We live in a condo complex on the first floor with a walk out patio. There is a very large, flat grassy area behind our building that backs up to the woods, but it’s a common area. While most people do not use that area, it still doesn’t mean it’s ours and it’s not fenced in so we can’t just let the dogs run. Ares and Chaos are both young dogs with lots of energy and need an outlet for that. So we walk.
Not only is walking good to burn off physical and mental energy, it strengthens the bond between dog and owner and helps develop many different skills. The dogs are exposed to different sights, sounds, people, situations and other animals. It’s a big world out there and we want our dogs to get to see some of it, not to mention, we get exercise too!
We live very near a college campus and have created a walking route that loops through the school. There is a path from our complex that cuts through a business parking lot and leads out onto the sidewalk of a main road. We take the main road down to the college, walk down the hill and past some of the buildings, then back up a hill and across the street. We then come down a side road past a shopping center and then meet back up with the main road that takes us home. The whole trail is about 3 miles long and takes us around an hour to walk. Our walks are generally fairly brisk so it increases the stimulation for the dogs and helps burn more energy.
This is part of our daily routine, except Sundays when we take the day off. Weather can be a factor but usually the walk goes on, even when most people think we are crazy. We do stay inside in extreme conditions as safety and health are obvious concerns. The negative degree days during the polar vortex forced us to stay warm on the couch for fear of frostbite. If it’s storming or raining hard we will wait for it to slow down and stay inside if it doesn’t. Active snowfall is not a concern unless it’s blowing and we can’t see. When it’s below 40 the boys wear clothes and we add layers for lower temperatures as necessary. They are short haired dogs so there have been many days this winter when they have worn hoodies underneath their heavy coats as well as their snoods. They aren’t always thrilled to walk in the cold, but they get it over it once we get moving. It’s a little easier in the summertime because it’s light for so long we can just wait until the temperature cools down and then walk. We wouldn’t ever put our dogs in danger due to extreme weather, but as long as it’s safe, we walk.
Aside from continuing to hone their leash walking skills, we practice training along our walks. We teach the boys to stop when we stop and sit and wait until we say to start walking again. We practice walking calmly past other people and other dogs so that we respect other’s space and stay on task. There are several low walls and benches we use to do elevated sit/down stays and do random focused check-ins as we walk. A focused check-in is when we either call the dog’s name or simply say focus and he is expected to look at his walker immediately and stay focused on his/her eyes until released. This helps them learn that it’s important not to get distracted by all the things going on around us. Probably the most common command you might hear from us on walks is leave it. It’s pretty self-explanatory but it literally means leave it alone. Dogs can smell 1000 times better than humans so I can only imagine what a walk is like for them with all those scents, especially after a rain or snow melt. But they need to know they can’t just stop and sniff somebody else’s poop, follow an invisible scent trail or grab some kind of treasure in their mouths along the walk. We carry treats at all times in our pockets to make sure we reward for good behavior because training with our dogs is always a work in progress.
Some days I’m tired or sore from a work out or just would rather do many other things than go on an hour long walk. But it’s not about me. It’s about the dogs. They need exercise for their physical health and to keep their minds sharp. It ends up also benefiting us though because they are more focused for training sessions at home and able to relax as opposed to flying around the house. Walking also requires the humans to live more in the moment like dogs do. We have to be alert and paying attention to what we are doing instead of worrying about a problem or going over the never ending To Do list in our heads. Dogs feed off our energy so walks also remind us to shake everything else from the day off and just be calm and focused so our dogs can be calm and focused too.
We have learned that 3 miles a day is the right amount of time for walks for our dogs but that’s probably different for others. Walking also provides low impact activity to preserve the dogs’ joints as times goes on. When we have a big fenced in backyard we will of course spend time running and playing, but we will still always walk.
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