On our walk Saturday in New Jersey.

I have a confession. When I’m in New Jersey, I rarely take Toby for a walk, especially around the neighborhood There’s a better chance of me driving him an hour to my favorite dog park instead.

Other than the fact it’s dark out both when I wake up and when I get home, I hate walking Toby when I’m at my Dad’s house, because he’s like a totally different dog.

Half the time I have to fight with him to keep walking, sometimes even having to brib him with treats, or pick him up. “Let’s go, Toby!” comes out of my mouth way more times than I would like.

But, in the new year, I’ve decided he’s going to have to get better at it.

So, this weekend, we went for a walk Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning around my Dad’s neighborhood and I noticed something — he has very different ways of walking depending on the environment he’s in.

When we’re in the Adirondacks, if you say “walk” or “Village” {referring to the downtown area by the lake filled with stores, eateries and tons of people} Toby jumps off the couch and runs to his leash with a crazy wagging tail.

And, he doesn’t walk … he prances — barely letting his paws completely touch the ground, he resembles a show horse taking a victory trot through the ring. His head’s up, looking side-to-side and  at people. It’s very funny.

In New Jersey, his nose is to the ground and he does almost a speed walk when actually does walk. His little legs are moving like crazy, and he’s very tense. This was, until I took him along a main road and he saw people instead of just rows of houses.

All of a sudden he started prancing — although not as much as he does in the Adirondacks. You little stinker! He’s such a showoff, and loves attention. When I said that to him, this was the look he gave me:

Who? Me?

Where does your dog walk best? Is he, or she, like Toby and show off in front of people?