What is a walk? Human vs Dog

The human perception of a walk is very different to a dog's perception of a walk. We tend to think of it as a means to get from A to B and we don't often stop and relax... after all, it's a walk. This leads us to walk our dogs like we walk ourselves.

Now if you sat down and asked your dog what they would envision a walk would be, they'll likely come up with a different answer.

Theirs wouldn't be a linear walk (unless they're on a mission), they would stop often, explore the environment via smells, sights and sounds and probably, if tracked by satellite, would look like a drunk staggering home from the pub.

Think of stray dogs you see abroad when you're on holiday. They aren't marching down the pavements. They're roaming around in no particular pattern, exploring the environment, seeking calm and rest in safe areas and only directly approaching dogs they either know or when in competition of resources. When we walk in straight linear patterns with our dogs, we're actually completely going against their natural behaviour, which can lead to poor lead behaviour and reactivity.

That's not to say you can and shouldn't ever walk your dog on a route, because hiking is great for a lot of dogs and physical exercise is important, but next time you go on a dog walk, I want you to think of the quality of the walk rather than the quantity. I want you to put yourself in your dog's head and try and do what they would do (if appropriate). Let them follow their nose sometimes, let them stop and sniff a bush for 5 minutes if they want to, see where it leads them. Let them retreat from something if they want to retreat. Let them investigate something they want to investigate (again if appropriate). Keep it slow and steady. To quote a cheesy phrase...

'Be at one with nature'.

You don't have to do this on every walk, but the times that you do, your dog will thank you for it. They aren't human. They're dogs.