It's almost spring! Will you walk your dog?

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Replies

  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Haha walk mine in winter too. I had a neighbour a while back who didn't walk her wee Jack Russell - felt quite sorry for her dog but I wouldn't offer to walk it, I have enough to do.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    BodyByButter wrote: »
    I was thinking about walking my cat but somehow I don't think that will involve much walking.

    I had a cat years ago who used to stalk me when I walked the dogs. Obviously wanted to go a walk but really didn't want us to know he was there, very funny.

  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    3laine75 wrote: »
    BodyByButter wrote: »
    I was thinking about walking my cat but somehow I don't think that will involve much walking.

    I had a cat years ago who used to stalk me when I walked the dogs. Obviously wanted to go a walk but really didn't want us to know he was there, very funny.

    We have a kitten now, he's about 8 months we think (started as a stray) and sometimes he goes out with the dogs, does his thing, and comes in with the dogs LOL. He does have a litter box. I bought him a harness this week since neighborhood rules say all 4 legged critters need leashes...he's freaked by the leash LOL

  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    we live in way out in the country. my younger dog (just turned 1 thursday!) goes on walks with me whenever i go - anywhere from 3-5 times a week, and they are upwards of 2-3 mile walks). Shes a high energy 50 pound mutt. but she also runs free in the mornings and visits her doggie friends and plays with them. not everyone has that luxury, i know. (but boy does she love it!)

    my 7 year old mini schnauzer loves walks, but HAS to stop for EVERYTHING. every blade of grass, mailbox, tree, whatever. so hes a pain to walk with. my girls take him out with them pretty often, though. in general hes pretty lazy though, and doesnt really like to be outside to begin with, unlike his younger 'sister' LOL

    Hah, that's the trouble with boy dogs! Mine does fine with familiar territory (i.e., my neighborhood), but taking him to a park is a riot! As you said, every tree, blade of grass, etc.! I keep telling him that he doesn't have anything left, but he still pretends he does!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Well my dog aggressive dog is fine playing in the backyard at least. We have a pretty big one. And he's almost 10 so he's fine just hanging out.

    We did everything right, socialized him, puppy classes... but he was a rescue puppy, dumped at 5 weeks in a shelter and I guess he got some very bad experience there. Eventually around 1 he snapped at a rottweiler at a dog park and we stopped taking him around other dogs since... just not worth it.

    We do walk him occasionally when it's not cold though, but typically I let my husband do it because I'm just too scared of what he might do, especially as there are so many idiots who have their dogs off leash. But yeah... I can't go for a walk in this neighborhood without seeing other dogs.

    My cat used to follow us when we went for a walk too. Always scared me that she'd go too far and get lost. Thankfully now she doesn't really go out anymore as she's old too, and my next cats will be indoor cats.
  • ilovemypeekapug
    ilovemypeekapug Posts: 106 Member
    My dog LOVES the cold and snow, so I've walked her a lot this winter (when the temp is at least 20, otherwise her paws stick to the ice and she acts like it hurts). I can't wait until spring to walk her even more! She can't handle heat very well, so in the summer we take short walks, then I drop her off at the house and walk more by myself.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    ilovemypeekapug wrote: »
    My dog LOVES the cold and snow, so I've walked her a lot this winter (when the temp is at least 20, otherwise her paws stick to the ice and she acts like it hurts). I can't wait until spring to walk her even more! She can't handle heat very well, so in the summer we take short walks, then I drop her off at the house and walk more by myself.

