I really feel uncomfortable with the idea of walking my dog during the lockdown around my residential area. I live near a park so my road is always busy with people walking through my residential area to get to the park. Today it has been busier than usual with a constant flux of parents and their children, runners and dog walkers. I can't take my dog to the park because she is nervous around other dogs and it is always filled with dogs so I walk her around the roads or I drive to quiet woodlands and parks.
I know the first instinct is to walk my dog when it is quieter early in the morning or late at night when it is dark but I don't feel comfortable with that either as it is not a safe area. Drug deals are often done down my road which means there are sometimes people hanging around who I don't feel comfortable being near at anytime let alone at the moment. Obviously with the lockdown they should all be at home but it doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.
This situation has heightened my anxiety and what used to feel like a safe walk around the neighbourhood now just makes me feel at-risk and second guessing everything. I just feel vulnerable and I feel like I can't trust people to keep to the 2m distance. I am in the vulnerable category as I have an underlying health condition but not in the very vulnerable category. Other family members could walk her but then their risk=my risk as if someone in a household gets it it's likely everyone will.
My options are:
- Don't walk my dog during this time, although this could go on for months and isn't really fair to my dog although she is a small breed so does not need a lot of exercise. We have a decent sized garden she can run around but it's not massive.
- Drive to a secluded fields and woods. I know a few areas that are always empty but it means an unnecessary drive and all the risks that come with that.
- Just walk around my area and hope for the best.
I know this question is dumb, I promise I don't usually lack critical thinking skills I think the anxiety is just causing me to overthink everything.