Springing Forward on Your Dog Walks

Hello, and welcome back.

It is officially Spring! With a change of time and a little more sunshine, can you feel that sense of hope for better days ahead?

What better way to celebrate today than by taking a long walk alongside your dog?

Spring brings extra daylight, allowing you more time to spend outside. By being outside more regularly and enjoying more sunlight, this will bring a positive shift in both your mood and that of your dog.

While it can be easy to follow the same route on your daily dog walk, you may be limiting your outside experiences. While our dogs are much better at living in the moment than us - and can easily enjoy each walk (whether a repeated route or not) as a brand new experience - you can both benefit from exploring new locations.

• New locations = new smells for your dog

• New locations = new sights for you

New locations for walks also help our more anxious dogs. So many of my clients whose dogs experience a fear of people or dogs, say their dogs act completely differently when on holiday or visiting new places. When we go on adventures we tend to be more relaxed as our brain is pulled away from thinking about problems and instead focuses on the present moment while experiencing something new. Our shift in gear can help our dogs, who often mirror our own emotions.

New locations aren’t filled with history. There will be no memories of past scary situations that could have happened on their usual walks - whether that be a dog attack, a loud noise, or something else. Dogs are able to be more optimistic in a new location than one they’re overly familiar with.

So today, your first Sunday of Spring, I invite you to go exploring! And we’d love to hear where your adventures take you.

Until next time, happy walking.

Caroline