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.