What can happen if you walk your dog every day for a year then one day can't do it?

Tis the season for fishbowling. I think the rotton winter weather keeps a lot of seasonal dogwalkers indoors. The past two days it has been raining, windy and cold at walk time so we've had to make do running around the house and up and down the stairs, obedience and games.

of course there are going to be days when you dont feel well or like now the holidays get more and more of our attention and the pets get less and less. The ideas set down are not rules, they are guidelines, and they are very effective. I know what you mean about bad weather - I use to live in Tahoe California where it could snow 4 feet in one day. We took the dogs out to a remote area and let them play for 15 minutes while we took turns sitting in the warm truck, the dogs were completely wiped out for the day.
Walking is a great way to bond with a new dog while at the same time letting it know who is boss, plus it is good for us physically as well

Daily walking is more than just a "change of scenery". Anyone who does it regularly understands that in a few days.

Sure the scenery is different and the smells are, too. But the really biggest part of it is that your dog is with YOU, "on a mission". The dog is "doing its job". The helpmeet calls all dogs "the infantry"... they're on the frontlines and they're the first to see action.

I absolutely agree with walking your dogs! when I'm not able to do it because of time constraints or weather I see a change in Rex. (and ME!)

So my next question for Mazer is when you walk, do you walk-walk... "hey I'm walking, keep up!" or do you stop frequently to sniff everything, pick up souvenirs (pine cones and sticks), send P-mail?

I started out walking purely to give them excercise focusing more on mileage and time rather than just letting dogs be dogs.

Quirky, haha - I call it P-Mail too! And when one of my dogs pees, then the other runs over and pees right on top of it, they're instant messaging ;)

LOL, pee-mail and "instant messaging"! I'd never heard that before reading this forum and it still cracks me up.

When I'm out with Rex he likes to turn up on things along the way and do some sniffing, too. But mostly he's more interested in trotting along on the way to the "destination" (wherever that is); it's more like he's just stoked to be out with me. He looks at me every so often, nuzzles my hand or bounces around like a little kid, saying, "hey! watch me!".

Then we do some "serious work"; heeling, basic obedience stuff, and he loves it. I think "walkies" has more to do with my undivided attention than anything else.

My situation is a little different. When the older dog pees on a utility pole, the 7 month old puppy sometimes sticks his head under there to sniff and gets peed on. Right on his head. That's more like instant messaging if you ask me.

Oh great question on the type of walkies. I allow the first five minutes of scratch and sniff time to pp and make touchdowns, war dance (when they mark with their back scent glands) the next 20 minutes is all walkies and pure walkies, no floating on the trail (walking from side to side) one must be within a foot of me and having at least a bit of focus (see below for dogs with A-D-D no scratch and sniff, no war dancing and only pp and touchdowns if absolutely necessary (because some dogs have A-D-D and get distracted by butterflies, falling leaves, their own farts, etc) Last 5 minutes is a time for everyone to relax and cool down, scratch and sniff some more, because usually new furbabies have come by and everyone needs to remark their spot.

Mazer - Now I'm curious. War dancing? What does it look like when they're war dancing?

Can you give instructions on walkies? Not sure if I completely understand. Is she supposed to walk literally beside me? Are we supposed to be walking fast? Cool down by letting her wander a bit? Sorry, I am new at this. Want to see if it will make a difference in my furball's behavior. Thanks =]

LMAO@Quirky - I think that's more like direct file transfer!

I certainly agree on the importance of walks. I have said before that a walk is so much more than "just exercise" for you and your dog.

Two questions, okay the answer to the first one, is in reference to my vocabulary, a war dance is when the male and sometimes the females use their scent glands on their back feet to mark an area. Usually done after defacting and done by pushing their back feet backwards on the ground.
Question Teo - Thank you for asking. Your dog should be at a heel, which is close to you, no more than about a foot or two away from your side. Your dog should not be in front of you pulling you about, then stopping to sniff or pee on everything. I am more lax about the heel position than others but the heel means by your side. Does not matter how fast you walk, it should be a brisk walk, but to each his own, I have a very debilitating which can slow me down to a snails pace at times, my dog needs to adjust to me and my pace, not the other way around. A cool down is just that, especially if you are a brisk walker, this gives the dog the opportunity to relax a bit from the heel position and go back to scratch and sniff and pp on stuff, while not completely out of control, the control is a bit more lax. By letting a dog wander I mean loosen your hell position and let the dog wander side to side on the path sniffing whatever they want. There are exceptions to this, and this is only a guideline. For those with dogs with lots of energy, loosening a heel can be a test, some dogs will constantly test an owners ALPHA position (normal behavior) and will take an opportunity of loosening a command mode to a relaxed mode to take advantage of an owner who is not in complete control, so you need to evaluate your dog and apply what you need accordingly. If I can help out any more please let me know, I will do whatever I can to assist anyone willing to learn.

