Consequences of not walking the dog

Author: Peter Berry
Date Of Creation: 18 February 2021
Update Date: 19 November 2024
Anonim
Side Effects Of Not Walking Your Dog
Video: Side Effects Of Not Walking Your Dog

Content

When we talk about the well-being of our furry best friends, we often insist on the importance of you going out for a walk with your dog daily, as sharing quality time with your dog, during exercise times, for example, is vital for the development of it and for what be happier and healthier.

If you don't do this, you will notice many consequences of not walking the dog, as you will read in this PeritoAnimal article. Not taking him for walks and exercise has a big negative impact on his health, personality and even affects how you live with him. Good reading.

Is it necessary to walk the dog?

First of all, we must keep in mind that the routine of walking the dog is not his whim, but a necessity because dogs, like many other animals, are not born to be quiet. In nature, it is normal that most animals move around and explore your environment in search of food and water.


However, by adopting a dog, he will have what he needs to live very easily - food, water and a place to sleep. Also, he needs encouragement and exercise and that is why it is important walk the dog every day. Below we will detail the benefits of dog walks:

Exercise

Like us, dogs need daily exercise to stay in shape and not suffer from long-term health problems, especially if your dog is hyperactive.

Stimulation

Dogs need to explore their environment through their senses, as this provides a mental stimulus that keeps them active, whether through the smell, sight, hearing, touch or taste. In addition to working on proprioception, if he has the opportunity to walk over different terrain and obstacles.


Mistakenly, many people believe that by having a house with a large garden or land, the dog already has that need covered. However, no matter how much space the animal has, if it's always the same, it won't have the need to go out and explore it because the stimuli will always be the same, and it won't have the need to move around to look for food. Walking the dog is necessary for him to meet new elements every day, which iboosts your mental stimuli.

Learning

When taking a walk, the dog will find new situations to face. It is under these circumstances that we can guide you on how to behave through positive reinforcements, so that the next times he finds himself in the same situation, he will be safe, as he will have clear guidelines about what he can and cannot do.


For example, if you walk your dog and meet a cat for the first time, you should maintain a calm and indifferent attitude, let it smell the scent from a distance and reward him if he doesn't change. That way, the next time you see a feline, it's very likely that it'll be calm and confident, although that doesn't mean you can let it go, as you don't know how it will react if it gets close.

Socialization

Likewise, walking the dog gives him the opportunity to meet a wide variety of other people and dogs. This will give him the opportunity to learn to relate correctly with other individuals and of being a dog with a confident personality in relation to unknown dogs.

However, we must always make sure that the other dog knows how to relate in a friendly way to avoid bad experiences, as some dogs have difficulties in relating to their own species due to bad past experiences or poor socialization as a puppy.

Strengthen the bond with your tutor

Even if your dog probably loves you, walking him is vitally important to strengthening your connection with your furry friend. That's because, as we mentioned, this is where you can establish basic obedience mechanisms and therefore develop a form of communication between the two of you during an activity that is very pleasurable for him, as explained in 10 reasons to walk your dog.

How many times do I have to walk the dog a day?

Now that you know why it's vitally important to walk your dog, you need to establish a walk routine with him.

First of all, we emphasize that each individual is unique and, for this reason, there is no standard routine for all dogs. Thus, this will depend on factors such as breed, age or physical condition of each dog, in addition to the specific needs of each one.

Whatever your dog's characteristics, all dogs should go out for a walk daily between 2 and 3 times distributed throughout the day, depending on the duration of the walk. As for the recommended tour time, it should last between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on the number of times you go out with him or, if due to specific circumstances, we can only take him out once a day, this should last for at least an hour. Likewise, as the most common thing is for the dog to go out to relieve himself, obviously a walk will not be enough, as it will have to last a long time and he will end up doing it indoors.

As we've already mentioned, you should find out about the individual needs of your dog or your future friend if you're considering adopting one and want to know which one will best suit your lifestyle. In other words, if it's a very active breed, you can't just go out for a walk once a day. Likewise, a young dog will have to go out more often than an older dog, because it has more energy, and socialization, stimulation and learning will be essential to form a trustworthy and stable personality in the future.