    I'm lucky to have several very shady parks within ten miles. I'm the one who can't take heat very well!
  • compgeek812
    compgeek812 Posts: 57 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I'm lucky to have several very shady parks within ten miles. I'm the one who can't take heat very well!
    Where I live its not the trees that make the parks shady haha. So I take walks in the upper-middle class neighborhoods, relatively safe and unlike the high class neighborhoods, no security guards to hassle me. B)
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    compgeek812 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I'm lucky to have several very shady parks within ten miles. I'm the one who can't take heat very well!
    Where I live its not the trees that make the parks shady haha. So I take walks in the upper-middle class neighborhoods, relatively safe and unlike the high class neighborhoods, no security guards to hassle me. B)

    I hear you - my last neighborhood started out great, but over 18 years, became shady (and not from trees!). Which is why I ended up moving to another state . . .
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    BodyByButter wrote: »
    I was thinking about walking my cat but somehow I don't think that will involve much walking.

    Hah! You never know until you've tried!

    I saw someone walking a rabbit here.

    I don't have a dog, but I have children who I have to walk every day lol.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    I won't post what my grandmother (rip) said about the benefits of walking . . .
  • DressedInDreams
    DressedInDreams Posts: 96 Member
    I can't wait for spring to be able to walk my pugs. They don't like cold, rain, or snow so we haven't been on many walks lately. Unfortunately they don't do well in heat either so we have to be careful. They also have a nice sized yard to play in, so they get plenty of time to zoom about whether we walk or not.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    DressedInDreams wrote: »
    I can't wait for spring to be able to walk my pugs. They don't like cold, rain, or snow so we haven't been on many walks lately. Unfortunately they don't do well in heat either so we have to be careful. They also have a nice sized yard to play in, so they get plenty of time to zoom about whether we walk or not.

    You are so lucky! My yard isn't fenced, but I'm thinking about getting an underground electric fence so that my dog can zoom around outside as well.
  • SoulOfRusalka
    SoulOfRusalka Posts: 1,201 Member
    My dog's still too cold to go out for more than 5 minutes. The weather's been ridiculous here. I'm getting really restless stuck inside, but the cold air is so hard to breathe so even long walks are sort of difficult. Sigh.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    LadyAbsynthe wrote: »
    My dog's still too cold to go out for more than 5 minutes. The weather's been ridiculous here. I'm getting really restless stuck inside, but the cold air is so hard to breathe so even long walks are sort of difficult. Sigh.

    I hear you! Cold air truly sucks!
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    I can't believe that there are people who don't walk their dogs every day.

    Those people should be poked with sharp things.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    I can't believe that there are people who don't walk their dogs every day.

    Those people should be poked with sharp things.
    I have a relative with a Schnauzer that's stuck in her house all day with no stimulation whatsoever. She left the dog here a few weeks ago and it killed me inside not be able to walk her due the circumstances I was in. It really makes me wish it were harder for people to own pets.

    And with walking cats, I've read that it's not like walking dogs but it can be done and is certainly more preferable to just throwing them outside and letting them muck up other people's gardens.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYTUfM1vEjs


  • Charliegottheruns
    Charliegottheruns Posts: 286 Member
    8r6phhh4mgyy.jpg
    Spring ?
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
    Some dogs truly cant handle negative degree weather. My dogs get plenty of exercise between wrestling with me and each other all day. I will be glad to walk them once the snow and ice has melted. I do love the dog owner shaming from ppl who just think they can judge ppl they do not know.
  • DressedInDreams
    DressedInDreams Posts: 96 Member
    AmberSue09 wrote: »
    I do love the dog owner shaming from ppl who just think they can judge ppl they do not know.

    Yeah, same here. Not all dogs need daily walking, or can tolerate certain kinds of weather. Doesn't mean I don't love my pets or play with them.
  • mirrim52
    mirrim52 Posts: 763 Member
    I have a 14 year old mini long haired doxie. There is no way he can deal with the -25 C weather we have been having, even this week! And that is not even taking in to account the slipped disk he had in his spine this fall. For a couple weeks he could barely even make it to his food dish. I can't wait until the weather improves and we can actually be outside for more than a couple minutes at a time. I promised my 5 year old she can be in control of one of the dogs on walks this year :)
  • kittycatsinunderpants
    kittycatsinunderpants Posts: 43 Member
    I love going for walks, but feel weird absently strolling through the neighborhood- I like to have a purpose, ya know? Anyway, I fell in love with this face at the shelter in January, and what better purpose to get out and moving- My little Tibetan Spaniel named Cheese. What I didn't take into account were those short little legs! Just eight blocks. That's my dog's limit. Those of you with smallish dogs, how long can they go before their legs wear out?
  • UrnAsh_
    UrnAsh_ Posts: 242 Member
    Yes!
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    I don't have a dog to walk but I do have cats!

