In the past week I discovered podcasts. I have no idea how I have lived my life without them! I've set my phone to download podcasts for various topics I'm interested in, and when I take Snowie for walks now, I listen to them. It has transformed my walks -- I walk faster and I come back feeling so much better educated! But I was concerned that I would not be paying enough attention to Snowie (for relationship building -- otherwise it's perfectly safe where we walk, no roads, etc). On our first walk with podcast I realised he spends all his time racing around sniffing trees and not really interested in me, while I was always watching his every move. Now, with a podcast in my ear, I am still watching him, but he's not my entire focus. And I discovered something really interesting: he appears to be checking in with me a lot more. Or perhaps, because I'm not so focused on him every second, it just seems that way. It made me wonder how healthy it is to be so transfixed on our dogs every second of a walk. Maybe they also need some space to run and discover without a set of eyes on them every moment? I'm not referring to interacting with them -- playing a game, for example -- which I think is a wonderful way to build a relationship, but when simply walking in silence for the sake of being outside and having a walk.
I also really wanted to ask: do our dogs pay more attention to us when we're not paying so much attention to them? This is what actually prompted me to write the post!
Interesting. I know exactly what you mean. I think if I get distracted and am not paying full attention, Lilly is more likely to stop, wait until I check in with her (not always eye contact, could be just looking in her direction) before she carries on with her sniffing/chasing whatever.
I think dogs are all different, Benson will bimble happily beside me now. Casper, no, he has a sixth sense for when I am distracted and will use the opportunity to disappear over the horizon! Bramble is just a pup, but influenced by whichever dog I am with, unless on my own with her. The fosters we had, liked to know exactly where I was, probably an element of anxiety on their part.
Some dogs very well may pay attention to a distracted handler (and indeed you can train them deliberately or inadvertently to do this - as I've just been reading in control unleashed). With a dog like Charlie, I don't take my eyes or my attention off him hardly at all, because he'll find mischief - absolutely guaranteed. That doesn't mean that I'm completely on top of him, or he doesn't get to do his own thing, but he gets rewards for check ins, he stays within about 30m, and I do watch him. I briefly took my eyes off him the other day when he was behind me on a track and I turned round - he had gone! Scaled a bank and legged it across some allotments to say Hi to some chickens. While licking his lips no doubt....he came back, but I didn't know where he had gone until I blew my recall and heard him crash back across someone's broad bean patch....
Coco has my attention 100% of the time when we're on lead. He will lapse otherwise. I chatter to him constantly, I don't know if this is good or bad, but I feel it keeps the connection going. I'm constantly rewarding him for good choices - either with food or praise. Off lead, I still have my attention on him 100%, even when he's off zooming through the trees. We're still interacting, doing recalls, sit/down/heel, playing fetch with the tennis ball, telling him about the birds or fungi etc, or just letting him sniff. There's no way I could go out with Coco & earphones, we'd simply lose the connection. Maybe I'm nuts ?
It scares me to see someone out with both ears plugged in. A neighbour lady speed walking in the bush nearly jumped out of her skin when the dog and I passed her. Men do drive that bush in pickups, what if an (admittedly rare) bad one drove by and nabbed her? Please be really careful.
When I visit the UK, it saddens me to see so many people just going through the motions with their dogs on walks*. They're distracted, maybe on the phone, maybe listening to music or whatnot. Maybe it's just me, but I consider a walk with my dogs to be a walk with my dogs, not just one where we roughly follow the same path. We're constantly playing with one another, taking in the sights and sounds. They get to go and sniff stuff, and to follow their noses, sure, but I ensure as much as I can that the most exciting things are always created by me. We find treats scattered on the floor that I find for them, sausage trees, pine trees where I help them pluck the best cones, we do little bits of training for fun games as we go, all bundled up as fun interaction. I don't want to disengage from my dogs. Their joy is my joy. *I'm sure this happens elsewhere, too, it's just we very rarely meet other dog walkers where we are!
