Dog cant miss a walk

[Penny Less]

My dog has two walks a day, one morning, one lunchtime. I get really fidgetty if for some reason she cant go at her usual times. I cant think of a time that my dogs have missed one of their walks, due to illness (me) or weather. I always had to arrange for them to go no matter what. Am I strange. After all it wouldnt really hurt would it, its one of the things that really makes me anxious ! If I had a decent sized garden I probably wouldnt fret. Mind you my doggy friends understand, but non doggy people think Im potty !

 

[scats]

Ours never ever miss a walk. If it’s hot in summer, they go crack of dawn and last thing at night. If it’s pouring down, we rug them up and do a short walk round the block. If one of us is really unwell, another takes them out. The only time my dogs haven’t been out is if they are recovering from being spayed.

 

[conniegirl]

Mine do miss the occasional walk and it doesn’t do them any harm but i will stress it is occasional (like both husband and I very sick).

 

[deb_l222]

I used to be very OCD about regular walks but I've chilled out a bit in recent years and it's not so much of a worry these days.

Last week for instance, Willow was having a morning walk as normal but then we were spending the day visiting my step dad in hospital which consisted of driving 20 miles, faffing about picking mum up, driving another 5 miles to hospital, sitting in the grounds on the hospital for 2 hours while mum visited, then doing it all in reverse. Somewhere in between we found a dog friendly cafe for lunch / early tea. When we finally got home neither of us were in a fit state to walk anywhere and it didn't kill us to miss a walk.

Most of the time I stick to 2 walks (sometimes 3) a day but I don't stress now if it's just the 1 walk for whatever reason.

My ex next door neighbours NEVER walk their dogs but they have a massive back garden, the dogs are well cared for and want for nothing. It's not how I would keep them but they're happy, well adjusted dogs so it's not done them any harm.

 

[SAujla]

We always go out in the morning, but will miss her afternoon walk and do it at night if weather is above 20 degrees. Only times she hasn't had a walk was when she was really unwell (had eaten too much snow I think) or I was unwell after my first covid vaccination.

 

[rara007]

Mine don’t have much routine. They don’t go out on days over 25*c. Works for us.

 

[AmyMay]

My dogs mostly have two walks a day. But Daisy especially covers several miles a day (six yesterday), which is a lot given her breed. So I actually try to have at least one day a week when they only have one.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I used to be very OCD about regular walks but I've chilled out a bit in recent years and it's not so much of a worry these days.

Last week for instance, Willow was having a morning walk as normal but then we were spending the day visiting my step dad in hospital which consisted of driving 20 miles, faffing about picking mum up, driving another 5 miles to hospital, sitting in the grounds on the hospital for 2 hours while mum visited, then doing it all in reverse. Somewhere in between we found a dog friendly cafe for lunch / early tea. When we finally got home neither of us were in a fit state to walk anywhere and it didn't kill us to miss a walk.

Most of the time I stick to 2 walks (sometimes 3) a day but I don't stress now if it's just the 1 walk for whatever reason.

My ex next door neighbours NEVER walk their dogs but they have a massive back garden, the dogs are well cared for and want for nothing. It's not how I would keep them but they're happy, well adjusted dogs so it's not done them any harm.

Same. My older ones are ten and coming nine and worked very hard in their 'careers', they can pootle in the garden so missing a walk won't kill them. Pup gets most of her exercise in the work or having a good run off lead.

 

[TheresaW]

Ours are walked every morning before work, and providing it’s not too hot they come to the horses with me in the afternoon. (They have to wait in car whilst I do horse jobs). We then have a lovely long walk in the woods. If hot, we either do a late walk, or we have a big garden where they come and go all evening.

Weekends are not routine walks. We tend to go out and about (pre Covid) where would do quite a few miles. At the moment, it’s usually a long walk at horses or woods at home.

 

[Michen]

Mine misses walks all the time! I don’t aim to walk her twice a day but she’s always at the yard with me which generally is twice. She has absolutely no routine and sometimes is at yard, sometimes not. Sometimes has two walks sometimes none.

