do you walk your dog in the dark?

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

my dm is always so shocked that anyone walks their dog in the dark
very strange.
she has had dogs but i guess she got home earlier enough not to have to walk her dog

Yup, mine are walked very early and very late. We have reflective leads, harnesses and flashing collar light. We also have light up balls so we can play fetch.

If I have to, but he prefers off-lead walks and I won't let him off in the dark because he's black and I'd never be able to find him. Nothing to do with safety though - and we're of course lucky that we can arrange our schedule around that as it gets dark so early here.

Someone walks two dogs through the woods behind our house in the dark - around 8pm, so probably a nice walk in the summer but pitch dark at this time of year. They have light up collars but he doesn't carry a flashlight. I have no idea how he sees where he's going, or why he's not scared.

For reference, they're lovely woods but very dense and can feel a bit spooky even on a cloudy day in summer because there's so much foliage, you can't see who's around.

@GoGoGretaDoll

If I have to, but he prefers off-lead walks and I won't let him off in the dark because he's black and I'd never be able to find him. Nothing to do with safety though - and we're of course lucky that we can arrange our schedule around that as it gets dark so early here.

Mines black which is why I bought the light up collar

Nope! They get about an hour a lunchtime every day. But no morning or evening walks.

generally no dark walks, but occasionally I've been out in the dead of night with a dog when there's a shout about the aurora. Current dog was so pleased to be out last time, really enjoyed the change. Also he's a huge twat who cannot be left alone, so he has to come if dh is at work.

I just found his light up collar and his extending lead has a torch on it too, although I tend to have a torch in the dog bag anyways....no idea why really since being out in the dark is not usual! We have the light up collar so he cannot pretend he has vanished from the garden, I pop it over his head when he goes out to the garden last thing.

I try to get out no later than dusk. But will walk after that if the day pans out that way. DDog has a very smart light up collar, and we stick to places where there will still be plenty of people around

Yes often early morning but not normally in woods.Also do a 20 min walk of evening as he won't toilet in the garden

Should add he is a large lab so safe from that point not so sure late at night if was a small dog

Definitely, I go out most nights about 8.30 ish for an hour

Not sure how I’d walk them otherwise. First walk of the day is a dark one and last walk is a dark one for at least 3 months of the year.

I was walking the dog at 6am every day from age 13 when we got our first dog. Usually in the park then but in the woods and fields now, I just take a torch.

I do but my dogs are massive!

I have found they are a lot more defensive if I meet someone else in the dark though so they are kept on lead.

Yes round the streets in the dark. Nowhere else unless my husband comes too.

We don’t walk from home in the dark as we live rurally on a un-lit, 60mph, narrow road. So sadly it isn’t safe. Instead we go out early in the mornings (I don’t mind if it’s dusk as there are less cars around) The dogs come to work with me so in the winter I can take them out for their second walk during the day. I would walk at night if we lived somewhere that had pavements etc.

I work some weird shifts so it's
Not unusual for me to be dog walking at 3am . Safest time of day I reckon ! I go down farm tracks with a head torch on . My dog is however a 56 kilo long haired German Shepard who looks like a bear so doubt I'd have any issues 😂

Yes, I frequently walk my dogs in the early hours of the morning.

Yes for the evening walk. And I tend to make it just a 20min walk- it's longer in the summer months.

I stick to the lit pathways and save the fields and parks for daylight

Yes, before work in the winter and sometimes afterwards. Very safe area, the dogs have decent recall, we have light-up collars.

The biggest risk is falling over a downed branch in the woods TBH.

Yes of course last walk 8:30 before bed. X

Yes,2 dogs so a head torch,so I don't break my neck
Safe village, street lights, just round the block

Yes ours are walked last thing 9.30/10. I’m used to walking the lanes and field in the dark and the dogs have light up collars. I have a head torch that I use if DH is working, the scariest things I see are the eyes of foxes, badgers or deer if they reflect in the light of the torch. I love walking at night and seeing the lights of the village twinkling below us.

Yes I do but stick to main well lit roads.

Sniffy walk round the block, sometimes on a well lit promenade. Lots of people here have dogs off lead on beach after dark.

Don’t fancy the local dog park after dark, too likely to step in something.

She gets 2 big walks in the day so 9nly needs a sniffy walk. Not every night.

Yes, but only for a comfort bimble first thing. I have a high-vis waistcoat, reflective lead and a collar light, plus a torch.

DDog really doesn't like the dark...or the rain, or the cold...
We do a good hour in the morning and then a sniffy walk in the dark most nights, but I carry him to a point and then he just heads for home.
He come with me in the school run and we try and visit a pet shop a few times a week for stimulation instead of an evening walk.
Summer is different, two one hour walks a day.