oh well I was mistaken then, I thought my dog just has moments of insanity where he thinks he is a cat, thereby covering up his mess. my moms dog actually stretches her legs straight out behind her making her look like a ballerina.
I really honestly did not have a clue that was what they were doing, quite sheepishly I really did think he was trying to cover his mess, none of my other dogs have done it, thought maybe it was a shih tzu thing. (what a dork I can be)

Thanks very much. I tried out the walkies. It was pretty good. Well, except for one incident. My destination was 7-11 b/c I decided to walk to get some Green Tea (Arizona, my favorite) and while we (me and my Puffy) were waiting for the light to say walk, Puffy went Booboo on the cement! I had to go back inside 7-11 and get a paper bag, which isn't a big deal. My question was: is this normal? I figured she would go when we had our cool down at the park near my house (where they supply plastic bags), but she just went on the cement. I wasn't sure what to do, but continue on our walk and throw the poop away. Thanks again =]

jangira - Take note of when your puppers makes its touchdown, soon you will get an idea of the routine your dogs bowl movements have, most dogs are pretty regular, for instance my dog wont poop until 10 am (unless he ate something which does not agree with him) I have to schedule around his walkies because he is a sack hound and likes to sleep in. Some dogs need to go out right away after waking in the morning, some dont and prefer to wait. Some like to pp right off and can wait for an hour before going poo, which is why walkies should be about 45 minutes. Often walking your dog will help get things moving back there and in the middle of a walk, they will make their meadow muffin - just take note of works for you and your dog and bring those baggies!!!
Hope you enjoyed your walk and your tea, good luck with your pup, thank you for being a responsible owner open to working with your dog and taking it out for walkies, I hope you both enjoy the time together out in the world. Please dont hesitate to post any questions, the people on this forum are awesome and can help with most everything relating to your dogs good health. Happy Holidays!!

I have one of the "perpetual motion machines". I let him burn off some steam by throwing the ball for a 10-15 minutes. He'll usually wee-wee during that time. Then I call him to me, leash him up, and make him walk with me, obediently. We do really easy obedience stuff, and there's lots of praise.

When we head out for our "walkie" I allow him to cruise ahead of me, but he must "walk politely", there must be slack in the leash and NO pulling. I allow sniffing, wee-weeing, and "dumpage". I call him to me periodically and insist he sit in front of me. I praise lavishly. Once we've put in a mile/two he's much more receptive to walking at heel and I feel we get more accomplished this way.

He will "heel" any time I ask, but a tired dog is easier to really train. So, I'm fine with allowing him to cruise ahead as long as he is "polite", not pulling, and fully receptive to my commands.

You find what works for you and then you STICK WITH IT. Honestly, there is nothing like walking with your dog to build the bond of trust and respect. Dogs like to GO places, and going to those places WITH YOU is like whipped cream on the pudding!

Ooh! My Puffers is really hyper. I think her walking ahead of me would be good too, but how do you keep her from walking "rudely"? And I'm not too sure if I'm doing it right, but when she starts to pull away from me, I say "Heel" and kind of tug her towards me. I've been keeping my leash (which is retractable) kind of short b/c she tries to pull ahead. Sometimes I'll test her out and unclick the leash. She walks besides me for a little and then tries to go ahead. Then it's: click. I have another question: what kind of "obedience stuff" do you do? I usually just walk. Should I be doing more? Thanks again. Hope you've all had a wonderful Thanksgivings ^_^

You need a "training collar" and a 6' leash for basic obedience work. A "training" collar is what too many people call a "choke" collar. And it's only a choke collar if you put it on the dog incorrectly! I urge you to sign up for a Basic Obedience class... this is what the class is for, to teach you HOW.

"Walking politely" is walking with you, often out beside you or in front of you... but NOT pulling on the leash. Your dog has a notion of just how far is acceptable, and knows that pulling is NOT OK.

You begin by setting out for your walk as usual. The moment your dog begins to pull, you give a quick tug on the leash and head off in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION. I warn you, you won't get very far on the first few walks, lol. But the point is, you dog must learn that pulling gets him/her NOWHERE and fast! As soon as your dog turns back to you, it's PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE. And then then you set off again. You have to be patient and willing to suffer the "learning curve", and you must insist the dog NOT PULL.

The way we were taught basic obedience was built on "walking politely"... the understanding of the leash, its constraints, and your ability to enforce commands via the leash. "Heel" was introduced later... after the dog was already walking politely, sitting, staying, "downing" with voice and hand commands.

Walking politely was taught in conjunction with "watch me", getting the dog to look you in the eyes; important because getting the dog's attentiion is key to teaching obedience. I've found "watch me" to be the toughest command we've had to master... I'm STILL working on it 2 years hence!

Sign yourselves up for a class. You'll LOVE IT! it's fun, rewarding, and gives you a whole new perspective on your dog.

And mazer's "walkies" are an integral part of the whole process. The more you walk your dog and practice the commands, the easier it gets and the more fun it becomes. It's downright infectious. ;)