RARELY a day goes by that my dogs do not get out for a walk.
It is our daily ritual and unless Mother Nature is dumping some hideous concoction from the grey skies above or my dogs are a bit lame due to an injury or feeling their age, we hit the trails for a hike.
It seems a bit redundant to speak about walking one's dog but there also seems to be a misunderstanding as to the importance a walk with your dog makes to a dog's mental and physical health.
Stating the obvious, walking your dog helps keep it in shape and maintain a healthy body weight. Just like with humans, a good walk, jog or hike for your dog promotes a healthy cardiovascular system, detoxifies the body and relieves stress.
But walking your dog also improves its mental health in huge ways.
Dogs, being descendants of wolves, have a sort of nomadic streak within them. They like to wander. Male or female dogs, when left to their own devices, will wander and check out the neighbourhood. To a dog this serves a few purposes, it satisfies that latent instinct to wander through their territory and be social with other dogs within the area. It also boosts confidence.
I'm not suggesting people allow their dogs to wander. I am suggesting that people make a concerted effort to walk their dogs every day to assist their dogs in satisfying their natural urges.
Walking your dog helps boost its overall confidence because the act of walking with your dog improves the pack bond. Referring back to wolves, dogs have inherited that instinctual need to belong to a pack (social network) and to know where they fit in within that pack.
A dog knows all of the members of its social network personally.
Its immediate pack would be family members or those that share their daily routine, i.e. those with which they eat, sleep and converse. They also have what I refer to as transient pack members. These are members of their social network who they may meet at the dog park or a dog walker who might take them out. While a dog is within this transient social network, they form a pack or bond, albeit transient, while they are together. Even though a dog may form this transient bond, the bond with their family pack members takes precedence because the consistency of that pack creates a sense of security and belonging within a dog. When a dog does not receive the daily interaction that a walk from its immediate pack provides, it attempts to satisfy that instinctual need with its transient pack. Since that pack is well, transient, a dog never really feels totally secure. The result may be a dog that shows fear or hyperactivity in situations where it may naturally need to defer to a trusted pack member, such as when in a strange environment or upon meeting new people. If the dog does not feel that the pack member is reliable, due to an absence in the dog's daily routine, it will display inappropriate behaviours.
Surprisingly, taking your dog for a walk every day will often help with this. This walk can last 15 minutes or 50 minutes but during this time you, as the dog's owner or leader, are interacting with the dog, be it running through an obedience exercise or sitting at street corners or practicing a recall if you are walking off-leash in a designated area. You are taking the time to find a balance between actively engaging with your dog, along with allowing them to sniff, mark territory and visit. You are not simply being dragged down the street or letting them run around willy-nilly at the dog park.
So take a your dog for a walk, even if all you have time for that day, is going around the block. That time together will improve your relationship and your dog's confidence.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for over 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her at www.k9kinship.com.
