Why do dogs need to go for a walk?

Those who have chosen dogs as a companion animal assume that they must be taken for a walk every day to relieve themselves and practice exercise. However, few know that this walk is also the equivalent for the dog to reading the news by humans.

A quiet walk, not in a hurry, that allows the dog through the olfactory images, to capture the environment, will be an invaluable contribution to his emotional health and by logical consequence to his full physical health.

Some authors talk about dog walking as a human invention and suggest replacing it with games. The proposal is much wider: walk and games together are undoubtedly the ideal for our full relationship with dogs.

The best thing we can do is to include in the time of the walk to those games to stimulate the dogs and that they enjoy a full and happy life.

The walk should not be hasty or have as the sole and exclusive reason to comply with the physiological mandates of the animal. In addition, the walk should take time and allow you to sniff in order to achieve what would be our equivalent of looking at stained glass windows or visually appreciating a landscape.

Through smell the dog will be able to discern who passed by, let him know that he also went through his marking and have a clear panoramic notion of his neighborhood environment, absolutely necessary for his fullness of life.

The games that a dog can play are varied, one of them is the “take and bring”, which consists of throwing a ball, a stick or an object and that the dog recovers it by bringing it. With regard to this game, it is often difficult to recover the object or ball that once the dog catches it, considers it his possession or prey “already dead” and does not return it, frustrating the development of the game sequence.

One way to allow the continuity of the game is to do it with two balls and when the first one recovers we make the second one bite, which will be more attractive because it is “alive” when it bounces with our action and will prompt it to release the first one continuing the development of the activity.

Another game is the “mothief” of our childhood, which consists of chasing and being chased by exchanging roles consecutively. On the other hand, many dogs understand the game of ambush as the “hide and seek” of human childhood and know how to practice it.

Another of the games that dogs like the most is to search for hidden treats as it allows them to develop their sense of smell.

The truth is that on or off the walk, play is a necessary and fundamental way of bonding with our dogs, since stimulation on a physical and mental level will make the animal calmer and happier.

*Prof. Dr. Juan Enrique Romero @drromerook is a veterinary physician. Specialist in University Education. Master's Degree in Psychoimmunoneuroendocrinology. Former Director of the Small Animal School Hospital (UNLPAM). University Professor at several Argentine universities. International lecturer.

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