Walking & Training
Good walks start with gear that fits, the right things in your pocket and a little practice. Begin with how to measure a dog for a harness, collar or coat, then use the dog walking essentials checklist to pack for every walk, including after dark.
If your dog drags you down the street, the short-session plan to stop leash pulling is the place to start. Walking a cat? This topic also has a slow, week-by-week harness plan. The harnesses, collars and leashes these guides mention are in reflective dog walking gear.
-
Guide
When You Need a Harness With a Handle, and How to Use It
The handle on a harness looks like a lifting strap and is not one. This covers the situations where it earns its place, the honest answer about lifting a dog by it, the harnesses actually built for assisted lifting, and the hazards of leaving a handle on a loose dog.
-
Buying guide
Reflective Gear for Walking a Dog at Night: What Drivers Actually See
Most night-walk kit is bought for the dog, when the person is the harder one to see and the one standing in the road. This covers the difference between reflective and light-emitting gear, how far ahead a driver needs to pick you out, and where reflectivity actually belongs.
-
Comparison
Slip Lead vs Standard Leash: When Each One Belongs
A slip lead is a collar and lead in one piece that tightens when a dog pulls. That makes it excellent for handling and a poor everyday choice for a dog who pulls constantly. This comparison covers both sides honestly.
-
Comparison
BioThane vs Nylon Leashes: Which Holds Up Better
Coated webbing and traditional nylon behave completely differently once they get wet. This comparison covers how BioThane is made, where it genuinely wins, and the situations where nylon remains the sensible choice.
-
How-to
How to Use a Long Line for Recall Training
A long line gives a dog real freedom while you keep a way to stop things going wrong. This guide covers choosing a length, why it goes on a harness, how to handle it without burning your hands, and how recall training actually progresses.
-
Guide
When to Pick Up a Small Dog, When Not To, and How to Lift One Safely
Lift your small dog early, before a big dog arrives, in crowds and on escalators, but not once a big dog is worked up or your own dog is lunging. Learn a pick-up cue, the two-handed hold, elevator leash safety, when a carrier helps and what to do if your dog hates being held.
-
Checklist
What to Tell Your Dog Walker: A Handover Checklist
Everything a new dog walker needs on one page: where the gear lives and how it goes on, how your dog walks, leash and route rules, medications and treats, emergency contacts, the door routine, weather rules and a first walk together.
-
How-to
What to Do When an Off-Leash Dog Approaches You and Your Dog on a Walk
A loose dog is heading for you and your leashed dog. How to read its body language in seconds, walk away without running, block it with your body and a firm voice, buy time with treats or an umbrella, and what to check and report if the dogs make contact.
-
Checklist
What to Do If Your Dog or Cat Is Lost: The First Hour and First Day
A lost pet checklist for the first hour and the first day: where lost dogs and hiding indoor cats usually go, who to call, what to put on a poster, how to search at night, how to get a scared pet home safely and how to keep it from happening again.
-
Guide
Walking a Dog in the City: Crowds, Crossings, Hazards and Potty Spots
Busy city sidewalks need their own habits. Learn how to keep your dog close in a crowd, teach a sit at every curb, pass doorways safely, spot glass, bones and rat bait before your dog does, and find a potty spot when grass is scarce.
-
How-to
Teaching Kids to Walk the Dog: When They’re Ready and How to Start
Your child wants to take the leash. Here’s how to tell whether your child and your dog are both ready, how to run practice walks with a backup leash, and what your child should do when the dog pulls, lunges or meets another dog.
-
How-to
Taking Your Dog to a Restaurant Patio: Manners and What to Bring
How to take your dog to a restaurant or brewery patio: practice a settle at home, check that day’s dog policy, pick a table out of the servers’ path, keep the leash off the table, bring your own water and leave while your dog is still calm.
