what makes a good walk…?

… Not, for me, much dashing about. Dogs have energy to run off, yes, but as a general rule a dashing dog is a stressed/adrenaline-filled dog and that’s no good for anyone. Instead we aim for a brisk meander (oxymoron?!) with dogs active, engaged, wagging, sniffing, exploring, enjoying. And the pace that generally comes best at is a trot, not a gallop.

There’s moments on a walk where we encourage a touch of madness - that might be as we pass through a reed bed, sugar beet field, or bracken bank (all of which are irresistible); or as we navigate a stream or tackle an unexpectedly steep up/downhill - but those are moments, they’re controlled and they’re the polar opposite to the Wild West of a lot of dogs hoolying around an open field. The latter tends to be fun for the most dominant dog in the pack but not for anybody else.

I took a video this morning of a big and busy walk up here in Suffolk - our maximum amount of dogs, and most off-lead - which hopefully shows off that ‘brisk meander’ interspersed with ‘mad moment’ at a steep gully. The latter, interestingly, brought out the biggest wag I’ve yet seen from one particularly nervous little lady who clearly couldn’t quite believe she’d had the gumption to take on the gully dash and had lived to tell the tale. Building confidence in a fun way, that’s what we like….