She’s completely chilled in the house and never minds either way and doesn’t expect a routine. I do have a big garden though and she plays a lot in it with the cat.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I don't walk my dog everyday we have a huge garden and the horses are at home so she is outside off lead most of the day with me, she has always been fine with it and is very calm indoors so I think it's enough for her.

 

[paisley]

Its walk dependant- I tend to judge by total mileage or exercise intensity as I can do lots of different routes each day.
Anything like hard work might mean a five minute leg stretch later on as the second walk, but as he's usually pootling round the house or being taken out for wees, I don't feel its essential.

 

[meleeka]

I try not to have a routine as I think mine would be a pain if it didn’t happen when she thought it should. They go out twice a day but times vary. I can’t not take the terrier out or she doesn’t settle in the evenings.

 

[Chiffy]

Mine get two walks a day, they are energetic retrievers and two are young. I do have a very large garden, big enough to train in. Morning walk always happens early and whatever the weather. Afternoon activity can vary in time, distance or it may just be an outing to something. Very occasionally the afternoon might be missed in extreme winter Scottish weather but no problem. I don’t like things too set in stone or you get nagged! ????

 

[Umbongo]

Mine got 3 walks a day. I don't think we ever missed a walk in 13 years (very fit collie) Just changed the times slightly if too wet, too hot, or the humans had other plans. It was only the AM walk he got used to the timings of, and he would start whining at 6:30-7am.

 

[Karran]

While working from home, I have tended to do the three walks a day, heat permitting, but in the before times, sometimes they would only go out once a day in the morning. However in the evening they would go to Dog School or Agility class or the yard. I don't tend to walk Mrs Spaniel for more than a 10 min leg stretch the day before a competition and she just has access to the garden and does sniffing work or some of what I call her "dog yoga" (paw pods and balance work) the rest of the time.

 

[I'm Dun]

Mine misses walks all the time! I don’t aim to walk her twice a day but she’s always at the yard with me which generally is twice. She has absolutely no routine and sometimes is at yard, sometimes not. Sometimes has two walks sometimes none.

She’s completely chilled in the house and never minds either way and doesn’t expect a routine. I do have a big garden though and she plays a lot in it with the cat.

Same. Some days they dont want to go. Whippets dont walk in the rain and wont leave the house if I try and make them. Some days they go for car rides or to walk round the pet shop sniffing. Sometimes they come to the yard, sometimes they go on long walks, sometimes short walks. They are radiantly happy and well.

 

[SOS]

Our dogs miss walks all the time too and have no routine. They do get taken out first thing but sometimes that’s a do your business and back in and sometimes it’s a long walk. They go to work on yards with my partner all day or when I was in practice would go to the vets and the park at lunch time. Sometimes they stay at home with me and we do an AM, midday and PM walk. Other times we do AM then they come up to the yard with me and run around. Sometimes we go to a friends and they run around with 2,3,7 dogs in the evening or they come to the pub and sit quietly or they stay at home.

They love their happy and varied life and are both very well rounded with other dogs and changes in situations. But we are busy people and I said if I was going to have a dog it was going to muck in and have to adapt to that. Lots of work as a puppy and as an almost adult she’s happy whatever her day is. I can’t say I get stressed if the dogs “miss a walk” as we don’t have that routine.

It also helps they are whippet and a lurcher and if it’s raining aren’t keen on going out at all and if it’s a lazy day quite happily sleep in. They also are lucky that they gets lots of off lead time sniffing and running at yards/in the field at home so that quickly tires their body and mind.

We were musing the other day that our dogs don’t know ‘walkies’ they just sleep until one of us says come on and then they pop up. We can leave the house and they don’t rise from their beds.

 

[Penny Less]

You are right about routines, mine is very routine focussed. Apart from the walk nagging we have the food nagging. She always has breakfast after our morning walk, she nags for biscuits (small amount) at 3 p.m. because when our old lad was alive he had a certain food routine for medication times and she always got a couple of mixer biccies at the same time, this has carried on with nagging at exactly 3 pm. and again at exactly 4 when it is her proper dinner time ! Its easier to give i n than try to ignore the incessant circling and singing to me !

 

[Michen]

Surely animals only expect a routine if they get one though. I also feed at random times as it depends where/what we are doing.

