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The Daily Dog Walk… Really? Do I Have To?

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The Daily Dog Walk is a myth dreamt up by people who don’t understand how dogs tick | FREE EMAIL COURSE | #aggressivedog, #reactivedog, #dogtraining, #growlydog, #dogbehavior, #anxiousdog, #overfriendlydog | www.brilliantfamilydog.com

This article was first published on 4knines.com and is reprinted here with permission

 

You’re feeling guilty about your dog. You look at him and he gazes back with those patient brown eyes that can see right into your heart. You feel guilty because you’ve been so rushed today that you didn’t fit in a morning walk, and now it’s pouring with rain and you can’t face it. But have another look at those gorgeous brown eyes: what’s your dog trying to tell you?

He’s saying that what he wants is some time with you – some action, yes, to use up his huge store of energy – but mainly it’s time enjoying life with you that he wants.

So don’t fret over missing a walk. Here’s something for you to hang on to:

Dogs do not need to be walked every day.

 

“You mean I don’t have to walk him every day, whatever the weather?”

That’s right.

And for some dogs – fearful, reactive, or old and creaky – that comes as a great relief!

For help with your reactive, anxious, aggressive, “growly” dog, get our free email course here.

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    What’s the walk for?

    Imagine you are afraid of spiders. And every day your friend insists on taking you along a spider-strewn walk, your face brushing past bushes draped with webs and wriggly beasties, seeing them scamper across the path in front of you.

    Are you going to enjoy those walks?

    I think not.

    And if you have a dog who reacts to every dog he sees by barking ferociously and lunging towards it – shouting at it to go away – then he’s not going to enjoy that overmuch.

    And your shoulders and wrists probably won’t either!

    So choose times and places to walk your fearful dog when he has a chance of enjoying the outing, not having a procession of other dogs marching towards him along the road, in other words.

    Your old and creaky dog can tell you when he’d like to join you for a slow amble. Pick up the lead and see what he says. If he starts a juddery dance with his stiff old legs, and comes to get the lead put on, then off you go. But if he turns his head away, or stays resolutely on his bed – leave him be. Of course he needs some exercise to stay as well as he can be, and to keep his digestive system moving. But a gentle game in the garden may fit the bill.

    Your fearful dog would benefit from some sessions with a force-free trainer who can build his confidence so he doesn’t need to shout with fear at new dogs or people.

    Your old dog may appreciate a joint supplement to loosen up those old bones a bit.

    My dog is young and active!

    Fearful and old dogs are the special cases.

    But if your dog is young and active and has energy to burn, then you can exercise his body and his mind in far better ways than tramping along a hard road on a lead.

    The Daily Dog Walk is a myth dreamt up by people who don’t understand how dogs tick | FREE EMAIL COURSE | #aggressivedog, #reactivedog, #dogtraining, #growlydog, #dogbehavior, #anxiousdog, #overfriendlydog | www.brilliantfamilydog.com

    If you have a garden, however small, you can enjoy a fast and furious game with a ball or frisbee. Both of you will enjoy this, and both of you should be puffing by the end of it!

    Your aim is for your dog to be panting with his sides heaving, his eyes sparkling. Your dog doesn’t play ball? Just start a running chase game with him – take turns at chasing and being chased.

     

    Better yet - use his brain as well as his body.

    Thinking – as we all know too well! – can be more tiring than doing. So see what rainy day fun you can have indoors.

    Scent Games and Brain Games are great for this

    • Find the Lady

      using upturned beakers with a treat beneath one of them, for instance.

    • Hide and Seek

    You can hide a favourite toy, one of the children, or yourself! Hiding may just involve rolling someone up in a duvet and letting your dog dig them out (protect faces from scraping claws). Or the family could scatter and hide under beds or in cupboards. This was always a favourite game with my children!

    • Practicing your superfast recall

    Inject excitement into this game to get your dog’s speed up, calling him from one end of the house to the other – for a game or a treat.

    • Teach your dog to tidy up!

    Show him how to put his toys back in his basket, or pick up his empty food bowl and pass it to you (for another treat to be dropped into it, of course!). He could even put it on the shelf in the cupboard, if it’s at the right height for him.

