I’m not going to pretend that every single one of my personal dogs gets a walk every single day of the week, every week, all year long. That is not the case! Perfection is not the point of this post; the point is to understand the advantages of a daily structured walk, and why that’s a good goal to shoot for.
What is a “structured walk?”
The difference between a structured walk and a regular walk is that a structured walk requires the dog to maintain the heel position and pay attention to its handler. This makes it a mental exercise as well as a physical exercise—which means your walk is burning physical energy, mental energy, and also reinforcing training.
Leadership benefits
A structured walk is also a leader-follower exercise. You are leading the walk and your dog is following, not just physically but mentally as well. This makes the daily structured walk a valuable exercise for reinforcing the leader-follower dynamic of the owner-dog relationship. That makes it especially important to reinforce regularly when the dog first returns home from a board and train and anytime behavior issues kick up, but it’s also an important part of a long-term balanced dog life.
The need to be out in the world
Although most of the “wild” has been bred out of our pets from generation to generation, they’re still animals and animals still have the urge to explore. Some folks mistake this need to explore as the need to stop and sniff every bush and tree they pass on their walk, but there is another way. Simply being out and about on a structured walk with you on a regular basis satisfies this need for exploration. Change up your walking path from time to time, and work in field trips to new places here and there. Hiking and parks are usually a dog favorite as well.
I’m not here to shame you for not walking your dog every single day! Perfection is not the goal, but I hope this post reminds you of all the benefits of a regular structured walking practice. It’s good exercise, but it’s so much more than that, too.
Happy walking!
