How long a walk?

I was wondering same thing.

I usually put mine in the car and drive 2-10 miles to walk as I live in a town and no great walking near by and usually busy. People are not respecting distances and I am very concerned about going out.

One walk I have done regularly over the last five years is 2 miles away and it is rare to see anyone there. Even if that happens there is acres of space to distance yourself.

From the announcement last night it seemed to be don't drive, but I think it would pose less risk for me to do just that.
 
Ask yourself, does walking the dog qualify as an essential journey? Of course it doesn’t. If you walk your dog for one hour now, why would you suddenly change to six hours?

It’s nothing more than common sense. I walk my dogs twice a day. Sometime I chuck them in the car, sometimes we walk from home. This will now be adjusted to always walking from home and once a day.

I live in a rural village and could probably get away with the second walk but if everyone did that, what’s the point in lockdown?
 
One of mine came up lame this week, which will make life slightly easier :p
I have a smallish front and back garden, I just let them mooch about this morning and one of them (the non lame one) lunges quite nicely so we did a few circles on each rein :p
I have place boxes, a portable jump, electric fencing poles etc so I can do some training to keep their minds active/let them work for their dinner, if I find myself in a bind. I also have 8m flexi lines so I have toyed with the idea of standing at my gate and letting them run up and down the lane :p
I could drive them somewhere, but I'm not going to as it isn't responsible IMO.
 
I have never been more grateful to live where I do. I can walk directly from my back door onto a hill track and walk for as long as I like and not see a single person. I will be doing one proper walk a day and for their other usual exercise I'll just do more brain training, and I have some jumps and agility equipment that I can easily set up.

I feel so sorry for those stuck in cities and towns who have really limited options but, if I am perfectly honest, I really don't want to see them up here with their dogs opening and closing gates etc. It is not a necessary journey so should be avoided.

The Estate we live and work on put these signs up following the busiest weekend up here I have ever seen in 15 years ...
 
Just read on the BBC web site that exercise should be for a "normal" amount of time. So if you normally walk for an hour, then walk for an hour. Don't suddenly start walking for 2-3 hours to make up for lost time. It's a tough one. Many of us on here live very rurally so rarely see other people when we're out anyway, so you could argue that you're doing no harm. But on the other hand, the rules are the rules and they are there for very good reasons, wherever you happen to reside.
 
I have actually reduced dog walks I have a huge area the dog can be out in all day if she wants too, so it's not going to kill her to miss a few walks, and me well we have a gym in the garage so can kill a bit of time with that.
 
Except the guidance doesn’t actually say you should only make essential journeys....

Granted this is copied from the BBC website not the gov.uk one but it says:

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So today I chucked my dogs in the car and took them - on my own - to the woods as usual, and met far, far less people (one lot!) than if I had walked them locally around town.

I’m really careful to be following guidance but I cannot see any rationale at to why walking in a very busy and regularly used arboretum in a town where it is clear nobody has a clue about social distancing ? is a better option than walking in woods where I met one lot of people at a very safe distance?
 
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If I walk my dogs straight from the front door we will likely get run over. We're on a busy rural road and still plenty of farm traffic, vans and lorries out today.
I will continue to drive them 5 mins away to a quiet back lane/wood where we usually walk and see no-one. Safer all round.
 
deb_l222 said:
If you get pulled over by the police, what exactly will you tell them about your essential journey? It’s your choice to flout the lockdown conditions but hopefully not everyone will be the same.
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I will tell them I am doing my one exercise session a day. Its essential for my dog and for me. I am not into pavement pounding cant walk the miles needed to exercise the dog so she is let off lead to exercise herself. I have been out today, 5 minute journey in car, to remote area saw no one. If I had seen someone I would have kept the requisite distance.
I hardly think the police are going to bother to pull over one person in a car, they will be much more caught up with the larger gatherings, thats even if they can muster the staff to do that.
The question was asked on the news as to whether a short drive to exercise is allowed, the answer was yes, you dont have to exercise straight from your front door.
 
Can I drive my car during lockdown?
There are no rules banning anybody from driving their car during this time.

The PM announced a very specific, limited number of reasons why people are allowed to leave their homes on Monday night.

As long as people are only driving for one of these four reasons, they're allowed to be on the roads.

For what reasons am I allowed to leave my home?
Residents are only now allowed to leave their homes for one of four essential reasons:


  • shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
  • one form of exercise a day - (a run, walk, or cycle) - alone or with members of your household
  • any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
  • travelling to and from work, but only where absolutely necessary and this cannot be done from home
Is that OK with you Deb 1222
 
Penny Less said:
Can I drive my car during lockdown?
There are no rules banning anybody from driving their car during this time.

The PM announced a very specific, limited number of reasons why people are allowed to leave their homes on Monday night.

As long as people are only driving for one of these four reasons, they're allowed to be on the roads.

