The Joy of National Walk Your Dog Week: October 1st to 7th
National Walk Your Dog Week, observed between October 1 to 7, is here! What’s a better way to honor this nationwide celebration than to take your canine companion on an intentional walk? Daily dog walking benefits your pup’s overall health, exploration, and mental stimulation. Not to mention, regular walks are equally beneficial for dog owners, too!
Get your walking shoes out and get to walking with your canine! Get Joy has got you covered on all the possibilities of dog walking for both you and your furry best friend.
How to Bond With Your Dog
Taking your dog out on walks is a wonderful way for bonding time. Walking together offers the opportunity to spend quality time. Walking also provides an opportunity to create a routine for your dog and, therefore, creates a deeper connection. Having consistent walks in a dog’s routine helps build trust as your dog learns to rely on you for his needs.
Here are a few tips on strengthening your bond with your dog during regular walks.
Positive Reinforcement
Taking your dog on walks allows you to communicate with your dog and gives you the chance to work on basic training, such as commands, staying calm on a leash, and other rules that you want to reinforce. Positive reinforcement is a great tool to consider to reward your dog for good behavior.
Training Challenges
You can elevate your dog walks by throwing in some training challenges in the mix. For example, you can challenge your dog to respond to verbal-only cues by playing “Red Light, Green Light.” This children’s game can be practiced on your walks to help your dog work on sits and downs.
Utilizing a Dog-Walking App
If you are searching for dog walking services in your local neighborhood, a great tool to consider using is a dog walking app.
Of course, like every dog-walking service, dog-walking apps have both pros and cons. Here are some pros and cons of pet walking apps.
- Pro: On-demand features for scheduling walks regularly or if your plans have changed at the last minute.
- Pro: Delivery routing software to enable tracking of where the walker is taking your dog in real time.
- Con: Security concerns related to entrusting your dog and home to a substitute dog walker if your favorite walker is booked.
- Con: Faulty vetting process and background checks through the dog walking apps. While the apps offer the convenience of care for your dog through easy-to-use features, there is still the possibility of potentially incompetent care.
Making Your Dog Walk More Joyful
All in all, dog walking is a great form of exercise for both you and your pooch. For pet parents who enjoy a more active lifestyle, daily walking can benefit your health in numerous ways. This includes building and strengthening muscles, improving mood, and decreasing stress levels.
Of course, dog owners who don’t have enough time for consistent walking have the possibility of utilizing dog walking services to care for their dogs. There are plenty of options to consider!
Safety Tips for Dog Walks
Your dog walks can be elevated for you and your pup if you avoid multitasking during the walk. In fact, animal experts even caution against distracted dog walkers. Here are the final tips to consider when walking your dog in your overscheduled lives.
- Pay attention to your dog’s needs during the walks.
- Don’t spend too much time on your cell phone while walking.
- Avoid yanking on your dog’s leash while they’re in the middle of peeing.
- Give your dog sufficient time to sniff and take in their environment. After all, this is how they experience the world.
Pet Health and Support with Get Joy
The well-being of your fur darling is important to you and to us at Get Joy. Our mission is to improve the lives of families through pet health and nutrition. That’s why we offer various services, ranging from fresh meal plans and professional advice from our licensed experts to other helpful resources. Get started today!
