October 2016 – Page 55

Dog walking is more than just exercise and picking up after your pet. The people who walk your pup are masters at multitasking: while holding a bunch of leashes, they maneuver multiple dogs around a city block or park, checking for danger and making sure the dogs are having a good time. Check out these insights for a glimpse into the lives of professional dog walkers, who routinely deal with everything from canine clothing to random dogs suddenly befriending them.

1. THEY KNOW HOW TO ROCK A FANNY PACK.

Dog walkers need their hands free to hold leashes, open doors, and sometimes control a pack of dogs. That means their tools need to be readily accessible, and a fanny pack is often their tool belt of choice. The gear stashed inside usually includes keys, a phone, plastic bags, extra leashes, treats, collapsible water bowls, and citronella spray (to deter coyotes or aggressive stray dogs).

2. SOME OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY DOG CHAUFFEURS.

Although most dog walkers pick up your dog for a walk, some are more properly referred to as dog drivers. “People call me a dog walker, but because I’m in Los Angeles, I’m really a dog chauffeur,” says Chris Franciosa, the owner of dog walking and pet care company Weezie’s Walkies. “I pick up dogs all over the Westside, drive them to an amazing dog park, and let them frolic and socialize and have a ball.”

3. YOU MIGHT SEE YOUR DOG WALKER ON TV …

Law student Rachel Russell worked as a dog walker in Brooklyn before starting law school. “Many creative people (writers and actors) have day jobs as dog walkers,” she tells mental_floss. Because of the flexible hours and potentially temporary nature of the job, dog walking appeals to creative types who have an irregular schedule or regularly audition for gigs.

4. … BUT DOG WALKING CAN BE A SOLID, FULL-TIME JOB.

“People are usually surprised to hear that dog-walking can be a full-time job that one can make a good living doing,” Christine Neely, the owner of San Diego’s Have a Ball Pet Sitting & Dog Walking, says. Although not all dog walkers are able to earn enough income to make it their full-time job, many dog walkers in larger metropolitan areas can make it work. “I make a living, support my family of four, and even bought a house in Los Angeles while putting my wife through graduate school,” Franciosa says.

5. SOME OF THEIR CLIENTS TRY TO GET AWAY WITH NOT PAYING.

Although dog walkers have big responsibilities, some clients see them more as friends than employees. “People will sometimes try to get away with not paying their dog walkers, viewing the dog walkers as their friends,” Russell says. It should go without saying, but even if your dog walker clearly loves their job and your dog, they need to earn money just like any other worker, so don’t stiff them.

6. THEY CAN SPOT EARLY SIGNS OF ILL HEALTH.

Because dog walkers spend time with your dog on a daily basis, they can quickly spot unusual behaviors. Jordan Kaplan, the owner of New York City’s Petaholics, explains to mental_floss that dog walkers may be the first to spot ticks, rashes, or unusual spots on a dog. “Often we see things before their parents do. Diarrhea is common, whether they ate something or picked up something,” Kaplan says. And if your dog develops a limp that slowly gets worse or has difficulty urinating, your dog walker can tell you and suggest that you bring your dog to a veterinarian.

7. THEY’RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH CANINE CLOTHING.

Some dog owners have specific sartorial requirements for their dogs, depending on the weather or the season. Before taking these dogs on a walk, dog walkers may have to spend extra time fitting four little boots onto a dog’s paws or maneuvering a doggie sweater onto a pooch. It can be time-consuming, but the results are usually pretty cute.

8. THEY APPRECIATE HOW MUCH YOU TRUST THEM.

“The amount of trust given to dog walkers is impressive: you’re giving a stranger your key and entrusting them with your beloved pet,” Russell says. Dog owners entrust dog walkers with their pet’s health, safety, and security, which is already a lot of responsibility. Additionally, most dog walkers keep a copy of their clients’ house keys so they can pick up and drop off each dog at home. That’s a lot of trust, and dog walkers know (and appreciate) it.

