How to walk dogs properly?
Pets have become an integral part of life for many people, therefore knowledge of the rules of care and maintenance for them helps to make living together more comfortable. Dogs are considered man's best friends, because they are most often turned on by those who need a loyal and loyal pet. In order for the dog to live well next to a person, it is necessary to feed it correctly and be sure to walk it, relying on all the recommendations on this issue.
Why do you need a walk?
Walking in the fresh air is not at all a whim of the owner - the need for being on the street, active movement and knowledge of the world is biologically inherent in the dog. By depriving an animal of this activity, behavioral problems cannot be avoided. Dogs, like wolves, are predators, therefore they must move all the time to search for prey.
Upbringing made it possible to change behavior and numerous reactions to surrounding objects, but the basic instinct did not go anywhere.
Thanks to walks, the dog has the opportunity to get to know other pets, evaluate their behavior and reaction to various situations, the abundance of strangers around also affects the animal, allowing it to adapt to a new situation and calmly react to it. If you keep the dog locked up, then sooner or later the owner himself will suffer from such actions.
Walking the dog, you can give him a chance to frolic, run, and also teach him basic commands, without which it will be difficult to coexist. Tired after a walk, the pet behaves at home calmly and obediently, he is more accommodating and calm. A dog that is allowed to play, study the world around him, will be grateful to his master, giving him full of his devotion. If the animal stays on the street too little, then unrealized activity will splash out on the household in the apartment, which at best will make you reconsider the duration of the walk, and at worst - the dog may be left homeless if it becomes very annoying with its behavior.
How old should you start?
A good owner should take proper care of his pet by organizing a variety of leisure activities, adhering to a food and walking schedule, and providing health care for the dog. It is recommended to start walking in the fresh air after the pet has been given all vaccinations and a full course of vaccinations has been made, which will protect against accidental infection or damage by pathogens.
The first walk should be carried out in the hands of the owner so that the pet feels safe and the environment does not cause discomfort to the puppy.
Systematic walking can be started after 2 months of age, but only if the puppy is vaccinated, healthy, and the weather is warm and clear. The optimal age range is between 3 and 4 months, when the puppy is already quite robust and intelligent.so that the walk will only benefit him. Upon reaching the age of 6 months, going outside has an exclusively entertaining and cognitive function, but from half a year it is necessary to try learning the basic techniques, including going to the toilet outside the apartment. It is not always easy to train your dog to defecate in the open air, and you need to be prepared for this.
Do not delay too much with the beginning of training, as more adult individuals learn new commands more difficult.
At 6 months old, you can walk with your puppy near your home to give you the opportunity to explore the surroundings and get around them well. When teaching a pet, it is important to tell him about the correct behavior in a public place, communication with relatives and with other people. Any mischief or aggression must be stopped in the bud. While the puppy is small, he will quickly learn everything that is required of him. The older the dog becomes, the further you can go on a walk, increasing not only the distance, but also the duration of your stay on the street.
You need to walk often with small pets, but the mode that is most convenient for the owner is gradually established, while not infringing on the dog's desires. Apart from going out to meet the needs, it is worth choosing periods of time during which the dog and the owner will spend time together, having fun and playing, learning and exercising... So that the emptying procedure does not cause difficulties and problems, at first it is worth going outside after each meal, which will provoke a faster result.
Compliance with the recommendations, a clear schedule of nutrition and walking allow the pet to develop the correct model of behavior and reactions to certain circumstances.
How many times a day should you go for a walk?
When starting a dog, do not forget that you will need to walk it, for which you cannot do without free time. With puppies that have grown up and received the necessary vaccinations, be sure to walk after each meal. Since babies eat often, they will have to go out 4 to 8 times a day.
The older the pet gets, the longer the interval between walks will be.
It is best to start the day by going outside, so that the dog after the night does all his business early in the morning and can be calmly indoors. The second walk can be at lunchtime if there is time and opportunity for this. By the end of the day, it is necessary to go outside for a longer time in order to give the dog the opportunity to mark the territory, get acquainted with the surrounding animals, evaluate their behavior and reactions, and get such an important life experience.Even if the walk is carried out along the same route every day, this will not be a problem for the dog, since every day he will receive a whole bunch of new smells and a lot of impressions.
