Way back before Sampson tore his ACL I walked the dogs once a day for about 35 minutes or so. On the weekends we’d often walk twice that amount of time. For us, it’s not about the distance, it’s about the time.
Once he tore his ACL that all went out the window. Recovery from the surgery required three smaller walks per day. Initially they were only for five minutes each, but eventually we worked our way back up. Of course, five minutes wasn’t enough for the D-Dog, so it took some juggling on my part, but we managed.
The dogs liked having two walks per day and they got used to going out, so now we walk twice per day, every day.
When I heard about Walk Your Dog week, I knew it would be something we could easily do because we are already doing it.
I work full-time (as I’m sure many of you do as well) and squeezing in almost an hour of walks a day can be hard. Because of time limitations, we sometimes have to be creative. I don’t have the time to load the dogs in the car and drive some where to give them a different place to walk. But walking the same path, day in and day out can get boring.
I thought I’d share a couple of ways to spice up your dog’s walk to help change things up.
I mean, you wouldn’t want to travel the same path, twice a day every day for your entire life would you?
If your walking area is limited, you can try leaving a few minutes earlier or later, or even walking at a different time of day. First thing in the morning gives your dogs all the smells of the night animals, while later in the day will give them the smells of other dogs and people.
If route options are limited, try going in the opposite direction of where you usually start. We always walk on the side of the street facing oncoming traffic, so when I switch direction, we are on the opposite side of the street, which means there are different things to investigate.
Bring some treats with you and throw them ahead of you when your dog is not looking and let them use their nose to find something yummy. If your dog is not motivated by treats, bring their favorite toy along and stop along the way for a quick game of tug, or if room allows a bit of fetch.
Work on your obedience commands while out on your walk. When you stop to pick up poo, have your dog sit, stay or down, or as you’re walking along ask your dog to touch your hand, heel or watch you. Keep switching things up, keep it interesting.
Those are some of our tips to spice up your dog’s walk and here are some of our favorite reasons to get out and walk.
- Get the weight off. If you’ve got a pup that’s getting a little thick around the middle, you’ll be doing them a favor by helping get that weight off. Extra weight puts stress on joints and organs and can really shorten your dog’s life.
- Mobility. Keeping your dog active keeps their joints and muscles active as well. Active muscles and joints will help your dogs stay mobile as they age.
- Bonding. The time we spend walking (and training) together, helps strengthen our bond.
- Stimulation. Most dogs spend a portion of their day alone. Getting them out of the house where they have an opportunity to smell other dogs, encounter new people and experiences helps keep their mind active.
Hot on a trail.
A physically and mentally stimulated dog is usually a pretty well-rounded, happy dog (and tired too). And a tired dog is a good dog. And a good dog makes for a happy owner.
Do you walk your dogs every day? Tell me what kinds of things you enjoy with walking your dog.
We’re joining our friends at Wag ‘N Woof Pets, Cascadian Nomads, and Dolly the Doxie for Dog Walking Week. Stop over and see what our hosts are up to.
It is tough trying to fit in walks during this time of the year – stupid dark when we wake up and dark when we get home… I am very grateful that I live really close to some parks so changing up the routine isn’t too difficult.. What I didn’t expect this early though was my dumbass neighbor sitting up in his deer fort already – so there goes the backyard trail til next year. It’s pretty spooky walking in the woods when you know there’s some idiot with a loaded gun out there (and Laika happens to look a little deer like..)The hunting season doesn’t start for 10 more days or so..
Hey hun, you need to head on over to my blog as there is a little something on there for you… I don’t know if you do the whole blog award thing or not so no worries if you don’t think is just my way of saying you mean a lot to me!
Walking is probably the single best thing for a dog. All those sights, and smells.
I don’t worry much about my dogs getting bored by the same old walks. They seem to find new smells to investigate every day, making me jealous of their incredible sense of smell
Great tips and great reasons to get up and go! My huskies would never forgive me if I skipped out on walk times! LOL!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Brilliant advice for a funner walk!
We do walk everyday, multiple times. Cocoa and I run in the mornings and then she needs another walk later in the day, especially if she’s been in her crate. We probably run about 3 or 4 miles and then walk another 2 at night, depending on how much time we have. It is hard to get in all those walks and runs but also it is something I enjoy too so we all win 🙂
Ick-snay on the obedience ommands-cay. Yes, we practice constantly on EVERY walk, but don’t remind me. Or her.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Those are great reasons to walk, and great ideas to change things up a bit. I haven’t had a lot of extra time this last week, so we’ve been covering the same route really, but just doing it in different directions each time, sometimes going a little further or taking a little side route.
I am finally in the habit of always having treats with me so we can work on training. We usually work on heel, sit, and watch me.
Cricket likes to make it into a race, Luke likes to stop and sniff absolutely everything, and Sheba is kind of in between the two. I think taking a different dog each time makes it more interesting for me too, though that does mean each dog doesn’t get a daily walk. But we always play fetch in the yard for 20-30 minutes daily so they all get that exercise every day.
Thanks for joining our celebration!
I’ve always walked my dogs a lot. I was lucky to have a job that allowed flex-time arrivals, so I never arrived before 10am. That allowed for missing rush hour (yes!) and plenty of time for a long morning walk. Corgis are very opinionated about where they want to walk, and they make it well known! If I don’t mix up our walks across several different directions, I get some very stubborn reactions. When the days are long enough, I throw them in the car and drive them to new spots in the neighborhood. It definitely makes things more interesting…plus….Car Ride!
At age 10, Sam needs to keep moving to keep his joints lubed (what am I saying…at my age I NEED to keep moving so the parts will continue to work!) so we’re religious about the twice a day thing. Walking daily makes all the difference in the world with my demeanor and I’m sure his too (I’ve been told I’m very crabbish when I don’t get a good brisk walk and/or a cup of coffee every morning). The night walk allows for more investigation and more reading of pee-mail on Sam’s part so we invariably go much farther. But we both live for those times! 😉
We have limited walking places in our area. Thankfully we have a lot of wildlife and I don’t think any 2 walks are the same. I have a system to make sure we rotate our walks, this seems to help.
LOVE your ideas, Jodi! Dogs do like routine but they sure enjoy exploring new things and places. I especially like your idea of walking at different times of the day or night.
Our walks take place on the treadmill. Very boring but 200% safer than walking on this freakin road we live on. Hell, we might as well walk in the middle of the Cross Bronx Expressway, or the Connecticut Turnpike.
Now, that aside, when Shadow’s toenail is a bit more healed – so it doesn’t hurt for her to get out of the car – I’m going to go back to taking her to the park for our “Mom and Me” time. Hopefully next week for her birthday.
We walk 2 hours or so a day in 2-3 walks. Our long 1+ hour walk (sometimes for Bailie it is a run) is never the same route more than once a week, the afternoon walk is the same short path, and the evening walk rotates between 4 or so routes. Mom doesn’t like going the same way all the time either.
We walk our dogs at least twice a day every day. Cookie needs at least three hours of activity daily. She usually doesn’t need anything to spice it up, the little critters usually keep he busy enough. Apart from that we do hikes to different areas to keep it interesting.
We take for granted our long morning walks so its great that you make such an effort to walk your dogs even when working full time. But you are right things get boring when we go to the same park every morning and walk the same paths so mom is always trying to do something different for us, and her. Thanks for joining #DogWalkingWeek!
Walking is great exercise. Believe or not, or dogs do not get walked every day. 🙂
I don’t much like walking the dogs cuz I don’t like walking but I do enjoy the fall colors.