Fairweather Dog Walkers

gettingready

with Zara and "her moment" - I prefer to walk in bad weather when there is less dogs around so I do not have to worry having my eyes on 360 degrees view in case some dog appears and she wants to scare the hell out of him.. sigh....

like relaxing walks without having to worry - does not happen often with her that she wants to chase a dog but it does so always have to be on the lookout.. sigh...

she is with the dog walker 10:30 - 2:30 every day till end of march when she will be back to one hour walks with dog walker as will be lighter then when I get home from work and it will be easier

joansgirl

I know that most of the posters on here are responsible owners, it's other people that bother me. There are some owners in my area that freely admit they only dog walk in nice weather and that when it's raining/snowing/windy/just generally not very nice, their dogs only get put out in the garden. Some of these people seem to regard their animals as "walking accessories" and like a new pair of trainers, only see the light of day in good weather. I must admit that I prefer the bad weather and dark mornings and evenings as it means Bailie's got a bigger area to explore with only other dedicated dog walkers and their animals for company. Once the nice weather is here most of our usual haunts are full of picnicking families and out of control dogs. So then we're restricted to the waste ground, which is fine coz at least she can go off lead and I don't have to worry about her snatching food off people and jumping up when she's been in the lake. So now that spring seems to be well and truly on the way it'll be round and round the waste ground, until next winter!

SpendlessKaren

When my old staffie girl was still alive she was a fair weather walker to say the least. She wouldn't go out if it was raining, threatening to rain or even just overcast, if it was dark, before 11 am and never after 4pm. If it was raining she would literally wait all day just to dash out in the garden for a wee, and never ever got up before 10am
So it's not always the owner who doesn't want to go walkies lol

dibuzz

SpendlessKaren wrote: »

When my old staffie girl was still alive she was a fair weather walker to say the least. She wouldn't go out if it was raining, threatening to rain or even just overcast, if it was dark, before 11 am and never after 4pm. If it was raining she would literally wait all day just to dash out in the garden for a wee, and never ever got up before 10am
So it's not always the owner who doesn't want to go walkies lol

Same here, my lovely staffie girl hated rain and wind. If I tried to take her out she would pull backwards till she was back inside and if we were already out when it started she would cower and run round in circles trying to escape it.
Some days I had to stand over her in the garden with a golf umbrella over her just so she would have a wee :rotfl:

I'd give anything to be able to take her for another walk though whatever the weather

chucknorris

meames wrote: »

even though at 5pm on the dot he would be sat waiting go, or at least make his presence known that it was time!

When I was a child our dog used to go to the lounge door wagging his tail for his evening walk just before 8 pm on some evenings. My parents couldn't work out how he knew that it was time, until one day coronation street was on earlier than the usual time. When the show ended with the music playing, our Whisky was waiting by the door with his tail wagging, it was then that they realized that it was the coronation street theme music that alerted him.

MrsAtobe

chucknorris wrote: »

When I was a child our dog used to go to the lounge door wagging his tail for his evening walk just before 8 pm on some evenings. My parents couldn't work out how he knew that it was time, until one day coronation street was on earlier than the usual time. When the show ended with the music playing, our Whisky was waiting by the door with his tail wagging, it was then that they realized that it was the coronation street theme music that alerted him.

With our first dog it was the 'Neighbours' theme tune .

The only weather I won't walk in is when it's icy underfoot, or on snow that's been compacted, it's not worth injuring myself, and being out of action for a while.

Our current dog doesn't enjoy the rain, and on the odd day where it's been really wet and windy, he's gone out and just kept stopping dead and pulling to go home. He looked so pathetic squinting up and me with his ears plastered back by the wind I didn't have the heart to keep him out.

MallyGirl

I have 2 sled dogs so they like it cold - when it warms up walks have to be very early or late But I chose the breed so I have to put the miles in whatever the weather. One is not so keen on the rain whereas the puppy just lies out in it.
For ice or hard packed snow I highly recommend a set of YakTrax - they work brilliantly

joansgirl

I meant to say earlier that I do realise that some dogs don't like going out in the bad weather and there's even the occasional one who doesn't like going out at all. That's fine. Sometimes when it's bucketing with rain i feel quite envious of the owners! It's the ones that would be willing to put up with any kind of weather just to get out of the house that upsets me. Also a lot of these fairweather dogs are poorly socialised so when they do go out they're completely out of control. It's a sad world for them.

lostinrates

MallyGirl wrote: »

I have 2 sled dogs so they like it cold - when it warms up walks have to be very early or late But I chose the breed so I have to put the miles in whatever the weather. One is not so keen on the rain whereas the puppy just lies out in it.
For ice or hard packed snow I highly recommend a set of YakTrax - they work brilliantly

Inversely when we were showing, on when my dogs are expected put or 'working' in the heat on any occasion I feel its important to keep them acclimatised to weather. So many dogs (and horses) suffer because they aren't worked in the heat ever at home yet are expected to perform at their best on hot days.

We stick to the same routines year round, the morning one gets earlier ...sand the longer walk/time outside is in morning (though all are always willing to come in summer) then a shorter one at the heat of the day in summer still. The differences mainly are timings of the evening one ( morning and evening ties in with locking up or letting out poultry ) and I also change the time I feed summer and winter.

neveranymoney

I'm the same joansgirl, if the dog doesn't want to go out, that's fair enough but when we were down on the beach, dressed like fishermen due to the 'inclement' weather - we saw not a sinner. Now the drier weather had arrived, I've never seen so many people with dogs in my puff. Where were they all hiding?

Already the unpicked up doggy doo is mounting up, people let their dogs off for a good run whilst they play/chat on their phones and you can't seem to have a nice peaceful amble. God but I'm turning into a right grump!

I'm an odd bod anyway and love seeing the dark nights drawing in and coming in from a wet and mucky walk to a roaring fire and hot chocolate. Light evenings mean youths meandering outside the house, lots of dogs who's owners let them belt about and the worst bit in my opinion, facing up to the fact I can't hide under voluminous jumpers and card is for much longer and I will have to diet to get into summer clothes. AGAIN!