I totally get what you're all saying about wanting to engage with your dogs on walks, and how awful it is to see people out with their dogs but totally disinterested in them. Not only did it sadden me on behalf of the poor dogs in our park, but it also annoyed me when people would be playing on their phones and say to their dog, "Go play, what's wrong with you?!" when all the dog wanted was to play with them. On the other hand, I suppose I didn't know what was going on at home -- perhaps they played all day with their dog. I also get what you're saying about people not hearing anything while being "plugged in" -- that also annoys me, particularly if their dog is annoying my dog, or if their dog needs them. And if you didn't know me, you'd think I was the same if you saw me on my walk with my ears "plugged in" -- well, in the past week that is, this is all so new to me! Although I bet you wouldn't think the same if you saw me with a friend walking our dogs -- we're deep in conversation while our dogs are racing around. It's that withdrawn selfishness of being so self-contained with ears plugged in and switched off to all around you that I suppose is so distasteful. I have my volume on very low -- I could chat to someone at the same time with them in (very sensitive hearing!). But I shall take heed and make sure that my relationship with my dog does not diminish because I've found another interest! But I walk Snowie twice a day, sometimes three times (if I'm working from home), and sometimes I also want a little "me" time!!
I understand that completely. Sometimes I feel like I just want to read a book or listen to a podcast when I'm walking with my two in the countryside. But I am a bear of little brain and couldn't concentrate on both that and my dogs at the same time. I find it hard walking with friends who want to talk to me when I want to be engaging with my dogs. If that happens, I tend to rely on my husband to interact with the dogs. I guess I'm naturally a bit anti social I work long hours at home and, whilst the dogs are there with me, they don't get a lot of attention, so I feel they deserve my attention when it's their time.
I would think it depends on you and your dog. Homer checks in with me quite regularly. He can also sometimes stay to say hello a bit longer than the other dog is comfortable with so I need to call him back to me. Some days I know beforehand that he's in a sensible mood other days he's got a cheeky glint in his eye and I don't trust him as much as usual. I'm sure it's possible to listen to a podcast while still keeping an eye on your dog, we manage to listen to the radio and drive in traffic at the same time.
The walk is my dogs time so it's all for them. They get my full attention and we have fun. I love moving quickly through the countryside with a group of dogs moving with me. We cover a lot of ground and its so peaceful and feels right somehow i love it nothing better. I'm addicted to it and get twitchy if I don't get enough miles to take the edge off the day. At the moment I'm just down to 1walking dog and 1short walk dog . I'm getting a boarder next week so the black dog gang will back in geriatric action. Long live the black dog gang
I think there's a big difference between being totally engaged with your phone while your dog runs amok and occasionally enjoying music or a podcast during a walk in a safe area. For town/city walks, I was always unplugged, but for jogging with my pup or long hikes, I really liked having at least one ear "plugged in". I think it helps you go longer, too, which nearly any dog is going to be all in favour of! Also my dog was very good at telling me when something was up, even if I was plugged in. We were up in the hills in California once and came across a mountain lion and boy did he tell me all about it WAY before I myself would have noticed (it really blended in to the hillside). Of course, then he wanted to go make friends, which I did NOT let him do. Yeah, he wasn't the best "guard dog", bless his heart. ;-)
I love podcasts and listen to them at bed time or if I wake in the early hours. Try 'No such thing as a fish' - brilliant. I think dogs work and walk much better when we are relaxed. If podcasts help you relax then they'll help Snowie too. ...
Yep walking will be so much better when the "little darlings" have gone back to school . It would more than a podcast to keep me calm during the school holidays. Only a few more weeks to go and the parks will be safe again!
I agree I have to be 100% attentive to Mabel otherwise she would be number 1 mischief maker. It's just the type of dog she is. Once I was speaking on my phone and turned round and she had disappeared I still have no idea what she was eating in the hedge, I paid for my lack of concentration later when she was sick all over the lounge carpet.
There's a guy who walks on our park and he actually reads a book. His poor dogs are just ignored so sad
Thanks -- downloading an episode right now! I've been listening to TEDTalks mostly. I must say that I am relaxed when I walk regardless. Although interestingly, today I decided not to listen to the podcast for much of the walk and realised that I play my own podcast in my head, so I'm concentrating on something -- usually work going around and around. If I were actively interacting with Snowie and now stopped to listen to podcasts, then it would be different. But actually, listening to podcasts or not, we both trot along on the walk, him sniffing, marking, and kicking dirt, and greeting his friends, and me either in my own thoughts, (now) listening to a podcast, or chatting to other dog walkers. He's older now and I suppose I've become lax in interacting with him like I used to when he was a puppy/young boy -- then I'd practice checking in by doing a lot of about turns or hide behind trees, or I'd be practicing some down stays. But he's good at all that and I don't have the same motivation for that as I used to.
Its very easy to get distracted at home and not give Holly enough attention. For me a walk is an opportunity for one-to-one bonding. We play a few games, do a bit of training or just wonder along together. Sometimes when we're walking I hear birds or other wildlife, which I would probably miss if I was listening to a podcast or some music. I think walks are more enjoyable without music.
