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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Guide
How Long Should You Walk Your Dog? By Age, Size and Energy
Most healthy adult dogs do well with about 30 minutes of walking a day in total, split over two walks, and high-energy breeds need a lot more. See how age, energy, size and health change the answer, the five-minutes-per-month guide for puppies, signs a walk is too long or too short, and how to build up safely.
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Guide
Dog Walking Games: Sniff Breaks, Find-It and Loose-Leash Play
Bored of the same loop? Give part of every walk to your dog's nose, then add one game: find-it with a tossed treat, connect the dots, chase me or a curb wait. Plus low bench tricks, new routes and how to match games to puppies, seniors and the weather.
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Guide
Dog Walking Etiquette: Sidewalk Manners, Greetings and Clean-Up
The unwritten rules of neighborhood dog walks: how short to hold the leash when people pass, keeping off lawns and gardens, picking up every time, asking before greetings, making room on narrow paths and changing the walk on a bad day.
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Guide
Can a Dog Wear a Harness All the Time? When to Take It Off
A harness is for walks, training and car rides, not for lounging or sleeping. See why straps left on rub, mat the coat and snag in crates, what stays on at home and overnight, the exceptions for travel days and newly adopted dogs, and a one-minute skin check.
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Guide
Apartment Dog Etiquette: Hallways, Elevators, Lobbies and Noise
How to handle your dog in a shared building: a short leash and a wait at your own door, when to ask, wait or carry in the elevator, lobby manners and pet rules, and how to cut the barking, late-night zoomies and nail clicks your neighbors hear.
