WALKING THE DOG- A CHORE FOR KIDS?

With a new school year, you may be adding to the list of responsibilities your kids have. Should your human babies be taking your fur babies out for a walk?

The answer is, it depends.

If your kid is under 10, it’s generally not a good idea for them to be taking your pup on a solo cruise around the neighbourhood. There’s lots of situations that can pop up on a walk they just may not be able to handle. The size of your dog (and kid!) matters too. Your 6 year old could probably safely leash walk your Yorkie, but will probably get dragged behind your Lab. 1/5th of your kids body weight is a great guideline to keep everyone safe.

Supervised walks are a great way to give your child responsibility- while keeping your pup safe. Teach them to pick up poop, use your dogs obedience training and how to handle the situations they’ll encounter on a walk. Then, once they’re ready you’ll be able to assign dog walking as a chore!

If our kid isn’t quite ready for walks, playing in the yard is a great way for them to bond with your pup. Here’s a list of simple games they can play:

• GO FIND IT! Have your pup sit and stay, your kid can hide some training treats for them, and then on the command “Go Find it!” your pup can go look. (Works indoors too!)
• OBSTACLE COURSE your kid can create an obstacle course with items in the yard, and train your pup to get through each challenge
• FETCH You know how this works, right?

Of course, if you need our help, we’re able to do paw-ty breaks, walks and runs with your pup.

And, we’ll play with your pup too!

If you haven’t already check out our services HERE.