So, you will have to tinker with puppies, spending a lot of time with them both at home and outside. Dogs up to a year still do not survive more than 6-8 hours in an apartment, therefore they need to be given the opportunity to go outside three times a day. Pets older than a year can cope with a 2-time visit and manage to relieve themselves, take a walk and get health and a lot of positive emotions.
Fundamental rules
For your dog to benefit from being outdoors, you need to know how to walk it properly.
There are certain norms that every owner of an animal must comply with when going out with him.
- The walk should be carried out on a leash - in public places, near roads or in places with a large number of different animals, this norm is mandatory. If you walk with your pet on a specialized site, you can remove the leash, giving free rein to your four-legged friend. The presence of a leash allows the dog to settle down in time if it begins to behave incorrectly, to stop it if it saw a cat, to hold it near you if children are walking nearby.
- Walking with a dog, especially of large breeds, should be muzzled - being in crowded places or near playgrounds requires each owner to wear a muzzle on the pet. This accessory is also useful for educational purposes, as it allows you to quickly wean the dog from picking up scraps from the ground.
- The presence of means for cleaning the dog's feces - the owner should have a paper bag or napkin to remove everything that the pet has left behind. This is especially important when emptying onto the sidewalk.
To make the walk interesting for the dog and make it possible to have time to do everything necessary, it is important to correctly calculate its duration. Thinking over routes for morning and evening exits, you need to estimate their length in order to have time to go through everything without disrupting subsequent plans for the day. The duration of the morning walk should be at least 15 minutes, so that the dog has time to stretch its paws and completely empty its body.
Evening outing is the main one, because it should be extended in time to one and a half hours to give the dog an opportunity to run well, communicate with other dogs, go around all familiar places and mark them.
You need to take your pet for a walk every day, both on weekdays and on weekends, doing it at the same time. It is worth paying attention to the weather - it is worth waiting out the heavy rain, and in winter, in frosty weather, it is recommended to insulate the dog with a special suit, which is now in a large assortment. To avoid health problems, as well as to keep the house clean, you need to train your pet to wash its paws after a walk. The dog should not burst into the room, crossing the threshold, it is important that it patiently waits for the owner's command and behaves calmly during water procedures.
So that walks with the dog bring positive emotions to both the owner and the animal, it is important from early childhood to train a pet, teaching the rules of behavior in various places and demanding impeccable obedience from the four-legged friend... Correct upbringing, lack of physical punishment and screaming will allow you to get in the future a faithful and reliable companion with a calm character, psychologically resistant to various kinds of stimuli that are constantly encountered during a walk.
What should not be done while walking?
When starting a dog, the owner must understand that he is responsible for it, and will have to be responsible for everything that the pet can do. Before buying a dog, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic rules that the owner must follow, and also clearly understand what he cannot do.
- You should not walk your dog near cultural and public places such as theaters, museums, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, as there are too many people who can cause the dog to behave inappropriately.
- You can not go for a walk with the dog, being intoxicated. You should not entrust walking animals of large breeds to children who have not reached the age of 15 and will not be able to keep the pet under control.
- You should not come to parks or areas where there are a large number of dogs, if the pet is overly aggressive, or its breed is considered dangerous to the health of people and animals.
- Walking with a four-legged friend, you should devote time to him, teach and train, but only for educational purposes. In no case should you train your pet on people or other dogs, as this can end in disaster.
- Being on the street, the owner and the pet should learn something new every day. If you don't teach a dog anything, then it will become a real nightmare for the household. On the street, you cannot pick up food and any other objects from the ground, the owner must give clear instructions on this matter, otherwise there is a risk of poisoning and illness of the animal.
- It is forbidden to walk the dog without a leash in a crowded place, even if it is a small-sized animal, and the owner is sure that it is not dangerous. It is best to purchase a leash that can be controlled in length so that you can give free rein to your pet when you can and pull it in when necessary.
- You cannot allow the dog to defecate anywhere - the sidewalk, playground and similar areas should not be a place for going to the toilet, and if this happens by accident, then the owner is obliged to clean up everything that his dog did. Feces cleaning is the responsibility of every normal owner, who takes care not only of himself and the dog, but also of the people around him.
Failure by the owner to comply with the basic norms and rules of keeping and raising a dog can lead to the fact that the people or animals around him will suffer, or it will all end in tears for an untrained pet. If any violations were identified, then the owner is obliged to pay a fine, the amount of which can be very significant.
For the rules for walking dogs, see the video below.
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