every time.

Ears, eyes, and the in-between bits

Then the easy-to-forget places. A peek in the ears (city air and pollen love to settle there), a soft wipe at the corners of the eyes, and a check of the spots where foxtails and grass seeds like to hide — between the toes, the soft fold behind the leg. Foxtails are the one summer thing I do stay ahead of, because they're far easier to brush out now than to deal with later.

The occasional coat reset

Most park days end with a wipe-down and nothing more. But every couple of weeks — or after a particularly enthusiastic roll in something — the coat just needs a proper reset. A gentle wash with Le Pet Wash leaves Sunda soft and fresh without stripping her coat, and then we're back to the easy rhythm. If you like keeping the paw and coat steps together, the Le Pawsh Set pairs both.

The gear that makes it easier

Half of a calm post-walk check is a calm walk to begin with. A well-fitted harness and a walk set that sits right means less pulling, less chafing, and less to fuss over at the door — and keeping poo bags clipped on means one less thing to think about mid-park. Good gear quietly removes friction, which is the whole goal here.

The three-minute version

• Paws first: brush off grit and seeds, smooth on Le Paw Cream
• A slow hand down the back: notice anything new, calm tick glance after grass
• Ears, eyes, in-between: a quick look for pollen and foxtails
• As needed: a gentle coat reset with Le Pet Wash

That's it. The point was never to turn a happy afternoon into a checklist — it's to make the end of the walk so easy that you never dread the good days. For the warmer-months version of the skin-and-coat side, our summer skin routine is a gentle companion read.

— Connie & Sunda