It was a park. For dogs, it was take ten steps, stop to analyze the smells on the pissing spot, and move on to the next one at a leisurely pace. My brother wanted to get to point B as quickly as possible. Utterly incompatible reasons for “walking.” You’re not walking a dog so much as you are hanging on to the leash while he does what he pleases.
We had to put down our most recent boxer two years and four and a half months ago. As he got older, my wife was afraid he might fall down the steps from the deck so we had to close and block his doggie door, then begin walking him in the backyard. When I would take him outside in the deep dark night we often just stood there under the trees communing with nature as Boon Companions.
Which means the dog is in charge, not the human. Seems kind of backwards to me.