Cuz they like it, man.
Iâll do it with pretty much any yoyo I carry. That being said Iâll find something other than concrete to do it on.
Iâm not sure how to word it any differently than my previous response. ![]()
Okay, well I guess all I can say is that I understand your words, but I donât understand the point of view they describe.
Same here, If I do happen to have a yoyo that I really donât want to mark up Iâll walk the dog on the grass.
Walk the Dog, and Rock the Baby are two of the most iconic yoyo tricks ever. Nearly everyone knows those two tricks. So when they see someone doing tricks and they want to request something, because theyâre excited about what they just saw, most likely one of those two tricks are going to be requested. Really, last thing that should be done is to shoot someoneâs excitement down.
Whoa, hold on. Just because I donât understand why anyone would want to see those two tricks (no matter how âiconicââor rather, oldâthey may be) after seeing tricks that are far more advancedâand I would argue objectively more interestingâdoesnât mean I want to âshoot someoneâs excitement downâ. Wow, you guys really like to take a question/exploration of something down a deep dark hole, donât you?
That is what most do.  Most give sarcastic comments, at least on the boards, or just shoot them down as to why they wont.  To a lot of people a âmore advancedâ trick isnât that interesting.  Iâve been doing this 30 years and find a lot of âadvancedâ tricks, or speed tricks uninteresting ![]()
Yeah, Iâve noticed that thereâs a bit of fatigue creeping in regarding the really complex, techie tricks (as seen in competition), but that phenomenon seems limited to veteran players whoâve been around long enough to even be fatigued by what they see. I seriously doubt that the general population is so afflicted. In fact, most reports I hear are that tricks like Double or Nothing or Kwijibo really impress the uninitiated.
People may misinterpret the âwalk the dogâ request as a slight on their ability. The trick is arguably the most famous (along with rock the baby as @AaronW mentioned) yoyo trick in the world. Someone asking to see it means theyâve taken notice of what you are doing and are (possibly to be polite) interacting with your yoyoing.
My point of view is this is a positive thing, not a negative one.
I never really thought of it in terms of positive or negative light.
Until last summer, I had no idea what modern yoyo play looked like. My introduction to it was seeing the video of Evanâs 2018 US Nats freestyle that went viral. It blew my mind. Had I been present at the contest that day, I assure you I would not have walked up to Evan and asked him to Walk the Dog, even as some sort of conversational ice-breaker. I canât fathom the mind that would do so after seeing his freestyle. Thatâs all Iâm saying.
Ya know what Evan would do if that happened?
⌠I know what heâd do. Heâd walk the dog. And heâd have that infectious smile on his face while he did it.
Iâm sure he would.
For me, this isnât about what the yoyoer would (or should) do. Itâs about what is going on in the mind of the person who asks to see Walk the Dog after seeing a mind-blowing combo (or freestyle).
To add to this, when someone shows interest they will try to communicate with the tricks and language they know. Someone who only has a shallow relationship with yoyos doesnât have the vocabulary to talk about or appreciate more complicated tricks.
Once you show that you can talk the same yo-yo language as them by rocking the baby and walking the squirrel on your arm or whatever, you can gently introduce them to more complicated stuff like double or nothing and beyond, and theyâll be pleasantly surprised. ![]()
You (and vega) may very well be right about it, but I will have to take your word for it because it just doesnât make any sense to me personally.
When someone asks you to walk the dog, I think what theyâre really saying is âHey, I know the name of a yo-yo trick.â Itâs more a show of interest, and their own knowledge, than it is about actually wanting to see any specific trick.
Itâs just someone making conversation and showing interest in what youâre doing. They know âwalk the dogâ is a yo-yo trick, and they know youâre playing with a yo-yo, so itâs more like âhey, I know something about what youâre doingâŚâ
I donât know too much about cars, but if Iâm making conversation with someone who has a cool old car or is talking about them I might say âNo power steering huh?â or something stupid and obvious like that. Thatâs kind of how I view the âcan you walk the dog?â question.
It is equivalent to âDo a Kickflipâ while driving past a skateboarder.
Sure, making conversation and showing interest is something I totally grasp; itâs using âCan you Walk the Dog?â as the way someone would choose to do that which eludes me.
Why not, âWow, how long have you been yoyoing?â Or, âHow long does it take to learn to do tricks like that?â Or, âIs that a special kind of yoyo? Is it expensive?â I mean, I can think of a lot of more meaningful ways to engage a yoyoerâwithout the need for any of the lingo or slang or informed insightâthan to ask them to Walk the Dog (after seeing them do a fancy combo or routine). Thatâs why I donât understand why so many people engage in that way.
Theyâre trying to engage in conversation while at the same time trying to show some semblance of yo-yo knowledge that theyâve retained from days past. It might bring them some joy to see you do a simple trick that they know the name of.
They most likely donât understand that the one trick they know the name of can damage your yo-yo, just like they donât know how expensive your yo-yo is.