9. THEY MIGHT AVOID WALKING CERTAIN BREEDS.

According to Kaplan, most dog walkers will work with any breed, but some petite dog walkers ask for smaller breeds so they don’t have to handle a dog that’s larger than they are.

But size isn’t the only thing that matters. Dog trainer Ted Terroux tells Care.com that dog walkers should consider how their temperament meshes with certain dog breeds. “Some breeds tend to be territorial and some are predatory, while others are adventurous or independent,” he says. A laid-back, passive person might not be best suited to walk an aggressive guard dog, for example.

10. RANDOM DOGS BEFRIEND THEM WHEN THEY’RE OFF THE CLOCK.

One dog walker in San Francisco reveals that dogs often approach dog walkers when they’re off-duty, treating them as if they’re another dog. Whether these dogs are responding to scent on the dog walker’s clothing or intuitively sense the presence of a dog lover, most dog walkers don’t mind being one of the pack.

11. THEY TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR DOG.

You might have a ton of photos of your dog stored on your phone, but your dog walker most likely has some too. When they’re out and about with your dog, some dog walkers can’t resist the urge to take a selfie with your pup. As dog walker Nicole Zalat writes, dog walkers enjoy sharing photos of their day with their friends and family: “Your dog gave me a high five? Shared … I love walking your dog, and I love telling everyone about her.”

12. THEY’RE EXPERTS AT READING CANINE BODY LANGUAGE.

Dog walkers are always on alert for potential dangers—coyotes, stray dogs, or kids who might run up and startle their charges. Good dog walkers are also highly attuned to canine body language and can tell when a dog is frightened or ready to bite. When something goes awry, they know to walk quickly to the other side of the street or distract their dogs.

13. THEY CARE DEEPLY ABOUT YOUR DOG’S SAFETY AND HAPPINESS.

Most dog walkers truly love animals, and they care very much about your dog’s quality of life. Dog walkers may sing to your dog, hug and kiss it, or call it special nicknames. Frankly, dog walkers may even enjoy spending time with your dog as much as you do.

All photos via iStock.

October 13, 2016 – 12:00pm

October 13, 2016

Thursday’s Amazon Deals You Can’t Miss

Smart Shopping Team

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon / istock

As a recurring feature, our team combs the Web and shares some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. Here’s what caught our eye today, October 13.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers, including Amazon, and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

October 13, 2016 – 2:37pm

Amazon Product Id:

B008EOZX8I

October 13, 2016

Berlin Wall: Frieda Schulze’s escape

Often, the border between West and East Berlin used to pass directly to homes. So, in most cases, the entrance was on the eastern side, and the windows looked out to the West. When building of the Berlin Wall started, many residents used to jump from the windows to the street, where they were caught […]

October 13, 2016

Life-Size Graphite Skeleton Draws Itself Into Oblivion

Kate Horowitz

filed under: art, death

Image credit:

Jack Fischer Gallery

If the news cycle has got you down, we’ve got some good news: Someday, we’ll all be dead and gone and none of this will matter. If that sentence was actually comforting for you, you’re going to love artist Agelio Batle’s “Ash Dancer,” a full-size graphite skeleton that gradually vanishes like the point of a person-shaped pencil.

The San Francisco-based artist works in all kinds of media, from sculpture and painting to installation and performance art. He describes “Ash Dancer” as a form of “material investigative work,” partially inspired by his love of science and nature.

Batle’s choice of graphite as a medium is doubly significant. Graphite is best known as the stuff of pencil “lead,” and indeed many of the drawings accompanying “Ash Dancer” on display at the Jack Fischer Gallery in San Francisco were done in graphite. But the mineral is also a part of the planet, naturally occurring in igneous and metamorphic rocks. In an ashes-to-ashes, dust-to-dust path, Batle’s graphite was removed from the earth only to take the shape of disintegrating human remains.

