Watching dogs running free in the park is pure joy: Lisa Mayoh

Dogs make life infinitely better and watching them run freely at the park is pure joy, writes Insider Editor Lisa Mayoh.

There is nothing like the joy of watching dogs run free, writes Lisa Mayoh. Picture: AAP Image/Renae Droop

Driving to work this morning, it took all my heart not to be dismayed by what I saw. The hordes of visibly unhappy passers by — busy, tired before the day has even begun, rushing to get to offices they despise to do jobs that grate them. If their downtrodden eyes weren’t on the road, they were staring at a phone, defeated. Inside my car, I was uplifted by my loud, lovely and some may say daggy country music songs that remind you of all the good in the world, while outside I could see all the stress and sadness that’s wrong with it. Until I saw him.

The man with a smile. He stood out because of it. And his smile wasn’t from a phone call or silly TikTok reel — it was solely and squarely directed at the perfect little pug at his feet.

It was love. And it made me happy, because I get the same stupid look when I gaze lovingly at my own two doggies — the screen savers on my phone, much to my husband and three kids’ disgust (but as I continue to remind them, our dogs are the only members in my family who don’t talk back or leave their clothes on the floor). Those two dogs love me more than anything in the whole wide world, and you best believe I lap it up.

There is nothing like the joy of watching dogs run free.

Incredibly, and sadly, for my first 39 years I was not a dog person. Or animal person really. I was scared of cats (they scratch), terrified of birds (they swoop) and would jump at anything that moves. It was after Covid, when we spent months borrowing the neighbour’s dog to walk just to fill our days, my family finally wore me down and we welcomed my best friend Bruno into our world. And my life changed. So much so that a year later I, like one of my little kids, begged for another, and baby girl Winx has made every day since even better.

Today they are three and four and we can’t remember life without them. Because of them, sometimes I’m at the park three times a day. Once before work, another when the kids get home from school and our new nightly tradition is going down for an after-dinner play. Seeing dogs run free is pure joy, my friends — there’s not much like it. They love it as much as we do and it’s as good for us as it is them. You don’t have phones at the park, or somewhere else to be. Strangers say hello and chat, bonding over their pets. It’s the time my husband and son kick a footy, my daughter practices handstands and I lie in the middle of the field like a kid, eyes closed and shoes off, recalibrating after a big day. The clever dogs race to catch tennis balls and frisbees and life is good. So, man at the traffic lights, I see you. And your little dog too. And lucky for me, I know exactly how you feel.

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