Mastering the Walk – A dog needs to walk

Part of mastering the walk is taking your dog out and away from the home environment. This increases your dog’s physical and mental exercise and wards off boredom. The garden at home is not enough and many owners do not realise their best friend has needs that have to be met. Walking is psychologically one of the most important of a dog’s needs. Changing the walking route is also preferable. Dogs need to be stimulated with new smells, sounds and sights.

Excess energy leads to frustration

A dog that is not walked is a potential nightmare and will have excess energy and become frustrated and often hyperactive. He will likely be destructive in the home and try to entertain himself with activities that will inevitably be unpleasant for the owner. Think of all the bad behaviours that a dog can exhibit.

Excess energy can cause aggression

Chewing shoes, skirting boards, clothes, furniture. Stealing food from the kitchen tops. Destroying blinds, curtains and other soft furnishings. Jumping on beds and even urinating on them. Urinating and defaecating anywhere and on anything in the home. Worst of all, the dog can become aggressive, growling and showing teeth when challenged. The owner will likely blame the dog instead of realising his responsibility for his dog’s needs, which includes walking the dog regularly every day.

Beware of boredom

This is not a dog ‘getting his own back’ or ‘being spiteful’. Dogs’ minds do not work that way. If a dog is exhibiting any of this type of behaviour and is not walked, it is because he is bored and lacking stimulation. Also, a lack of socialisation in his formative years can definitely increase such problems.

Low energy dogs needs less exercise but…

Now some dogs are very laid back by nature and are classed as ‘low reactivity’, such as this Bassett Hound puppy. This means they do not readily react to other dogs, people, children or objects negatively with barking, growling, biting, lungeing, jumping up etc..  They may not get much exercise, but will be less likely to exhibit the above behaviour. Even so, it is in your dog’s best interests to keep his mind and body stimulated. It’s not just physical exercise that tires a dog out and enables him to be calm and relaxed. Mental stimulation is as important as the physical.

How about some mind games!

Mind games can be fun for you and your dog and simple exercises such as ‘find it’ can be really enjoyable for your dog. It’s also quite easy. If he has a favourite toy, hide it within sight and ask him to find it. If your dog is not interested in toys, how about hiding a few treats around the room. Make sure he can see where you hide them at first so he gets the hang of the game. Once he realizes he can eat the treats he finds, he will soon cotton on!

You can then make it more difficult by not letting him see where you hide the treats and then encouraging him to find them. He will soon start using his nose to smell out where the treats are. Encourage him to use his paws to grasp treats that are under a low surface, such as a sideboard (see video). Show him by using your hand to drag the treat out. You will be surprised how much he observes and copies from you. These activities will really help his self esteem and confidence.

“Find It” is our dogs’ favourite game and they get quite excited when I put them in the hallway while I hide the treats. When I open the door and say “Find It”, they run around the room tails wagging and noses sniffing. It can be quite challenging to think of some new places to hide treats. The dogs get really clever at finding them.