Do you mostly walk the same dog walk route?

[inthedoghouse2]

When you walk from
Home do you mostly follow the same route?

Do you think dogs prefer the same route so they know where they are going and where they like to sniff or is a different route each time better as more unknowns to explore?

Ours has never liked walking round the block. She’ll sniff etc. but quite often just turn round for home.

there are 2 glens we go to regularly, about 4 times a week, there’s a beach, a river, sticks…she would go there everyday .

the beach too as there’s always something new to roll in.

basically she won’t get out the car unless it’s a spot she approves of. We get her out. Her grandparents drive around till she finds somewhere of her liking.

we have 3 routes that we can use, as our dog is very nervous & reactive. He doesn't do too well on walks, so stick to where we know he is relaxed & happy. Then on weekends we hire secure fields so he can have a good old run & there's always lots of smells for him from the other dogs. Ours is fairly lazy though & very happy with quick familiar walks, as he we tire his brain out in different ways. Although as he's got an illness he's usually happiest just sleeping all day.

No, I mix it up. I go on 3-4 walks a day with my dogs so doing the same walk over and over again would be incredibly boring. We live in a city and walk all over it and sometimes we take the metro to the woods or a boat to one of the islands just outside the city. They always get more tired after a walk somewhere with lots of new smells.

We do the same walk most days but it's mainly off lead and through the woods. Dog is reactive and we don't come across many other dogs on that route. If we go somewhere a little busier she tends to spend more time on the lead and seems much more tense afterwards (and she's a border collie that needs that run off lead).

Mine gets bored, as do I.
Heis off lead walk is always in the same area, but we vary the times and the path. His morning walk varies and one a week we drive to one of the other coastal towns for a beach walk.

We mix it up otherwise it becomes predictable for us and dog and it’s nice to change the scenery. Means that if something happens on your ‘regular’ dog walk that means your dog needs to go a different route they are happy with it rather than being spooked and unhappy at the change. Some dogs would be happy with that some not. I also don’t stop to let my dog sniff, we’d never get anywhere if I did. Dogs do need a sniff but I decide where, when and for how long then move on. Usually if I feel he’s a bit twitchy - has seen a dog or person that’s excited him or made him a bit nervous he’ll go sniff, shake it off then we move on, he can sniff off lead as much as he wants though.

We have a few standard walks which we mostly do.

But what we choose depends on the time of year, weather, tides. How much time we have. And what we fancy doing

Generally beach in morning then fields in the afternoon. Lots of dogs where I live so she sees her 'friends' and plays. I'd say the afternoon walk is more 'sniffy' - she loves bushes and scent marking.

Mostly the dog chooses. It’s his walk.
walking from home there are lots of circuits long and short - some he can go off lead.
we do disagree if he wants the pet shop and it shut 😂.
also his desire to go swimming with the kids we sometimes watch getting off the bus , remains in requited !

I think mine likes to have some new places to explore along with her usual haunts. She likes to sniff the same places, I think she's checking her "pee-mails" 🙂

We've got about 4 predictable walks where we don't bump into lots of other walkers as my sprocker is really nervy. So we stick to these.

I agree. Not nearly so much fun for a dog to go for a run (or worse still a bike ride) with their owner. No opportunities to sniff and explore.

Much better for a dog to be out running than plodding around the block on a lead five days a week 🤷🏻‍♀️

Same route in the week but its a beautiful mix of woodland and field where there's loads of wildlife and other dogs so she never gets bored as there's always a squirrel smell to chase, or another dog to investigate, or a hedge to crash into. Then a wider mix at the weekend. She's very much a 'woodland' dog though, although she LOVES the beach (but we live too far to go regularly) and is also very much an 'off lead' dog - if she's on-lead it's just not a walk for her. Did an hour on lead walk with her once, with lots of stopping to sniff etc, and she was climbing the walls with frustration.

No we regularly do about 10 different daytime walks, but whenever I can I take them somewhere new if I'm dropping off kids somewhere.

However they always get a 10 minute walk before bed which is usually the sameish route but dh does this.

How do I know my dog likes different walks?
Well, current dog (just like her predecessor) will, when I set off in a direction she does not fancy today, stand still and glower balefully at me until I give in and go where she wants. I can and do sometimes overrule her (if her chosen route is too long for my timetable perhaps) but I am then expected to give her a dog treat for her graciously agreeing to my choice. We have about 5 different main walks but 2 are particularly favoured and can be guaranteed to be chosen at least twice a week and feature scenic rest stops for a little snack, watching wildlife and looking at the view, as we are both getting on a bit.

Our walks are all sniffs! We don’t go far as a result but it’s his walk. I take myself off for a longer walk at lunchtime . But I’ve got a sighthound so he prefers very short but very sniff trips out . We don’t walk round the streets but a country lane .

My dog sniffs, but I don’t stop and wait for him to sniff or we would never get anywhere so we are sniffing on the move and then he gets his time to have a good long sniff if I feel he’s needing it and he can sniff as much as he likes off lead we are near lots of lanes, the river etc so plenty to explore and sniff 😊 dogs have good lives

We go to the same country park every day so ddog knows it inside out - but it's 50 acres and she's off lead and we take different routes around it.