Having Sampson on the D.L. has added a whole new dynamic to our exercise routine.
There are some nights when Hubby can be convinced to walk with us. His biggest complaint is the leashes are a pain in the butt. I agree, most days I feel like I’m playing Chinese jump rope, but hey…you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have…the facts of life. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, blame Pupfan for putting up tv theme songs video.) 😉
(It’s stuck in your head now too, huh?)
There have been a couple of nights where Hubby just didn’t want to go, but I won’t let that stop me.
Monday night I put both dogs on the long leash and off we went.
Okay, you got me. It’s an old photo, you really don’t expect me to juggle two dogs and a camera do you?
Yes, there were many, many times where I ducked, twisted and cussed dealing with two dogs on long leashes, each with their own agendas.
The more interesting walk though, happened on Tuesday night. It was raining pretty hard when I got home.
Hubby checked the weather and it looked like we were going to get a break, but not until later.
I decided I’d take the dogs for a quick walk, but I’d take them individually.
I put Sampson on the long leash and out the door we went. I was amused when he went directly to the car and looked at me as if to say, well go ahead, open the door.
Nope, sorry buddy, we’re hoofing it today.
We walked up the hill and into the woods, up the wide yellow path for a very short time and turned around to head home.
I was so impressed with Sampson on the long leash. Normally he pulls me, but not on the long leash and not without Delilah there, competing with him.
After a brief walk of maybe 15 minutes, I brought Sampson home, put Delilah’s harness on her and headed off.
She was marvelous too!
The beauty of walking the dogs in the rain was, there weren’t any other dogs out. The squirrels and chipmunks however, didn’t get that memo.
Delilah and I had a very tense moment with a squirrel, where I got very close to her, (in case I had to grab her) but eventually she was convinced to leave it and the squirrel made himself scarce. Delilah and I continued our walk.
I’ve noticed on previous walks that each dog wants to be ahead of the other one, which can cause huge challenges when walking two dogs on leash, which is also why, I like them off-leash!
Don’t mind us, we’re just checking our pee-mail.
It was nice to get them out and walk them individually. Except for getting soaked to the skin, I really enjoyed our one-on-one leash time.
Do you have more than one dog? Do you walk them together or separately? Do you prefer one over the other?
We have more than one, so I usually walk two at a time. And I see the same thing, there is a constant struggle for who takes the lead. Sometimes I’ll make a game if it. I’ll point out to one dog that the other is getting ahead, and watch as she then licks up speed. But before long, we are practically running, so I have to end the game. 🙂
I do both. I found that it’s important for good walking skills for them to receive both individual and team walks throughout the week. Yes, I have chart on the fridge to keep track of it (mostly to guilt myself into taking more walks). If I do all 2-dog walks, Maggie’s reactivity issues get worse. The individual walks give me time to focus on their individual challenges while the 2-dog walks give me a chance to work on their excitability walking together. I find with multiple dog walks, it’s hugely important to not give them a ton of leash and to move quickly so they get into their rhythm that much faster. They get more freedom and more chances to stop and sniff their pee-mail when we go one on one.
Sometimes I wish I had more than one dog so Cali would pick up the pace a little! When I was a dog walker, more often than not I walked two or three dogs at a time. They always seem to want to be the first one to get to the next smell – and then the other has to rush over to see what the smell is . .silly pups!
We don’t walk our dogs very often because they aren’t very good on a leash! Our fault….we didn’t train them very well! We live on an acre so they get a lot of exercise in the backyard–which is a good thing. I spend lots of time out there with them throwing balls for them to chase. The last time I took them for a walk I ended up taking the top of my big toe off when Scout saw another dog and took off. We haven’t walked since:( Maybe I’ll try it again soon!
I’ve got 3 — 2 older Golden Retrievers and a 7-month-old shelter puppy. We live on a VERY busy street without sidewalks, so my dogs get most of their exercise in the backyard. The puppy stays on leash, the older ones have free roaming rights. When we do go to the park, it’s just the 2 older ones or just the puppy. I don’t have enough room in the car for all 3 at once. No favorites — love them equally for their individuality.
More often than not, we use a split lead when we’re walking Jeffie and Rudy together. They’ve learned to walk in tandem. I’m not so much recommending this; it’s just what we do. Before we lost Tucker and Lucy, I walked them in tandem and dog daddy took the younger pups. It’s all about teamwork and we probably like it because we’re used to driving horses! lol
We walk two and sometimes three together. I have even walked Thunder and Storm together by myself. They are on 6ft leads and at heel. We have done a lot of practicing with this so they understand that it is not a competition for which can be in the lead. Heel is the proper position. Dh and I even took an obedience class together to work on it. Of course now we have to convince Freighter of this…lol.
I think if I get a second dog one day I will have to walk them separately for the first while. Which is one of the reasons I haven’t adopted another, actually. It would just make training so much easier, even though it would take much more time. I don’t know that I cam capable of walking two dogs at once. Certainly not two high energy dogs with their own agendas! You’ve got some serious skills!
I always walk my guys at the same time. A little masochism maybe but I couldn’t stand to break a doggie heart. I love when people as if I’m a professional dog walker. There are some things I do for love that I wouldn’t do for money.
Me and Leah walk MUCH better for our peoples when we are alone. Meadow prefers another dog with her so she isn’t as afraid, but usually that means both of my peoples go, and one of them walks Meadow while the other walks either me or Leah, because of how badly we walk with each other. It IS a competition you know.
P.S. I hope Sampson’s vet appointment went well today.
My neighbor had a greyhound I use to walk for her if she was running late getting home. I took her out with my dog, at the time, Stella. They were a breeze to walk together because Stella would follow Yanna everywhere, no competition. Yanna was like the big sister she never had and loved playing with her.
Great post. We usually walk two at a time…. some of the collies dont like walks others love them…. seems like these modern dogs have their pee-mail down to a science… 🙂
I like to walk each of my 4 separately. It’s nice to have that together time plus makes it easier to do some training.
Well it depends on which dogs, if it is Cheyenne and Riva I walk them together on a coupler, best invention since sliced bread ;P it keeps them, and by them I mean Riva, from pulling and we all move together. Now Maia and Titan are definitely one on one, Titan walks pretty well at heel and Maia does too but I am not brave enough yet to try them together, well maybe not strong enough either…lol