For what reasons am I allowed to leave my home?
Residents are only now allowed to leave their homes for one of four essential reasons:


  • shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
  • one form of exercise a day - (a run, walk, or cycle) - alone or with members of your household
  • any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
  • travelling to and from work, but only where absolutely necessary and this cannot be done from home
Is that OK with you Deb 1222
Click to expand...

Yes, what you have quoted above is fine with me. That’s what that government have said must happen.
 
Penny Less said:
Can I drive my car during lockdown?
There are no rules banning anybody from driving their car during this time.

The PM announced a very specific, limited number of reasons why people are allowed to leave their homes on Monday night.

As long as people are only driving for one of these four reasons, they're allowed to be on the roads.

For what reasons am I allowed to leave my home?
Residents are only now allowed to leave their homes for one of four essential reasons:


  • shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
  • one form of exercise a day - (a run, walk, or cycle) - alone or with members of your household
  • any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
  • travelling to and from work, but only where absolutely necessary and this cannot be done from home
Is that OK with you Deb 1222
Click to expand...

Where did this come from?
 
The BBC website says much the same, as did a Govt spokesperson on Radio 4 today.

I shall bung dog in car and do one of my regular off the beaten track walks in a couple of days time, I did walk from home today and am sure that was more risky.
 
If we are banned from going outside at all I fear I will have my dogs put down. I have very little outside space and a small house.
Dogs dont play at all so difficult to entertain indoors. Old lad will be OK but spaniel will climb the walls. Just doing the one walk I find difficult because I have always ensured they get 2/3 walks a day. I do think that London should be more tightly controlled as this seems to be the top place in the country for cases.
 
Right now we (Virginia, USA) aren't on lock down this minute but may well be in the future. I'm lucky in that my neighbor has a large lot that he allows me to use to run my dogs. Right now I'm driving them a couple of miles where they can run off lead. Today I saw one other person and we kept well away from each other. She asked about the area as she had never been there before. I was able to fill her in without needing to get close.

If I walk from my house there is a real risk of being hit by a car.
 
Penny Less said:
I
I hardly think the police are going to bother to pull over one person in a car, they will be much more caught up with the larger gatherings, thats even if they can muster the staff to do that.
The question was asked on the news as to whether a short drive to exercise is allowed, the answer was yes, you dont have to exercise straight from your front door.
Click to expand...

The police were pulling every car over in a village just outside of Milton Keynes today. Every driver was challenged on where they were going and why, so I'd be expecting a lot more of this type of thing.
 
Leo Walker said:
The police were pulling every car over in a village just outside of Milton Keynes today. Every driver was challenged on where they were going and why, so I'd be expecting a lot more of this type of thing.
Click to expand...

Ah that’s Thames Valley Police for you! (my ex-employer)

At present the police have been given absolutely no more powers or guidelines to deal wit this, so it is every Area Commanders view of the situation.

I’m still thinking my approach is right until someone can give me evidence to prove otherwise.... but as I work in HR I know perfectly well that this situation evolves on a day by day basis ?
 
i am doing my normal 1 hour walk directly from home rather than going by car to the local park which is 5 mins away. i saw no one and admit that as my terrier was expecting a walk tonight , i just walked on the village green which i can access from my house easily as i live at the back of it., again saw no one. tomorrow i will just do the morning walk and they will have to go without the evening one.....

there were questions and answers on the bbc news program and the question was asked if someone could drive to a less busy area to exercise and the answer was yes if the area by your home is more populated, it was seen as sensible to go somewhere less busy and keep to the 2 metre rule., which on the gov uk site seems to think it is 6 ft and i thought it was 6 ft 6!!!!!
 
We’re walking from home. The dog is still getting out twice a day as there are 4 people living here itching to take her out! She thinks life is great...

We’re now sticking to road walks though, to save touching gates and stiles if we go off piste. That’s another thing to think about if you drive the car out to walk, it’s one thing if you don’t need to to handle gates etc but if you do, you should then sanitise hands, steering wheel, key fob, leads etc afterwards which is a right faff and eats up valuable resources. It’s bad enough doing that after a trip to the supermarket.
 
When OH is on shift they are getting one on lead walk for as long as I can make a loop due on Dobby having taken off a stopper pad. When OH is off shift I'm hoping I can pursuade him to take them for one as well so they get two on lead walks a day.

Once Dobby's healed it will be one a day but slightly longer (but still a 'normal' walk for us) to get them to where we can let them off safely.

Thankfully being sighthounds they're not overly bothered. Dobby wants to be doing more but he's working for his tea and once he's healed we'll start on some new disc tricks (I'm hoping for a back flip by the time this is over).
 
I’m still able to walk Daisy twice at the moment as I do some caring duties for a disabled lady in the next village, which includes walking her dog - so Daisy comes too.
 
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