Thanks for the great response again this week!
Besides a new high of 1083.5 we have a new personal high and amazing achievement by one of our members.
Marie, Dare and their gang set a goal of 365 miles for the year. I’m excited to announce that as of yesterday, only a little more than five months into the challenge, they met their goal!
Yup, that’s right! They have 365 miles for the year so far!
Let’s all be sure to give them a pat on the figurative blog back, and a huge round of blogoshphere applause!
Congratulations guys!
A Successful Walk
So what makes a successful walk for you and your 4legged friends?
One thing I’m hearing from the WC members is variety. Seeking out new places to walk, different routes and different times keeps things fresh.
But I know routine is one key to Marie’s success.
I’m finding both things to be a key to our glimmer of success, that and sunshine seems to really help.
I recruited the help of a friend of mine who has a Cattle dog mix named Hooley to walk with us once a week. That routine and commitment really gets me jump started with a good chunk of miles for the week. Each week we try to choose a new route so we keep the variety in there too.
But those are things that make the walks fun for me. What makes a walk fun for our dogs?
Debbie talked about this on Fearful Dogs’ Blog last week. If you haven’t read , “It’s Not Just the Walk” you should, it’s well worth it.
Debbie points out, “Walks for dogs are about exploring, tracking, hunting and playing. Exercising a dog on a treadmill or on leash with business-like efficiency, while they have their benefits, is like getting calories from fat by eating a chunk of lard rather than a bowl of ice cream slathered in hot fudge. The job gets done with the lard, but a lot is lacking from the experience.”
She makes a good point that could affect all of us in the Walking Challenge. While a concrete miles goal keeps us motivated lets remember our 4legged friends don’t measure success by miles.
Success to them is being with us, exploring, sniffing, and yes, even rolling in smelly goose poop (Magnus and Bert) or dead things (you culprits know who you are.)
While those things may not be high on our list of priorities lets remember Debbie’s wise words, “Dogs need exercise and when no other options are available I suppose any movement is better than no movement. . . I take my dogs out on walks because it’s what dogs like to do. It’s what I like to do with dogs.”
This week lets think in terms of what makes our Walking Challenge miles fun and rewarding for our 4legged friends. I would love to hear from you all what your favorite aspect of your walks and what your pups are enjoying the most.
