Welcome to the first day of #DogWalkingWeek and the blog hop hosted by myself and Cascadian Nomads to celebrate National Walk Your Dog Week! I’ve decided to start off with some simple tips for changing your walking routine that will make walking more interesting and fun for both you and your dog.
I think one reason people don’t walk their dogs is they find it boring. If you always have the same walking routine it will get boring. You would be amazed at how interested your dog will be with just some simple changes. Humans need change too, something to keep you interested in walking. Remember these feet from last week? Well, they made for an interesting walk. It was a short walk, but it was fun for Mom and me and fun is important.
Now I will show you this huge guy we came across, and he was practically naked! Oh my dog!
He sure is one tall fellow, and since I look so small, you know he is big, but to really show off his size, the truck he is holding is a real sized truck!
Walking can be done any time anywhere and in any weather. Some tips I have to change up your walking routine without much effort are:
- Walk on the other side of the street. This may not seem important to humans, but trust me, for a dog’s nose, it is like a whole new walk with all the different smells.
- Walk the opposite direction. Depending on wind and weather conditions, the smells will change, so just a different direction puts new smells in our path.
- Vary your route and try to not walk the same route more than once a week.
- Leave your electronic devices at home, or turn them off. As a human, take note of what is going on around you. It may surprise you how much you can learn about your neighbors and neighborhood if you keep walking by paying attention.
- Try walking in a nice rain. Put on rain gear and head out. If you set your mind to it, it is actually really fun. Mom says it makes humans feel like a little kid again.
- Go out in the snow. There is nothing more quiet and peaceful than making the first tracks in fresh snow.
- Drive to a new location near your house and walk there.
Join our #DogWalkingWeek Celebration starting today!!!
- October 1st-7th will be the Walk Your Dog Week Blog Hop, Challenge and Giveaway. This blog hop will be for bloggers to share as many posts on walking tips as they want, challenging readers to walk their dogs everyday. Bloggers, readers and followers are invited to enter the random drawing giveaway through the PromoSimple widget (available October 1st.) Entrants will accept the Walk Your Dog Week Challenge and commit to walking their dog everyday through a blog post comment. They will then share an inspirational photo or video via blog post or social media during the wrap up using the #DogWalkingWeek hashtag. Old photos with the hashtag added cannot be accepted. Facebook shares must be on the wall of Cascadian Nomads or My GBGV Life. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and/or Vine shares must use #DogWalkingWeek and tag Cascadian Nomads or My GBGV Life.
- October 9th- 12th Walk Your Dog Week Wrap-Up Blog Hop and #DogWalkingWeek social media share: How did National Walk Your Dog Week go? Did you walk your dog everyday? Share the highs and lows, live and learn, as well as how to continue walking your dog beyond Walk Your Dog Week via blog hop post or social media. The random prize winner drawn on October 13th will have to have shared a #DogWalkingWeek wrap-up photo or video in a blog post or on social media or the prize is forfeited and a new winner will be drawn.
*Always consult a doctor before beginning or changing your exercise program. Always consult a veterinarian before beginning or changing your dogs exercise program. By entering this contest, entrants agree that they are fully aware of the risks of walking/exercising with or without dogs and agree to hold no parties involved in this contest liable for any consequences.
we have our post ready – it will be there bright and early in the morning 🙂 That is one big scary almost naked dude !
He is crazy isn’t he?
Um… I think I like the picture of just the feet better than the quite literal reveal!!! What exactly is the significance of the guy no wearing clothes? Couldn’t he haul that truck while wearing jeans and a tank top?
Great tips for mixing up the walking routine. I realized I was bored with our neighborhood walks because I suddenly didn’t want to go! So we went out for a special walk in another neighborhood yesterday… in a downpour! Needless to say, our dry neighborhood walk today was back to being fun for me.
I have no clue why that guy was created or what he has to do with a rock company, but nevertheless, it gets your mind working when you are out walking! Changing up a walk just a little bit can make it more interesting. Our evening walks are always more mundane, the morning ones are the long fun ones.
I don’t think I are gonna get my momma to walk in da rain and snow. At least we don’t get much of dem, BOL!
If you don’t have much of it, you can often avoid it. Around here it is just a part of life and walking dogs.
Those are excellent tips! I actually prefer driving somewhere to walk instead of walking in the neighborhood. People don’t contain their dogs very well and Phoenix gets upset if a dog runs up and gets in her face.
