walking a dog daily?

:hail:
I feel guilty when I do not walk because of bad weather. I do not have a set "time" that we walk, so the dogs don't "tell" me that its time to go (like they do when its dinner time) so its not a big deal to skip if its raining really hard or hailing. I just can't bring myself to do it.

My back feels better after I walk, we do feel like a team - especially if its an area where they can be offleash. I never thought about it like that before. Somehow it brings us even closer, even though I didn't think it was possible. Exploring together. Today while hiking we found a wooly bear and Maddie looked at it and smelled it while it crawled in my hands, I found it exhilarating to be in those surroundings, and we both were fascinated by a simple woolybear Appriciate nature, and the time we get to "just" walk

See my dogs hate the rain and it's a big enough task to get them to go outside and pee when it's raining, so they do not appreciate going for walks in it haha. I tried it with Juno I think last weekend and I could tell she was pretty miserable the whole time--as was I.

And I also find that walks are the ONLY way to tire Juno out (aside from going to the dog park, which we haven't done since she was spayed a couple weeks ago). Although I supposed "tired out" isn't the way to describe it, it's not like we come home from a walk and she crashes--but she could be bouncing off the walls before the walk, and even a short 1 mile walk will at least get her to the point where she's calm and content enough to just chill out and chew on something or play by herself.

I feel for you people who live in areas where soooo many loose dogs are. I experience the same thing when I'm in Seattle....well, not Seattle so much, but up north when I'm at my ex's. It's just awful.

Back home in Idaho, on a hike in the woods, there's hardly ever a dog. (just get stalked by deer, bear and such, but oh well) Sometimes we do a leash walk, just for the heck of it. My dogs have acreage but they still think they've been given the moon when I ask them if they wanna go for a walk. It's like the highlight of their day. We go almost every day...sometimes skip a day or two, depending. And in the hot summer, we do a lot less.

But yeah...the stimulation of novel sights, sounds and scents are heaven for dogs. It's not so much about exercise. They can get that in lots of ways. It's just a nice change to their day. But it all depends on everyone's circumstances. If a dog is tearing around on a farm, digging up rodents, what could be more fun? They don't have to have a conventional leash walk to get what they need.

Lately, poor Jose`'s knees have really been bothering him so he's had to do a lot of resting. We'll have to see how he does. Maybe he'll end up having to have another surgery...poor thing. Toker really gets antsy if she doesn't get a walk, at least most days. And Chuli can go either way but does spin in circles and gets ecstatic when I get out her harness and leash. LOL. "Oh goodie!"

Buster's "walks" don't so much wear him out physically either. The only time I've seen him buggered on a walk was at teh end of an almost 3 hour walk in 30'C+ temps.
I like to get him out of the house especially now that he doesn't have a yard, its a good time to practice training in new situations and I use the couple of offleash area's on the way to give him a good run (me to because he won't run on his own so much)

Thankfully here there arn't so many loose dogs, and the ones that are loose usually have good dog manners and ignore Buster. Thismorning though I got follwoed by 2 little yappy dogs, I've finally worked out how to handle most situations regarding loose dogs. If they are determined to get close to him I haul him in close and use my "big man" voice to clearly tell them "NO! GO HOME!" and it usually puts them off a bit. Then Buster needs leash space asap and lots of happy voice to get over it and be happy to keep going on with his walk, then when they stop following I'll stop and do a little bit of obediance just to get his attention back with me a bit before we continue.
Ofcourse all this goes to hell if the dog is really determined to have a go.

Okay, so I posted last week about a stray pittie following (/stalking) us on a walk. It kind of freaked me out but everything worked out okay when some nice strangers stepped in.

Anyway, B and I were out again the other day and a dog came running at him. I started yelling "Go away!" in my meanest voice -- and it turned out that she'd just slipped through the fence at the makeshift dog park nearby. Her mom felt terrible. The dog just wanted to play and I kind of felt like an ass, lol.

as long as loose dogs dont charge at us, either Ruckus and Lynn just ignore the dog, or if the seem like they might get excited i just put them in a "watch me"

it annoys and upsets me more than it does my dog.

Yeah, I need to watch it because I don't want to stress my dog out. The strange dog was hyper/excited and came right up to him. I think she was just jazzed up because she'd escaped and had been playing with a bunch of other dogs. I didn't see where she was coming from until she was upon us.

I'm learning a lot about other dogs on these walk/runs of ours! I really wish there was a good way/place to practice without my own dog around.

yea I deffiently dont do traditional walks with Blaze on leash for his excersise. I do it to get us out of the house. we go SOOO slow, as Im slow, and when we walk, Im doing it just becuase I am personally bored and figure a nice slow walk will help. the bike path by my house is perfect for it. And perfect for our real excersise of bike riding.

My Mom used to yell at me when Cider was younger. I'd have walked her.. come home and she'd still be climbing the walls as nothing seemed to wear her out any..

These days I've been pretty consistent for months getting them out at least daily. Doesn't wear them out, but they enjoy it and it's good for me.

It's a nice other activity to have going.. and I try to give them a little 'free' off leash sniff do whatever time ever walk if I can. Chasing squirrels (not fast enough to catch one) is their new all time high. Smudge actually does run fast enough to tire himself out after the park..

at the park my two lay down under a bench and nap! so we dont go much anymore. its a 45 minute drive from home anyways!
we are actually planning on going today. they do play a little bit, but most of the time is spent sniffing and sleeping.
and Ruckus peeing on everything (he is neutered but marks everything outside!)