Dog walking is a cardiovascular fitness exercise that requires proper preparation to be fun, hassle-free, and beneficial to the dog’s health and behavior development. The benefits of dog walking make it an important regular activity that is interesting and joyful when done right from its preparation. This pet responsibility requires proper dog control during environment exploration. This task is made possible by proper preparation to ensure the realization of dog walking benefits.
Preparing to Take Your Dog Out for a Walk
To get the best out of your dog walk, prepare adequately to take care of the dog, other people, animals, or events in your route. Here are a few tips to get you ready for a fun, safe, and productive dog walking session.
Plan Your Dog Walking to Cool Day-Time Parts
Excess sun and heat are not ideal for a dog walking session considering the health complications for both you and the dog. To avoid sunburns, excess dehydration, blisters, itchy skin, and rashes, take your dog out when it is cool outside. This will protect you and the dog from skin complications or heat exhaustion for a more enjoyable walk.
Grab your outdoor dog walking essentials
Getting ready to take your dog on a walk involves identifying the right accessories to make the walk comfortable, controllable, and safe. Restraining your dog and taking care of yourself is key to healthy and safe walks. You will need to gear up for the walk with proper walking shoes, drinking water, sunscreen, and a hat where needed. Grab your dog’s leash, treats, plastic bag, poop scoop, and other dog toys if you plan to spend your time playing and bonding during the walk.
The Walking Plan
Route Planning
To make the dog walking session fun and enjoyable, consider different routes to diversify interactions. You will have to be up-to-date with dog walking restrictions and policies within your location or neighborhood to identify applicable laws and permitted areas for dog walking.
Exploring areas new to your dog provides different interests in the form of scenes, smells, and events happening around you. This offers the dog a chance to engage in different situations such as smells, animals, visual interests, events, and people to allow you to gauge their manners. This prompts proper behavior correction through training for a properly trained dog in different situations.
Timing your Dog Walking Sessions
30-minutes in a day plan for a minimum of 5 times a week is ideal for achieving the health and socialization benefits of dog walking. During the walk, keep track of on-leash and off-leash areas within your route. Make sure you have trained your dog to react to your recall effectively before going off-leash. Always have your dog under control around other animals, people, and pets.
You can begin your dog walking routine by taking short 10-minute strolls within familiar areas around your house. When convinced that you are ready to explore new areas, gradually increase the distance and change the route, and time. You can make a plan that suits your free time and divide the recommended 30-minute walk time into three, two, or one single session.
Making Dog Walking Interesting
The regular 30-minute walks throughout the week can become cumbersome and boring over time. You can always explore new games like fetch, romping, or swimming to make it more interesting.
Looking forward to training your dog new tricks can also motivate the dog and you for the exercise. Coupling your fitness goals and dog walking can be key to making these sessions productive and fun. Rewarding your dog with calorie-free treats or petting is also a good way to reinforce ideal behavior during walks. You can also reward yourself with your favorite snack for taking responsibility for your pet to encourage you for future walks.
Remember, dog walking is an important part of taking care of your best friend and should be done properly to enjoy its benefits. Preparing for the walk is as important as the walk itself, as it allows you to have control over the exercise, and make it fun, and safe. After preparation, following proper dog walking guidelines is key to harnessing the social, health, and dog behavior correction for a safe and lovable pet.