The Dogwalk
- By Dóra Ásgeirsdóttir - Dog trainer -
Is it the dog's purpose in life to follow us every step?
I want to say both yes and no.
Dogs in general prefer the company of humans. Dogs in modern society are shaped by people to suit people as much as possible. But we must still keep in mind that dogs are still dogs, animals of a completely different origin than humans. Each dog has its own personality.
Even though dogs are shaped by people, it does not mean that they have the same opinions as us, nor that they are necessarily fond of the same things as us. It is possible that they can be compared to children to some extent, as they see completely different exciting things in nature and our environment than we do. Whilst we want to walk at a steady pace and enjoy the view, there is a possibility that our dog wants nothing more than to jog between places of interest, then stop at those places so they can examine those interesting places thoroughly. This for example can be very unsuitable for our power walking and exercise.
But for whom is the walk?
Let's say the walk is meant for the dog. Then one can assume that the main goal is for the dog to have fun and benefit from the walk. The normal pace of a dog is a trot (where sloping legs move together) and in fact it is rather rare for dogs to choose to walk at a slow pace, which they are often forced to do if they are to follow our own pace (except for the smallest dog breeds). But a dog is usually not going out for a walk, to keep fit and just run somewhere. They are generally more interested in jogging around and exploring their surroundings along the way, which makes their walking speed very irregular and stops quite frequent. Now maybe someone has started to envision that he should run after the dog everywhere and stop as fast as in gymnastics training… but that is not quite the case, for we can take advantage of the convenience of having a long leash. I would consider a long leash to be between 3-5 meters and that should be enough for most dogs to be able to trot between interesting places while you keep your pace and then just slow down to allow the dog to finish exploring interesting things and places.
We can try to compare the dog's walk to us reading the newspapers (or Facebook). It would be rather boring if someone took care of flipping through pages for us and one could only read part of the headlines and never a whole article. Dogs, people, cats and other animals leave a trail of messages for the dogs to read through their nose. Dogs leave theirs on purpose while other animals might do it unintentionally. Nevertheless, all these scents are interesting to the dog and they get a lot of satisfaction from being able to read through the whole message.
In order to make the walk even more enjoyable for our dog, we can add a soft (thick) Y-shaped harness to the long leash that does not put strain on the dog's neck and allows him to move freely even if some strain is put on the leash.
But what about me and my walk?
If the dog was meant to be a jogging-, power walking- or cycling partner, then it should not be an issue as long as the dog has the age and health for such exercises. These two just need to be separated, on one hand, walking for the dog and on the other hand walking/running/cycling for the owner where the dog is trained in how to perform and build up stamina step by step. That way, dogs and their owners should be able to enjoy coexistence and outdoor life to the fullest.
Have a nice walk!
I want to say both yes and no.
Dogs in general prefer the company of humans. Dogs in modern society are shaped by people to suit people as much as possible. But we must still keep in mind that dogs are still dogs, animals of a completely different origin than humans. Each dog has its own personality.
Even though dogs are shaped by people, it does not mean that they have the same opinions as us, nor that they are necessarily fond of the same things as us. It is possible that they can be compared to children to some extent, as they see completely different exciting things in nature and our environment than we do. Whilst we want to walk at a steady pace and enjoy the view, there is a possibility that our dog wants nothing more than to jog between places of interest, then stop at those places so they can examine those interesting places thoroughly. This for example can be very unsuitable for our power walking and exercise.
But for whom is the walk?
Let's say the walk is meant for the dog. Then one can assume that the main goal is for the dog to have fun and benefit from the walk. The normal pace of a dog is a trot (where sloping legs move together) and in fact it is rather rare for dogs to choose to walk at a slow pace, which they are often forced to do if they are to follow our own pace (except for the smallest dog breeds). But a dog is usually not going out for a walk, to keep fit and just run somewhere. They are generally more interested in jogging around and exploring their surroundings along the way, which makes their walking speed very irregular and stops quite frequent. Now maybe someone has started to envision that he should run after the dog everywhere and stop as fast as in gymnastics training… but that is not quite the case, for we can take advantage of the convenience of having a long leash. I would consider a long leash to be between 3-5 meters and that should be enough for most dogs to be able to trot between interesting places while you keep your pace and then just slow down to allow the dog to finish exploring interesting things and places.
We can try to compare the dog's walk to us reading the newspapers (or Facebook). It would be rather boring if someone took care of flipping through pages for us and one could only read part of the headlines and never a whole article. Dogs, people, cats and other animals leave a trail of messages for the dogs to read through their nose. Dogs leave theirs on purpose while other animals might do it unintentionally. Nevertheless, all these scents are interesting to the dog and they get a lot of satisfaction from being able to read through the whole message.
In order to make the walk even more enjoyable for our dog, we can add a soft (thick) Y-shaped harness to the long leash that does not put strain on the dog's neck and allows him to move freely even if some strain is put on the leash.
But what about me and my walk?
If the dog was meant to be a jogging-, power walking- or cycling partner, then it should not be an issue as long as the dog has the age and health for such exercises. These two just need to be separated, on one hand, walking for the dog and on the other hand walking/running/cycling for the owner where the dog is trained in how to perform and build up stamina step by step. That way, dogs and their owners should be able to enjoy coexistence and outdoor life to the fullest.
Have a nice walk!