    • Have him fetch the mail,

    or bring his lead when you’re going out, act as an alarm clock for the teenagers by leaping onto their beds and snuffling their sleeping faces!

     

    These games are all so much more fun than clomping around a cold dark street!

    Yes, your dog does need to go out and see and experience the world, and run free over field or beach.

    He just doesn’t have to do it every day

     

    Lots more ideas here to help with your charming but growly dog with our free email course here.

      THIS FREE ECOURSE IS A BONUS FOR YOU WHEN YOU SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EDUCATIONAL EMAILS AND OCCASIONAL OFFERS FROM ME. YOU CAN UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME.
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      If only I could find people who understood

      There’s no need to soldier on alone with your reactive dog! You can find friends from all over the world who understand and can help you in your journey | FREE EMAIL COURSE | #aggressivedog, #reactivedog, #dogtraining, #growlydog, #dogbehavior, #anx…

      The loneliness of the Growly Dog owner

      It can be a lonely road, owning a Growly Dog.

      That is, a dog who is anxious, reactive, or aggressive. A dog you’re never quite sure of. One minute he seems fine, and the next minute he’s on his hind legs shrieking blue murder at another dog … or a child on a scooter … or a plastic sack that shouldn’t be there.

      For help with your reactive, anxious, aggressive, “growly” dog, get our free email course here.

        THIS FREE ECOURSE IS A BONUS FOR YOU WHEN YOU SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EDUCATIONAL EMAILS AND OCCASIONAL OFFERS FROM ME. YOU CAN UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME.
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        It can be exhausting, coping with these outbursts, and perhaps wondering why, when you know what a lovely dog he is at home.

        If only the people who are staring at you now, causing you to feel embarrassed and useless while your dog makes a holy show of you, could see what a charmer your dog really is, what a lovely companion at home, how well he plays with the children.

        But you can find people who understand!

        You’ve found one right here, in me! For I have travelled this road too, and I’ve run through all the same emotions as you do - on a daily basis.

        There’s no need to soldier on alone with your reactive dog! You can find friends from all over the world who understand and can help you in your journey | FREE EMAIL COURSE | #aggressivedog, #reactivedog, #dogtraining, #growlydog, #dogbehavior, #anx…

        Life with my Growly Dog Lacy has been an adventure, a huge learning curve, and a joy. I’ve seen my reactive dog who would leap out threatening to grab passers-by, who would terrorise other dogs in the park, who would bark as if the world were ending at a knock at the door, turn into a reliable companion, a co-conspirator who travels through life with me, with such a deep understanding of how best to respond to the things that used to send her into a tailspin.

        And now I’ve arrived at this happy state with my tricky dog, I want to help you with your tricky dog!

        You may have seen already the large number of articles for Growly Dogs here on this site. There are also the Growly Dog Books, a free email course, aaaaaaand …. a major help for you, the Growly Dog owner, in From Growly Dog to Confident Dog, an extensive, far-reaching, program to take you from your present state of hiding behind bushes and dreading walks, to the confidence you will have when you understand just how your Growly Dog ticks, why he does what he does, and - most importantly! - how you can help him adjust to our strange world and enjoy life with you.

        What you may not realise is that once you join From Growly Dog to Confident Dog you are automatically part of an active forum of your fellow-students, who report their successes, their not-so-successes, and their queries. And you also get continual coaching from me there.

        This alone is a terrific help to people in their daily challenges “at the walkface”. To know that you have backup, cheerleaders, and the understanding that only another owner of a Growly Dog can really have.

        For it is so, that no-one who has not had a reactive, anxious, worrypot of a dog, can truly understand and relate to those of us who are blessed with such a creature.

        It’s what makes possible the changes that you’ll learn in the program. To learn how others are managing, and to know that you are amongst friends - that’s what sets this apart.

        Maybe you’ve just found your home?

        For help with your reactive, anxious, aggressive, “growly” dog, get our free email course here.

          THIS FREE ECOURSE IS A BONUS FOR YOU WHEN YOU SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EDUCATIONAL EMAILS AND OCCASIONAL OFFERS FROM ME. YOU CAN UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME.
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