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Why won’t my dog slow down?
Slow, relaxed walks without frantic feelings and pulling on the leash may see like a distant dream for some, but they can be achieved with a bit of detective work.
Useful Strategy for City Walks: Splitting Up
Splitting up is a management technique we can all use in difficult situations. We can use different elements in our daily walks as a useful barrier between something worrisome and your dog.
Shifting our perspective
We write about Smiling Leash walks meaning a special moment that you can share with your dog. But for most of us walks are not really special, we take our dogs out several times per day and it may feel like routine. In this article we take a different perspective on these routine walks.
You need to train yourself first
Our dog needs training to walk with a loose leash. That's a given. Or is it? We would argue that we people need the training first.
That's because the behaviour of our dog and the quality of our walk hugely depend on our own actions. In most cases of dogs pulling on the leash, no training for the dog is necessary - it's the humans who can make several important changes to help their dog. Let's take a closer look at what we can do to drastically improve the walks:
The Tricky part of Let them Choose
Allowing our dogs to choose what to do can get us into tricky situations. All of us that share our life with dogs have had our fair share of this, even the calmest dog can get excited at the sight of a squirrel!
Walks in urban areas
It is entirely possible to have a great Smiling Leash walk in an urban area, but there are some things worth keeping in mind …
Puppies and Smiling Leash Walks
Smiling Leash walks is something that we can do with puppies. We want to share some ideas and tips to make them really enjoyable. Who doesn’t love seeing happy puppies playing and enjoying life? A Smiling Leash can help you achieve this.
Give Me a Moment
When our dogs stop to observe during the walk, we should give them a moment. We may not think about it, but dogs need time to process all the information that arrives via their senses and time to make decisions about what to do with it.
How to prevent an escape during the holidays
Fireworks cause a profound state of panic in many dogs and lead to an increased number of dogs running away and getting lost during the holidays. What can we do to prevent this from happening?
Practicing Mindfulness
This article will be less about dogs and more about the mental health of us, humans and dog guardians. We would like to share our personal thoughts about how we can practice mindfulness during smiling leash walks, and therefore, improve our mental health.
Finding Interesting Things
Letting our dogs explore new findings like objects, animals, and new places, is a great way to offer mental stimulation. Many things that we don’t see as interesting are a source of new odours and capture our dogs attention.
Freedom and Choice
Day after day we decide almost everything about the life of our dogs. However, letting our dogs make safe choices holds a lot of benefits. What they are? Discover in this article.
How do you know if your dog enjoyed the walk?
Dogs can tell us a lot without actually talking. If we just pay a little more attention to their behaviour, dogs can often tell us if a walk was good for them or not. Discover how in this article.
Tailored Walks
Do you know if your dog has special needs when it comes to walks? Read more to find out what to look for when planning your walk.
It’s OK to skip a walk
Walks are an important part of a dog's life but it is not necessary to take a walk every single day. Many of us may feel like we are failing our dogs if we skip a daily walk, but it may be just the opposite. Find out more.
Stop in the name of love
An incredibly simple little habit can help you improve not only walks with your dog, but your entire relationship!
Feeling Safe
What are the main pillars for us and our dogs well-being? Read about security and how it is something we all need to function well and cope with life's challenges. Our dogs' sense of safety depends on us in many ways., what can we do to improve it?
Why do you take walks with your dog?
Walking your dog is just something you do ... or is it? A walk can and should fullfill many different needs we might not always think about.
A quality walk does not mean a long distance walk
Watch Heidi enjoy a quality walk in this video. Quality walks are not equivalent to lengthy walks.
Dogs First
Allow your dog to walk in front of you. This is natural for your dog, it lets her explore and be inquisitive about things without so much interference from the handler.