Walking can cure just about anything with your dog. I was taught this by my trainer, who by the way, trained my dogs a long time ago. He told me when he dropped off my GSD. At the end of the day, walking can cure just about anything.
As a trainer that is one of the very first thing I do. Take my new dog for walk. We start to establish some ground rules in our relationship. When I’m a little frustrated because one of my dogs that I am training just doesn’t seem “to pick up what I am laying down.” We go for a walk.
Walking your pup does several things that are terrific for you and your dog. Here are the top 5 things that I have learned about walking with your dog.
· FOCUS
· RESET
· SPACE
· TEAM
· HEALTH
· FOCUS: You along with your dog are focused. We’re walking and your pet knows where he needs to be in his heel or you two are working on his heel. When you two are in sync he is focused on heeling, and you are focused on walking. Bottomline, it brings you both into FOCUS.
· RESET: It allows you to RESET (empty your head and put all the pieces back together in proper order). It allows the dog to do the same thing RESET. It’s so simple but so effective. Training a dog is about breaking down a command into bite size steps. Maybe you missed a step in the process, and you totally forgot about it until you went for a walk.
· SPACE: Walking with your dog gives you SPACE. It gives you time to think. Although walking is great for you both physically, mentally that dog is working to stay in the perfect heel for you and you are working to put and keep the dog there. You start to forget about the past and pay attention to the now. You and the dog are living in that moment.
· TEAM: You two become a team transferring energy through the leash back and forth to each other. You are out there together in the elements (think walking FEB or walking as the sun is coming up or going down in the dog days of AUG). It takes a team effort to have “a good walk”. The kind of walk where both of you are refreshed and ready to tackle that next command (after the appropriate time of rest of course).
· HEALTH: It goes without saying that walking is one of the best exercises for us physically. We were both built for walking and your body craves the movement. Mentally, however, is where all the goodness is. You are mentally wearing the dog down as he is trying to stay at the right pace and waiting on your next command. You on the other hand get to mentally relax. Let things pass through your mind without thinking about it. Your subconscious is rearranging the files in your mind so you can access them faster next time. Your human operating system gets an update.
Yes, walking can cure just about anything. So next time you are frustrated with life or you may even be a little frustrated with your pup. Go for a walk with your dog. It can cure just about anything.
What are other benefits of walking with your dog?
If you think I could possibly help you and your dog, click here and let’s talk. Join our Facebook page and see what’s going on @ Hill Country Dog Trainer.
Until next time don’t forget to live in the moment.
Sincerely,
Matt
The Hill Country Dog Trainer
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