 

[Antw23uk]

I wouldnt get anxious about not walking my dog, seems a very strange, wasted emotion to dwell on BUT mine is walked twice a day, once minimum and if she misses an afternoon/ evening walk its because she has been out with us all day or at the yard with me after work (we jump and play ball there)

You can tell if she hasnt had her two walks though, she is hard work in the home of an evening and if you miss a day walking, my god you know about it, she is practically bouncing off the walls!

 

[MyBoyChe]

Ours always have a morning walk but during a hot summer about 3 years ago they stopped "asking" for the lunchtime one, previously they would start to bounce around in anticipation but they just stopped doing it. The 2 older ones have definitely slowed down and the younger one is a terrier and is quite happy sleeping or exploring the garden. Hubby works from 2pm and I finish at 5pm so even if Im back in the office soon they have a lot of open door time and our garden, although not huge, is plenty large enough for them to wander about safely. I suppose theyve chosen their own routine

 

[Jenko109]

Mine miss a day perhaps once a fortnight or so.

It will just be a day where I fancy doing nothing else except jammies and tele. They don't care. They spend more time having a rough scuffle but other than that, they just chill with me and we eat crap together. I won't even clean the house. We all just laze about and be minty.

 

[meleeka]

You are right about routines, mine is very routine focussed. Apart from the walk nagging we have the food nagging. She always has breakfast after our morning walk, she nags for biscuits (small amount) at 3 p.m. because when our old lad was alive he had a certain food routine for medication times and she always got a couple of mixer biccies at the same time, this has carried on with nagging at exactly 3 pm. and again at exactly 4 when it is her proper dinner time ! Its easier to give i n than try to ignore the incessant circling and singing to me !

When my dad got his rescue I warned him about having set times because his old dog was the same. He didn’t realise he was making a routine and new dog is just as bad as the old one! They train us well if we let them ?

 

[Penny Less]

I suppose its because I dont have a garden for her to exercise in, just a yard really. If I had somewhere bigger I probably wouldnt worry so much, Having said that I am off up to London tomorrow and will be away for 5-6 hours and know Im going to be fidgeting about leaving her and her missing her lunchtime walk !

 

[Antw23uk]

I suppose its because I dont have a garden for her to exercise in, just a yard really. If I had somewhere bigger I probably wouldnt worry so much, Having said that I am off up to London tomorrow and will be away for 5-6 hours and know Im going to be fidgeting about leaving her and her missing her lunchtime walk !

We've a massive garden and land with the stables but always walk. I'm not a fan of the excuse people use when they say they've been running round the garden so dont need walking. I'd not get away with it, she likes to be out, moving forward and engaging with the wider world.

Im the same as you, i hate leaving her

 

[Clodagh]

Ours have got us really well trained. They get far too many walks and are a bloody nuisance if they feel they haven't been out. You can fob them off with a really short one occasionally.

Don't even get me started on routine feeding, ours have breakfast after first (short) walk and dinner at 4pm. From 3, if you move in any way they leap up and get overexcited. And as Brandy has got old and daft she now paces for her bedtime biscuit from 7pm, and has to be shut away.

We made a rod for our own back, I know! But they are our friends, companions and our hobby too so I don't mind.

 

[Widgeon]

Surely animals only expect a routine if they get one though. I also feed at random times as it depends where/what we are doing.

This definitely applies to our dog - his only routine is that on weekdays, when he always gets walked by his dog walker at lunchtime. He knows this and sometimes waits for her from 10am onwards, which is quite touching! Other than that he usually gets a morning walk and an eveing walk, but that changes day to day depending on what we're up to, what the weather's like (he's not impressed by rain) and whether he wants to get out of bed in time for a walk or not. At weekends he fits in with whatever we're doing and pelts around the (big) garden, comes shopping with us, does Big Walks on the moors - whatever we're up to. His meals fit in with whatever that day's schedule is. He's very good at reading humans so I'm quite thankful that he's not wedded to a routine - it would be a bit of a nightmare.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Just realising what a flakey household I run
I guess my ethos is 'whenever the hell I feel like it...'

 

[Clodagh]

Just realising what a flakey household I run
I guess my ethos is 'whenever the hell I feel like it...'

The trouble is we live an incredibly habitual life, too, so they have beocme as we are!