10 Tips for a More Enjoyable Walk with Your Dog

My Top Tips for Having a More Enjoyable Walk with Your Dog…

Dog walks are supposed to be a fun, relaxing way to get outside- benefiting our mental and physical health while spending quality time with our furry family member.

However, walks with our dog don’t always look as peaceful as we would like!

Here are some of my Top Tips for a more enjoyable walk with your dog…

A black and white cocker spaniel sitting on a grassy hill above Edinburgh, looking up happily

Tip 1: Duration over Distance

Instead of focusing on completing a specific route, focus on spending time with your dog.

E.g. you have 30 minutes to spend with your dog (rather than you need to walk the whole way round the park). These 30 minutes could include training, play, sitting on a bench observing the world…

Think quality over quantity! Your dog will still be tired after this type of walk.

Tip 2: Slow it Down

Often we rush our dog walks to get them done so we can get on with other things on our to do list!

We get the harness and lead out, rush out the door and off we go. Your dog will pick up on this energy and will be more likely to be excitable, pulling on the lead and finding it harder to listen to you.

Take a breath and slow your walk down, for both you and your dog’s benefit.

Tip 3: Don’t Just Walk

Try to incorporate other things into your walk time.

It could be sitting on a bench watching the world with your dog, playing hide and seek with a toy, or practising their training.

Think about your dog’s breed to give you more ideas of breed specific behaviours to incorporate on your walks. For example, retriever breeds would probably enjoy finding a toy you have hidden for them. Sighthounds would probably enjoy playing chase with a long toy with you.

A golden spaniel cross sitting in long grass

Tip 4: Take Treats and Toys

As our dogs get older, we often stop taking treats and toys on our walks as we think we don’t need them.

However, it means your dog is less likely to listen and respond to you as you have nothing to reward them with- what motivation do they have to listen to you compared to exploring the exciting outside world!?

We need to keep ourselves interesting and motivating for our dogs. As they get older and learn good habits, we maybe don’t need to reward them as frequently, but treats and toys should never be totally abandoned- it’s such a great way to incorporate bonding and training on walks.

Tip 5: You Can Make it Easier

If your dog is struggling to listen to you on walks, instead of getting frustrated with them, try to think about how you can make it easier for your dog to listen to you.

It could be a case of going out at quieter times of day, going to quieter locations, having tastier treats and more exciting toys, using a long line…

All of these are completely fine to do- it’s much better to make a walk easier than to get frustrated!

Tip 6: Think About Your Dog’s Emotions

If your dog is struggling to listen on a walk, think about their emotional state. How excited are they? If they are super excited, it’s going to be tricky for them to listen to you, walk nicely on the lead or come back when called. So calming them down is where we need to start.

Slowing down your walks and encouraging calm behaviours (licking, sniffing and chewing) are a good way to help reduce your dog’s excitability and encourage engagement with you.

It’s not that we don’t want our dogs to be happy and excited, we just don’t want them over-excited and then getting stuck there!

Rosy carrying her black spaniel among autumn trees