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    gbix8h47jfo1.jpg
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    kittycatsinunderpants wrote: »
    I love going for walks, but feel weird absently strolling through the neighborhood- I like to have a purpose, ya know? Anyway, I fell in love with this face at the shelter in January, and what better purpose to get out and moving- My little Tibetan Spaniel named Cheese. What I didn't take into account were those short little legs! Just eight blocks. That's my dog's limit. Those of you with smallish dogs, how long can they go before their legs wear out?

    My nine-year-old,15-pound dachshund can go for two miles! We've only done that a couple of times, and he seemed to want to quit after a mile and a half, but then got a second wind. My goal is to walk him a mile in the morning and a mile in the afternoon. When I was a kid, I had a Dalmatian who, as soon as our house was getting out of her eyesight, would dead quit. Try taking Cheese out of your neighborhood to a park and see if he/she walks further.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »
    8r6phhh4mgyy.jpg
    Spring ?

    LOVE THIS!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Forty6and2 wrote: »
    I don't have a dog to walk but I do have cats!

    c9uwswwnrdup.jpg
    gbix8h47jfo1.jpg

    I had cats most of my adult life and never thought of walking them. They were strictly indoor cats, however.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    kittycatsinunderpants wrote: »
    I love going for walks, but feel weird absently strolling through the neighborhood- I like to have a purpose, ya know? Anyway, I fell in love with this face at the shelter in January, and what better purpose to get out and moving- My little Tibetan Spaniel named Cheese. What I didn't take into account were those short little legs! Just eight blocks. That's my dog's limit. Those of you with smallish dogs, how long can they go before their legs wear out?

    My dogs (Boston Terriers) can only hack out about a mile - with a rest break or two (but that's more about their breathing issues than their leg length). There's a guy in my neighborhood who walks probably 4-5 miles a day with his doxie - he pushes a jogging stroller to put the dog to give him a break but still be able to get his walking done. It really is the cutest thing.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
    Rogstar wrote: »
    Haha, I never stopped walking him! If I did, our ears would be ringing non-stop! We were lucky here in southern WI, it was a very cold winter but most of the snow missed us. I think we only ended up with 30-40 inches of snow total in our area, way less than normal.

    We have a collie, so I'm not concerned about the cold weather anyway. The only days he doesn't get walked at least 2-3miles are heavy snow or ice days. Or I make my husband take him out B)

    Even during the winter it's important to get the dog some exercise, so sometimes I'll literally walk him around the house. We have a small loop that I can take him through the kitchen, dining room, and living room that is exactly 20 steps. I get quite dizzy, but after 400 loops, it works just as well.

    My mum's collie would go crazy if he didn't get a walk twice a day! :smile:

    I agree with you, regardless of breed winter exercise is really important. A human's need for exercise doesn't go away in winter so why should a dog's? Even if all you can do is play ball in the house that's better than nothing but I feel very strongly that people shouldn't stop walking their dog just because it's cold and snowy. If you can leave your house for work you can take your dog for a walk. Get warm weather clothing, a torch and a little doggy jacket and power on through! Even my brother's yorkie goes out in the snow.

    You can also keep them entertained with brain games. Nina Otosson does some pretty good ones.
  • Vacamper
    Vacamper Posts: 2
    Now that the snow and ice is melting. I am looking forward to walking the dog. My problem is that I have trouble slipping away and not having to take the kids. They are just old enough to go, but young enough that a short walk and they are done. So, Rusty misses out on a full walk.
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