January is National Walk Your Dog Month!
Walks with your dog can be enjoyable experiences, enriching for your canine and for yourself and good exercise for both of you . . . if you’re practiced and prepared.
Check your dog-walking equipment for safety and comfort.
► Wearables for Your Dog
▪ Collar—confirm that your dog’s ID tags are firmly attached
▪ Harness—adjust for the right fit if your dog has grown or lost weight recently
▪ Leash—does it work well for you and for your dog?
▪ Long line—never a retractable lead, please; too dangerous!
▪ Coat or boots for inclement weather—accustom your dog to wearing “clothes” before bad-weather gear is necessary
► Necessities
▪ Baggies, wet wipes, several folded paper towels—all for cleaning up after your dog
▪ Water for dog if not available on walk
▪ Water for you—small canteen or plastic bottle in a pocket
► Enhancements
▪ Treat bag (one with a French-purse–type top snaps closed or stays open)—to carry small, soft treats)
▪ Clicker—on wristband for easy use
▪ Small flat squeaker
▪ Whistle
▪ Tug toy—hooked over belt or tied around waist
► Wearables for You
▪ Weather-appropriate clothing
▪ Gloves that allow easy leash use and treat delivery
▪ Lots of pockets
▪ Safe footwear—no flip-flops, ever!
▪ In winter, ice cleats on your shoes
► On Your Person
▪ Walking stick, for your balance
▪ Umbrella with push-button opening, for rain or for deterring unwanted approaches from other dogs
▪ Air horn—accustom your dog to the noise if you use it to deter approaches of other dogs
▪ ID for you
▪ Contact numbers—family or friend
▪ Phone—for emergencies only; not to be used while walking
► Waiting at Home
▪ Towels
▪ Paw-wash set up for immediate removal of toxic (de-ice) substances
Photo by Rubin Dietz-Gilpin
Be prepared for elimination.
Do you expect your dog to eliminate on every walk? Expect it or not, it’s always a possibility—sometimes even an emergency! That’s why you must always be prepared, not for just one elimination but for more, many more. It’s when you’re least prepared that embarrassing moments seem to happen . . . and somehow, there’s always bound to be an audience. Walking out of the house with a dog and no plastic bags in your pocket is “asking for it” and “it” isn’t going to be pretty.
You’re a good dog guardian.
▪ You carry multiple baggies in every pocket.
▪ You have baggies in your vehicle, front and back.
▪ You stock baggies in your messenger bag and, if you carry a purse or pack, baggies will be in them, too. You are not going to be caught without an adequate number of baggies for every occasion!
▪ You know where the trash cans are if you walk in the same area most of the time.
▪ You carry out your filled baggies if there are no trash cans where you walk.
▪ You remember not to leave those freshly filled baggies in your vehicle when you get home from a walk. (Make that mistake once and you learn!)
Your dog eliminates at home before you walk, you say? Good for you if you have a well-fenced yard that your dog can access whenever he needs to. However, even for a dog who’s usually an “at-home” eliminator, don’t limit your dog’s exposure to eliminating “away”! Your dog should be equally comfortable with eliminating in unfamiliar places—for example, when you’re traveling, visiting friends, if the dog is with a pet-sitter or at a boarding kennel, or in your vet clinic.
Consider, too, putting elimination (liquid or solid) on cue for your dog: it certainly can be done.
▪ On walks, of course you do your best to direct the dog where to eliminate, even if your “direction” is more a matter of making sure he ends up in a good spot to eliminate when you think he’s ready.
▪ Learn to recognize your dog’s body language that says, “I gotta go now!” Your job is to help him find the best spot to do that immediately. (Best spots are never found in your neighbor’s flower beds, no matter what your dog thinks. Your neighbor will not appreciate your choice.)
▪ Allowing your dog to mark with urination on any owned property along your way? That is rude and unacceptable.
Keep your dog on leash at all times.
Don’t be “that person”—someone who believes it’s perfectly okay to allow their dog to approach other dogs, often without consent from the other dogs or from those dogs’ humans. It’s impossible to speculate on why any dog guardian would believe it’s okay—maybe even cute—to allow their dog to come running at another dog or to physically assault another dog, even when that “assault” is not “unfriendly” (sticking its nose up the other dog’s rear, for example, or forcefully “humping” the other dog).
Yes. Those are “assaults” if the other dog says so. There has been no consent.
When one dog is clueless (with a clueless owner), the dog on the receiving end of that doubly clueless behavior has every right to and certainly may well object. And if the assaulter is injured by the dog who was assaulted? The assaulter is not a victim, no matter how their owner tells the story. Trauma, vet bills, and behavioral fallout can ensue—possibly for both dogs involved, maybe for both owners.
You need a good plan and a lot of practice to protect your dog from friendly and unfriendly approaches from other dogs when you’re walking. Most important, your first responsibility is to accustom your dog to any deterrents you might use, like an air horn or an opened umbrella. Once your dog knows what to expect, you’ll feel more comfortable employing protective high or low tech.
When Loose Dogs Approach You And Your On-Leash Dog
https://www.fox28spokane.com/when-loose-dogs-approach-you-and-your-on-leash-dog/
Include enrichment and exercise in every day’s walks.
Your dog will be there anyway (on a walk with you, that is). Your dog has little choice! You are there to be with your dog. Not talking on your phone, not listening to a podcast, not even visiting with a friend. If you are ignoring your dog for most of the walk, it’s not a walk for your dog.
Is your dog ignoring you while you’re on a walk together? You’re on the phone, your dog’s on autopilot, neither of you is truly present in the moment? You’re not even hearing or seeing what might be coming up behind you. It’s foolish and unsafe. Neither of you needs rude surprises!
Imagine instead that you take the time you have during each walk to interact with your dog—to share the walk together while you learn from and about each other.
In these two articles are explanations for enrichment and exercise options, the Sniffari and Doggy Parkour.
Enriching Your Dog’s Walks
https://www.fox28spokane.com/enriching-your-dogs-walks/
Dog Parkour
https://www.fox28spokane.com/dog-parkour/
Every day is a good day to walk your dog safely and sanely, in mutual interest and engagement, with all the opportunities for exercise and enrichment that you and your dog can discover . . . together.
Enjoy every walk!
