Walking On The Wild Side

We just got back from a big walk.  DixieLee and I love to go for walks with our humans.  Mom is a big walker and a fast walker too.  Dad, not so much.  He tries to say he walks slower because I have to stop and smell every post and tree and pee 100 times not cuz he is old.

It was hot on our walk today.  The best time to walk is the early morning or at night when it is cooler but that’s not always possible.  There was a nice breeze today but the roads and sidewalks still can make our feet burn so our humans walk on the pavement and we walk on the grass.  We are very careful when we walk on the grass.  Some people put chemicals on their grass to make it look pretty.  Those chemicals are very bad for pets and can make you sick or even died.  Parks are good places to walk because there are usually lots of trees to make shade.  If you have to walk on pavement all the time, you can wear doggie booties to protect your pads.

Dad was sweating a little so he knew to drink some water but dogs don’t sweat, we pant, so our humans need to watch carefully to make sure we don’t get dehydrated.  When we go for long, long walks, we take along water and little bowls that fold up so we can have drinks too.  Mom keeps them in her knapsack but I know some dogs that have vests and carry their own water.

We live near town so most of the time we can walk on sidewalks.  Sidewalks are safer than roads but there are places where we need to walk on the road.  We make sure we walk facing traffic and that we dogs stay on the inside.  The inside is the best because it has the grass but also it is easier for cars to see big humans than small dogs.

Having a good harness or collar and good leash is very important.  We have good non-pull harnesses.  One time a big dog ran off of his yard and wanted to fight with us.  DixieLee was ready and able.  If she hadn’t been on a leash somebody could have gotten hurt.  Make sure you always have your tags on too just in case your humans get separated and lost.

If you do go for walks at night be sure to wear a reflective vest or collar.  There are lots of good products available that are very fashionable.  Be sure your human wears something reflective or at least light colored clothes too.  Have your human bring along a flashlight so other people and cars can see you coming and you can see other animals like skunks or porcupines before you step on them.

Walking is great exercise for humans and dogs so I highly recommend that you take your humans out for a walk as often as possible.  A fit human is a happy human and a tired dog is a good dog.

Be safe out there,

Love,
Zeva

P.S. Blatant self-promotion.  We know every dog loves treats but why keep them in the closet when you can keep them right on the counter in a pretty tin like My Own Dog Cookie Tin?  It makes begging for treats much easier.

Walkin' The Dog

The mail person brought a package for me and DixieLee the other day.  It was a surprise.  Mom bought us new harnesses.  I have to admit I am not the best leash walker.  I like to go fast and Mom is so slow.  It’s not her fault that humans only have two legs so they can only go half as fast as us dogs who have four legs. 

 Not being a great leash walker hasn’t been a big problem since we do most of our walking at Dog Park or at Dog Mountain where I don’t have to be on leash.  It would be nice to be able to walk other places so we have tried a bunch of different collars and harnesses but I didn’t like any of them.   I had a nice harness that I sort of liked but I still pulled cuz I wanted to go faster.  I know, we are supposed to do training but it just frustrates Mom and me so we gave up

 I liked that harness, it was a pretty purple color and it worked okay until DixieLee ate it. With two dogs to walk, we really needed to find something that made us be good leash walkers. Instead of buying a new harness right away, we tried using a gentle leader but I didn’t like it on my face.  DixieLee is okay with her gentle leader but it makes her face itchy and she tries to rub it off after it’s been on for a while.

 We looked at all kinds of leashes and harnesses but we didn’t like any of them much.  Then Mom heard about a new kind of harness that connects the leash to the front on my chest instead from behind on my shoulders.   It’s called Walk Your Dog With Love.  It works sort of like the gentle leader, turning me around if I start going too fast or going in a different direction than Mom wants me to go in.

 My new harness is black which looks absolutely stunning on me and goes nicely with my pink collar.   DixieLee’s is blue which looks very nice with her brown coat.  Mom’s pretty good with knowing fashion stuff.  This harness is very easy to put on too.   With my other harness, I had to pick up my foot and then Mom had to clip it this way and that.  The Walk Your Dog With Love harness is super easy to put on.  It slips over my head and Mom takes the strap under my tummy and clips it on the other side.

 Having an easy to get on harness is very helpful when you have a dog like DixieLee who gets so excited that she rolls around and squiggles every which way when you try to get her ready to go out. Mom likes that these harnesses are made in the USA.  They even have some stuff called Scotchlite on it which makes it easy to see us in the dark. 

 We tried them out today and I think they are going to work good.  We all went for a big walk in town and I hardly pulled at all.  I walked slower and Mom was able to keep up.  DixieLee walked better than me but that’s cuz she got to practice yesterday.  The only one who failed walking was Dad.  He was a real slow poke.  He needs lots more practice if he is going to walk with us again.

 Going for walks is one of the best funs we have so I’m happy we found a harness that makes walking even more fun.  Were you always a good leash walker and if not, how did you get better?

 Your good walking friend,

 Zeva

 P.S.  Blatant Self-promotion.   Our To The Rescue Gift Basket has everything a new dog needs, even a pretty leash.