How to walk your dog properly
Regular exercise is good for both your dog's health and your own. Check out our article for information on how often you should walk your dog and how to make your walks fun and healthy.
Regular exercise is good for both your dog's health and your own. For information on how long you should walk your dog and a checklist of things you need for an enjoyable walk, see our previous article. Now we'll show you how to make your walks cool and healthy.
Tips for a nice walk
To ensure that the time spent together is pleasant for both you and your four-legged friend, you need to observe each other while walking and pay attention to what your dog wants to say or show. The sooner you learn to interpret the signals correctly, the better your story together will be.
Tip. Teach your dog to stop and sit before crossing the street, especially in the city. This is a good safety measure that will save the dog's life and the owner's nervous system.
Let your dog sniff, it's okay
Smells are like the internet to humans: we get information from the internet, and dogs get information from smells. We have five to six million olfactory receptors in our noses, while dogs have up to 300 million, depending on the breed. They also have a much larger area of the brain dedicated to smell, and there is also the Jacobson's organ, which helps them detect normally undetectable smells, such as pheromones. All of this results in a sense of smell that is at least 10,000 times more powerful than that of humans.
Dogs perceive the world through their noses, and just as we sometimes want to look around to enjoy the view, they want to smell everything the environment has to offer. If you turn your dog away when he smells an interesting smell or when he wants to leave a mark, and pull on the leash every time he wants to move on, you can prevent him from noticing everything around him. Don't turn an interesting walk into a military exercise.
Let your pet communicate with its species
Dogs are social creatures like humans. And communication plays an important role in their full development. However, communication does not end with the owner. It is important that dogs communicate with other dogs.
It is best if you meet a dog of the same breed or of similar size and temperament. If you meet 1-2 of these "relatives" and your dog wants to communicate with them, it's a jackpot! Allow the dog to get to know you and play with you (only if the other owners don't mind).
Do not ignore the surroundings
When you go for a walk, your dog interacts with his environment, and the environment interacts with him. However, this interaction is not always a positive experience. If you know that your dog reacts emotionally to potential stimuli (e.g. cats, birds, other dogs), you can minimize his reaction. You can ask your dog to sit next to you and look at you until the danger has passed. If you have followed our advice and brought treats, this can help your dog focus on you.
Other people and their dogs are not always interested in meeting your dog. Even if your dog is very friendly and likes to socialize, you should always ask before letting your dog approach others.
Tip : If you want to greet another dog's dog, ask the owner for permission.
Make sure your dog is well socialized and trained to communicate with other dogs and people (especially children). If he doesn't have these skills, please tell people who try to approach him. That's absolutely fine.
Don't play tug of war
From the dog's perspective, humans walk too slowly. When they follow an interesting scent, they pull their owners as hard and fast as possible. One of our most common reactions to a dog pulling on the leash is to pull back. However, this rarely has the desired effect. Instead, we start playing a game that none of us enjoys - tug of war.
Dogs do this not out of stubbornness, but because that's how their bodies work. It will be difficult to overcome this behavior because you are competing with muscle memory: the dog gets used to the idea that tension in the neck means progress.
The trick is to show your dog that pulling on the leash doesn't work: if your dog pulls on you, the walk stops. Teach your dog to walk with a loose leash (the leash should hang between you in a "J" shape) and to stop and change direction when he walks ahead of you. If your dog comes back to you when you stop, give him a treat. Keep walking when he comes to you. Give your dog small rewards when he stays close to you while you walk.
5 Reasons Why You Should Walk Your Dog Now
1. Maintaining health. Sounds banal? But studies have shown that dog owners who lead a more active lifestyle do not have problems with high blood pressure and cholesterol. And it's not just about your health. In recent years, the problem of obesity in pets has increased. Active walks are one of the most effective ways to combat this problem.
2. It strengthens your bond. If your dog hasn't become your best friend yet, you still have some work to do. Every walk will help build trust between you, gain new experiences, and create shared memories. Don't spend the entire walk staring at your smartphone screen. Use this time to nurture your relationship so it can grow over time.
3. Your dog will sleep soundly like a puppy. Daily walks allow your dog to release excess energy, accumulate emotions and feel pleasantly tired. At the end of an active day, he will be ready to sleep on his favorite bed, just when his owner wants to sleep in.
4. The dog meets new friends... This is important because dogs are naturally designed for this: they hunted in packs, lived in groups and defended their territory together. After becoming pets, there was less interaction, but their natural instincts did not disappear. Your dog will only be happier with new friends.
5. ...and the owners will find new friends themselves. It is much easier to make a new acquaintance when the common interest is obvious - your tailless friends. It is likely that in this case, your dog's name will be remembered faster than yours, but this is just a detail.
And finally, be ready to have fun! Walking should not be seen as an extra chore, but as an experience to share with your dog. Show your four-legged friend that you are happy to spend time with him and he will be even happier to spend time with you. Make each other happy!