And the skeleton will disintegrate; Batle’s made sure of it. “Ash Dancer” will be hung just above a moving, paper-covered table. As the graphite bones bump against the table, the soft mineral will transfer to the paper, dissolving the body even as it creates a visual record of its own demise.

The skeleton is not Batle’s first work in graphite. Previous projects have included ephemeral feathers, hands, leaves, and animals, some of which are available in his online shop.

“Ash Dancer” will be on display at the Jack Fischer Gallery in San Francisco from November 5 to December 29, 2016.

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

October 13, 2016 – 11:30am

October 13, 2016

In 1962 astronaut Scott Carpenter spent a total of 28 days

In 1962 astronaut Scott Carpenter spent a total of 28 days below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, close to the La Jolla, CA coast, in the SEALAB II experimental underwater habitat. This was a world record and quite a feat considering the dangers of saturation diving. Congratulations were clearly in order and the consummate […]

October 13, 2016

Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Shaunacy Ferro

filed under: books, music, writing

Image credit:

Christopher Polk // Getty Images for VH1

The Nobel Prize’s literature committee went with a far left field candidate this year: musician Bob Dylan. The singer-songwriter is receiving world literature’s highest prize for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” according to this morning’s announcement, as reported by The New York Times.

Dylan has been floated as a potential candidate for the prize for years, but his chances have been seen as quite low, considering that it typically goes to more traditional members of the literary world, like novelists or poets, with the occasional nonfiction writer thrown in. The prize going to Dylan seemed so unlikely that in 2015, The New Republic’s Alex Shephard declared: “If Bob Dylan wins, I will eat my copy of Blood on the Tracks.” Some of this year’s more favored candidates included writers Don DeLillo and Haruki Murakami.

Widely considered the greatest songwriter in the English language, Dylan, who is still touring at 75, is the first American to win the literature prize since Toni Morrison in 1993. He’s only the 14th American to win since the prize’s inception. The prodigious artist published a book of prose poetry, Tarantula, in 1971, in addition to several books of drawings and paintings. Dylan received a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his contributions to music.

The Nobel Prize in Literature is the last of the Nobels to be awarded; the scientific awards were announced last week, as was the Nobel Peace Prize. The economics prize was announced earlier this week. The awards ceremony takes place annually on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.

[h/t The New York Times]

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

October 13, 2016 – 11:15am

October 13, 2016

Egypt placed a ban on all the movies Marilyn Monroe appeared in…

Egypt placed a ban on all the movies Marilyn Monroe appeared in, after she married Arthur Miller and converted to Judaism. However, Egypt lifted the ban in 1961, after the divorce was finalized. Since then, Monroe described herself as a “Jewish atheist”.

October 13, 2016

Walmart permits RV parking on their store lots…

Walmart permits RV parking on their store lots as they are able and the price is free for overnight parking. In some states Walmart puts up clearance bars so people can’t pull their rv’s or tractor/trailers into the parking lot. In FL, there is an increase in no overnight parking signs at Walmart as well […]

1. THEY KNOW HOW TO ROCK A FANNY PACK.

2. SOME OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY DOG CHAUFFEURS.

3. YOU MIGHT SEE YOUR DOG WALKER ON TV …

4. … BUT DOG WALKING CAN BE A SOLID, FULL-TIME JOB.

5. SOME OF THEIR CLIENTS TRY TO GET AWAY WITH NOT PAYING.

6. THEY CAN SPOT EARLY SIGNS OF ILL HEALTH.

7. THEY’RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH CANINE CLOTHING.

8. THEY APPRECIATE HOW MUCH YOU TRUST THEM.

9. THEY MIGHT AVOID WALKING CERTAIN BREEDS.

10. RANDOM DOGS BEFRIEND THEM WHEN THEY’RE OFF THE CLOCK.

11. THEY TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR DOG.

12. THEY’RE EXPERTS AT READING CANINE BODY LANGUAGE.

13. THEY CARE DEEPLY ABOUT YOUR DOG’S SAFETY AND HAPPINESS.

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