‘I haven’t walked my dog in two years – it’s overrated and makes him misbehave’

A woman has taken to Reddit to share how she hasn’t walked her dog in two years – she believes dog walks are overrated and caused her reactive pet unnecessary stress

While most dogs jump at the chance to go on a walk, others can become extremely anxious about the idea and try to hide themselves away from their owner to avoid it. A woman has revealed how she hasn’t walked her reactive dog in two years because it causes them both a great deal of distress when they bump into other pets walking around the neighbourhood.

She explained how she has spent six years trying to improve her dog’s behaviour – and how her long list of one-on-one behaviour trainers haven’t been able to solve all of her pet’s problems. Speaking to Reddit, she said: “I’ve been dealing with a reactive pooch for the past six years. I’ve gone through one-on-one behavioural trainers and all sorts of crazy in-depth training programs.

“While he’s made so many improvements, he isn’t perfect and still has his reactive moments.

“The beginning of our training journey was very discouraging. I didn’t know a ton about dog training at the time, and seeing my dog misbehave to that extent was both embarrassing and frustrating.

“I also blamed a lot of it on me, feeling like I didn’t properly train or socialise my dog. With all that said, it’s gotten so much better since then.

“One thing that really helped me was ending our walks. So many renowned dog trainers and behaviourists stress that walks are a great way to stimulate your dog while exposing them to uncomfortable scenarios.”

Admitting how she felt “guilty” about taking her dog’s walks away, she claims it had to be done to save them both from suffering from unnecessary stress.

“I just couldn’t do it anymore. Walking him in my neighbourhood when there were other people and dogs around was way too stressful for us both, she added.

“Instead of taking him out and exposing him to his triggers, I did it inside the house. Since he was more comfortable within this environment, he naturally gave me more attention and was more willing to learn.

“It was at that point that I realised how overrated dog walking is. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it’s also not the cure to your dog’s misbehaviour.

“Instead of focusing my energy on walking my dog, I focused on bringing people over to the house and socializing him there. Even though it worked great for my dog, I don’t think it would work on dogs who are territorial in any sense.”

To make sure her dog gets enough exercise and stimulation throughout the day, she regularly plays fetch with him, teaches him “fun tricks” and works on his agility.

She said: “Pretty soon he started to like people more because the only time he ever saw them was a positive experience.

“For the past two years, because I stopped walking him, he’s had zero negative experiences with strange people or dogs. While this training process takes a long time, it’s the only one I’ve seen real results from.”

While some users wished her well with her ongoing training, others shared how they have also stopped walking their dogs in an attempt to do best by their reactive or nervous pets.

One user said: “Walks are definitely over rated! Our dogs wear themselves out plenty at home. Nose work is their favourite.

“My reactive one is so much better without spiking his anxiety on walks. Removing walks made his life so much better. It would noticeably take him days to come down from a stressful experience.

“I’m not sure where it came from that dogs need walks. I wish more people understood that it’s just not true.”

Another user added: “My dog’s scared of damn near everything. We don’t walk him anymore. If I do, it’s super late at night like at 11pm or 12am.

“My wife’s uncomfortable walking around after dark even with a big dog so it’s only ever just me. No one’s ever out. No trucks collecting things. No nothing. Just quiet. If it was noisy at night, he’d literally never go on walks.”

A third user said: “I’ve got a very scared pup too who hates going outside because of his nervousness, and will literally pull as hard as he can, literally until his throat is bleeding, to get away.

“It’s been great since we stopped walking. I have a shared back garden which we share with about 15 other dogs – it’s really big and I rarely run into the other dogs.

“It’s a lot easier for him to get used to those dogs than to get used to the outside world, and he’s now not even scared of the other dogs anymore. Not going on walks has been great for us.

“We also play fetch inside – it’s not a big flat but the dog loves it and refuses to play fetch outside anyway.”

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