We walk 2-3 times a day, so we need to walk around our area, but our long fun morning walks are always real early so we rarely see anyone out there.
hahaha first I thought that’s David Hasselhoff… but he can’t lift up a real size truck, right?
LOL! Oh you crack me up! Never thought of that. I don’t think he is that tall either 😉
I knew the person who owned those feet was going to be large, but not quite that large.
Those are some great ideas for varying the walks! I always feel sorry for people who would rather be looking at their phone than having fun with their dog on a walk. It’s so much more fun if there’s interaction!
We feel the same way. Mom is plugged in most of the time but she has some rules about being unplugged and walking/running is one of those times. She loves to watch us and see what is going on around us and we have more fun too when she “talks at us” and sometimes goofs around with us.
OMD he is HUGE. We are going to try and stay out longer each day so that is great for me. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Best wishes Molly
That is great! Maybe run after tree rats more so you can’t be caught? That would lengthen the walk. Katie says she used to take of and play catch me with Mom a lot in Germany when she was off leash. It sometimes got her a whole extra hour!
Great tips! We especially like walking in the snow – everything looks so different and smells different, too 🙂
It is so wonderful, sadly many humans won’t go out in the snow, but our family loves it.
Great tips, we love walking anywhere and everywhere!!
Thank you. We like to keep it simple and fun.
Thise are great tips and the same old routine can be very boring!
You kitties like variety too…different boxes are always fun.
THAT is one BIG GUY… We don’t have to go fur walks here on our Hill… butt we surely did take a lot of walks while on Vacation… and Mom DID take us different directions each time we did it… PLUS we went to our favorite Park to walk too.
That sounds like lots of fun. We always have to walk as we have our rule…the yard is not a bathroom…we love to walk, so it is a good thing.
This is such a great hop!!! We will be entering!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Yay! Hop along 🙂
Walking in different places is certainly not an issue with us. Different state, different town, different paths. That is excellent advice though. Dogs need the extra cognitive stimulation to keep their brains healthy.
We love to walk when we travel, so does Mom. It is a great way to check out new surroundings.
So that’s who those feet belong too…
Don’t worry there will be lots of walking going on here, fall seems to have come to Colorado and there are so many of our parks we want to explore to see the fall color.
That is great. We thought you were starting a walking group or something but we may be mistaken. Fall is definitely a wonderful time for walking.
I did start a dog walking group and it’s going really well, I don’t know why I didn’t mention that because we’ve got a really big walk planned for this weekend.
That is awesome. I know you kind of hit a rough patch a few weeks back, so I thought maybe you scrapped that idea. It would be a great post.
Awesome suggestions, I especially love the rain one. Works perfect with the leaving your electronics behind suggestion. Just grab your keys, the pups and remember how fun it is to jump through puddles.
Exactly. If Mom is mentally set to get wet, we have a blast and we are the only ones out too!
Great tips! It’s always “national dog walk week” here. We walk every day, rain or shine – but mostly shine here since it’s So Cal and we’re having a crazy drought. Sometimes we have to cut it short cuz it’s too hot, but we always get out! Hopefully lots of folks will get out and start walking their pups! (Never would have guessed that was a half-naked dude you were standing next to, Emma! Hope you didn’t look up his shorts!)
Oh my…shame on your thoughts 😉 It is always walk the dogs day at our house too. 2-3 times a day, rain, shine, +90 or -20, we are out there. Keep on paw padding forward!
Luma and I can’t wait to do this challenge. We are a day late, so we will have to do a day over, but that is no problem. Also, she would like to know if those feet have a nice smell to rub on?
You are never too late. It starts today with walking but if you get a solid week in, that is the point. That whole guy was smelly, rather creepy, but interesting.
You always walk in the coolest places.
Cool and odd at times but it keeps things interesting!
Great tips Emma thanks! Mom and I try most of them, even the walking in the rain thing yesterday, but not intentionally! We’ll have our tips tomorrow! Love Dolly
We did a rain walk this morning, also not intentionally, but it happened and it turned out alright. See you tomorrow for your tips.
That is some crazy big statue!!
I realized when reading your post that maybe the reason we slacked off on walking is because I was getting bored with the same old places. So I’m working on a plan to make it more interesting for this week and beyond. For our first day it’s raining, so right there will change things up since we usually don’t walk in the rain!
We all got soaked on our walk this morning, but whether you walk for 10 mins or an hour, one is just as soaked, so we continued on. Hope you can get the boredom out and walk, walk, walk!
We walk everyday unless the vet tells us not to which has happened a handful of times. Mr. N insists on it!