So, here we present a brief summary about the walks with the dog:

  • Is required? He always needs to go out for a walk, even those who live in houses with large yards or gardens.
  • How many times? The tour must be done between 2 and 3 times a day.
  • How much time? Tour time should range from 20 to 30 minutes at least.
  • Exceptions: If you can only go out once a day, stay with him for at least 1 hour on the street.

For more information, you can consult this other article on how often to walk a dog?

What happens if a dog doesn't go for a walk

Not walking the dog is harmful to his physical and mental health, as well as to living with him at home. For this reason, before adopting a dog into our family, it is necessary to consider whether it can be well taken care of, as unfortunately there are people who do not realize this responsibility. As a result, it is common to abandon the adult dog, which starts to manifest behavioral problems due to lack of care as a puppy. For this reason, let's see the most common consequences of not walking the dog:

Health problems

Physical exercise is necessary to take care of the body and mind. On the contrary, if a dog is not going for a walk, it may gain excess weight, as it will eat more than necessary due to anxiety or boredom and will not burn those extra calories, leading to problems such as:

  • Obesity.
  • Diabetes.
  • Muscle weakness.
  • Joint pain.

Hyperactivity and irritation

Not meeting your dog's physical needs will seriously affect his personality, since being locked in a space without getting tired means that the dog will end up with an excess of accumulated energy and, thus, will remain frustrated, bored and easily become extremely anxious and agitated by simple stimuli such as moving objects, noise or people and other dogs walking down the street.

behavior problems

This is undoubtedly the most easily observable consequence in the short term, as compared to the previous point, due to this excess energy that he cannot redirect in any physical activity, the dog will start to develop multiple behavioral problems, such as:

  • Barks: or to get the attention of their guardians, as a result of external stimulation or in a more serious case, due to compulsive behavior.
  • Break objects: the need to perform activities generates anxiety and frustration and the dog ends up directing this to different household items. For this reason, it is not uncommon to see dogs uprooting plants, ruining pillows or even pieces of the sofa.
  • Pee or poop in inappropriate places: Generally, it is preferable to educate a dog to relieve himself outside the home. However, if you can't walk the dog enough, you're obviously not giving him the option to pee or poop in the street. Also, once a dog has learned to relieve itself at home, it will take a slow re-education process for it to learn to do it outside. Here we explain how to teach a dog to poop and pee in the right place.
  • Eats excessively: boredom can cause the dog to be distracted by the only thing available to him, in this case, food. As with humans, dog anxiety can be associated with overeating. Sometimes, even if the dog does not have food at his disposal, he can develop the so-called pica syndrome and, therefore, start eating objects that are not suitable for consumption, such as paper, earth, clothes...
  • Aggressiveness: As we've already seen, a dog that doesn't take regular walks can develop an easily irritable personality. This can lead to bad experiences and compromising situations, which can result in the dog engaging in aggressive behavior such as growling when approaching his food bowl, toys, etc. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior can take long-term roots in a bad way.
  • Insecurity and protection of the territory: Due to the lack of new stimuli, it is natural for the dog to develop a somewhat fearful personality and may be frightened by anything unknown that you incorporate into the home. Likewise, it is also natural that this insecurity creates the need to protect your property from outsiders. Therefore, in these situations, it is common to see dogs overly vigilant with their territory, for example, barking whenever someone approaches the door or when there are guests.

Finally, it is important to understand that if your dog has a behavioral problem due to lack of exercise, it will not be enough to re-educate him to correct the behavior. When we want to solve a problem with a dog, it is necessary to know if the dog's welfare is covered, that is, if the guardian takes care of all the essential needs of the animal.

You can also see more about what happens if you don't take your dog for a walk in this video from our YouTube channel:

If you want to read more articles similar to Consequences of not walking the dog, we recommend that you enter our Basic Care section.