My mom has walked when the dr told her to rest for a month…she said no way. We dogs love and look forward to our walks, no slacking here and thankfully no orders not to walk.
I commit to walk our dog 7 days a week.
Pawsome! Walking is a wonderful activity!
Love this idea. will definitely try to join in
I hope you do, it is going to be a fun week!
Even tho we kitties don’t walk or run with her, our mom sure does. And she agrees 100% – she loves changing it up! (and outrunning vishus thunderstorms, like she did today – boy was her face RED when she got home! MOL!)
It is Halloween month, could you kitties dress like dogs and let your mom walk you???
The feet pic is great. I’m totally going to join this hop. This time of year is tough, because it gets dark earlier, and there are fewer places to safely walk. Just recently I’ve found a path to a field that my doggies and I enjoy. I’ll have to blog about it for you!
Awesome! We like walking early mornings, we feel safer in the dark early in the day, less cars, weirdos, etc…Looking forward to your post.
Love the feet, and count me in. #DogWalkingWeek is going to be a lot of fun and I’m going to use a lot of your suggestions. Our walks today were pretty mundane but we’re going out to the park tomorrow for a few hours.
Some days are just walks because we always walk, not every one is a thriller, but if you change it up and add some special fun walks into your plan, it makes a big difference. Looking forward to seeing your posts!
We walked today and will continue to walk everyday.
If you keep walking and head northwest, you might make it to my house for the finale day 😉
Whoa, those are some HUGE feet on a HUGE dude! His truck is cool too. We walk different streets.
Variety is the key. Boring is no fun!
OMD Emma!! Look at those big feet, great for walking!!
I bet the guy has knee and back trouble, though, with is size!
That poor giant man forgot to finish getting dressed! How embarrassing! ;P
We’ve been bike riding everyday since Monday. Well, okay, I’ve been doing the bike riding and Petal has been running alongside it. We’re only gone for about 30 minutes but I come back exhausted and Petal comes back willing to nap. I’m trying to slowly build us up to biking for a full hour or going for a walk later in the same day. Before this routine we were hiking everyday for two or three hours, but we fell off the wagon for about a week, taking just short little walks here and there, and then decided it was time for a new routine. 🙂 It definitely helps to mix things up! We are soaking up this lovely fall weather and we’re already excited for snow. We love playing in the snow!
Thanks for your great tips Emma!
Changing it up is a wonderful thing. I’m glad you clarified that with Petal running along and not riding the bike as I was about to call the Guinness Book of World Records! You should join in our hop and giveaway!
We enjoy exploring new places and routes and try to change up our walking places weekly so it doesn’t become too boring, though we do enjoy our regular route too. We’ll commit to walking every day for seven days =)
Awesome! We have our “normal routes” a huge variety, but we love to take 1-2 special walks a week for a nice change. Glad to have you in the challenge! Don’t forget to put up a post and enter the widget!
That huge guy is silly…lol.
He is a real weirdo, but fun to find.
I commit to walking my dog daily for a week! We do 4-5 times a week most weeks. He LOVES being outside!
That’s great! Make sure and join the blog hop and enter the giveaway too!
I walk my dog after dinner every night.
That’s great for both of you. It’s always nice for mom to work off some of her food after a meal.
Barley and I walk at least once a day every day and usually get in two. We haven’t missed a day since August 26, so we’re definitely committed to walking every day during this week!
That is pawsome! Keep on paw padding along!
Didn’t know about this but sure have been walking!
It’s not too late to still enter. You can enter with social media if you don’t have a blog!
Since we live in an apartment, we walk many, many times every single day…even when it rains and the puggle claims he’s made of sugar. So, instead of promising to walk for 7 days, we’re promising to walk to seven new spots and discover seven new smells!
That is a great idea! We walk 2-3 times a day no matter what, but we have gone a few different places this week. Hope your sugar puggle holds up 😉
Great tips & ideas! I already walk my dog once a day at least, but we’ll try to explore and change it up this week!
It is amazing how small changes like the other side of the street really relieve the boredom we dogs sometimes get.
i commit to walking my dog 7 days a week. I already do this at lease 40 mintues a day
That is great. We walk at least 90 mins a day in 2-3 walks. It is one of our favorite things to do.
I will walk my puggies in Am and PM everyday! It good for them and me.
That is great! We walk mornings and evenings and most days midday as well. Love walking!
Those giant feet really plays with the human’s perception of relative size!
That dude was huge and creepy!
I commit to walking my three bulldogs seven days a week!
That is awesome! Walking is so important!