Do you take your dog for a walk in the park? For sure there are accessible walking paths. Do you tend to take the park’s walking path all the time. It’s gets boring … for and your dog. Yes, dogs gets bored. Look around your park and check out some of the accessories available.
Use your creative mind on how to utilize them.
Find the opportunity to deviate from the park’s walking path. Why?
5 Reasons to Bring Creativity on Your Dog Walks
1) To get rid of boredom and redundancy.
2) Stimulate your dog’s mind. Providing a challenge on your dog’s walk.
3) Great way to reinforce and/or practice important basic commands
such as sit/stand, stay and come. It does not matter the age of your dog,
it is always good to practice these basic commands.
4) Eliminating fear and/or any uneasiness on unfamiliar places/equipments.
5) The main propose on going to the park beside walking is to have FUN. Being Creative is Fun.
How do we make our daily walks creative.
When I was a young pup I did agility. I went to shows, competed and mastered many agility equipment terms. I carried this knowledge to make my walks creatively Golden FUN.
1) Bike Racks – Most parks have bike racks and they are now built in many different ways. My favorite is the round bike racks which I associate as a tunnel. The second one is just the arch bike racks which I associate as weave poles.
2) Tables – Many parks have picnic tables, it a good place to rest or take a break from your walk. Also, reinforcing/practicing sit, stay and come commands.
3) Playground – Nowadays, many playground equipments are built in recycled materials, a great way for your dog to get familiarized. I usually enjoy walking on the bridge then thru the steps several times. Take Note: please obey your park rules, many do not allow dogs in the playground and only go when no children are playing.
4) Fitness Equipment – Take this opportunity to rest your dog while you take advantage of the series of equipments. Another good way to reinforce/practice stand, stay and come commands.
5) Stairs – We’ve previously shared how we enjoy stair climbing, its our favorite. I’m fast so mom goes first as I stand and stay at the bottom of the stair. I wait for her to say command “come” and I go. Sometimes I go first and I wait for her at the top. Got to try it as it’s FUN! You can always start and/or practice on park ledges.
I invite you to look around your park and check the accessories.
Surely you can think of Creative FUN Ways to utilize them on your dog walking.
Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR
Hiya pal! We love looking for obstacles on our walks and in parks too! Looks like you had a great time!
Your pals,
Diane and Rocco
Great post! Sure looks like you’re having a fun time. We love your purple booties, too!
Sugar – what great tips. You are right, we do get bored sometimes. Dad makes up exercises for us to do in the yard, but I like the idea of going to the park and playing, oops I mean exercising on the equipment and things we find there. Will have to be sure dad reads this post!
Ooo! Urban Agility! Dogs are not allowed on play grounds here, but we have fun with curbs and planters and bike racks too. What great action shots and a really informative post. Thanks!
What a great way to keep walks interesting! Beamer loves climbing on the playgrounds when there’s no one else around. I must look for those odd looking bike racks for Beamer to weave around in. Happy Friday!
Great tips Sugar! You reminded us of the movie Rocky….
You’re right, Sugar; creativity does make walks a lot more fun! When mom started playing games with me on our walks, I started getting a lot better at paying attention to her instead of trying to drag her around 🙂
Sugar, you and your Mom inspire us. You make it look like so much fun! We kittehz probably won’t go, but Mom is gonna start visiting some parks. Happy Friday!
We have lots of different walks. We rarely got the same way…SHE gets bored more than we do. We love reading all the new pee-mail.
XXXOOO Daisy, bella & Roxy
Hi Sugar! Momz & I try to mix it up every walk…We wander the neighborhood with no set route in mind and that lets us discover new things…I usually climb and jump on whatever is around, but Momz never thought of using the bike racks…that is really creative…Thanks for helping out with Park Day 2.0…Have a great Weekend!
Wow Sugar! You sure do have some great excursions on your walks! Thanks for giving Park Day 2.0 a boost!! Have a great Friday!
This is an excellent idea! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂 Btw, I really love your “booties” 😀
Cotton
Great post, Sugar! We don’t go to parks, but we do work out outside. Woofs from Jeffie, Rudy and Rosie
Lots of excellent suggestions!
i think you had done some of everything that can be done in a park, up and down and all around and sitting to.. go Sugar…
This is great advise Sugar. And it is oh so fun to see and try new things. I think it keeps you feeling young also.
Blessings,
Goose
Great ideas here Sugar. Unfortunately Scooter doesn’t fair terribly well on the agility and obedience side of things and views obstacles more of a way of marking and widening his territory. We are lucky though that we have plenty of wide open spaces for him to enjoy great bursts of speed and tracking with his nose…..seems he has no problem with either of these 🙂
He he – it is not us who gets bored – it is Mom!!!! She is always looking for new paths and places to explore and we don’t mind one little bit 🙂
We don’t have too many of those things in our parks – they get super hot in the summer and kids get burned using them. 🙁
Sam
Max loves playing at the playground near the front of our subdivision and we have only gone once when there were kids using it do we are pretty lucky about using it! We loved you pics too Sugar!
Wow! This looks like a lot of fun. I we look for fun trails and adventures
when we go out on our walks too.
Sugar it looks like you had a great time there. Fun ideas too.
Some great ideas Sugar! We are going to use some of them!
Your Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Great ideas Sugar. We love obstacles and jumping around. Have a fabulous Friday.
Best wishes Molly
We don’t have a dog. But my husband always tries to take me off the beaten path. Ha!
You sure did go on a creative walk! Mom tries to be creative but I am a creature of habit and stop and sit if she attempts to go a different way.
Benny & Lily
Great post with great ideas, Thanks Sugar! Can’t wait to see how my dad will mange this bike racks :o)
Just so long as we see plenty of squirrels, my guys aren’t bored 😉
Happy Friday Sugar, You have given me new things for Hunter to try; some I never thought of before. Usually we have several paths, in our neighborhood that we take but I am sure a little variety would go a long way.
Thanks for sharing; hope you are having nice weather in your area. Our snow finally melted and we have sunshine! Yippee!!!
Wags, Noreen & Hunter
Great ideas! We walk somewhere different every morning, mom’s rule is no path repeat for at least 7 days and we try to drive somewhere for a different walk at least once a week. Sometimes we play on equipment or go off road. We feel sorry for those dogs that walk around the block, the same block all the time but it is better than no walk however walking is so much fun for us and mom, we can’t imagine letting it be a boring torture!
Pictures speak a thousand words! The photos are great and the ideas are valuable! You have a lucky dog!
Sugar OMDs what a wonderful idea!! Your mom is a talented Chef and entertainment planner. I think you should renew her contract indefinitely
Mom moves my perches and tunnels around the house and takes some up puts new ones down…it is what she calls Madi enrichment. MOL..
Hugs Madi your BFFF
PS we’re set for 5/10 and have the June invitation on it too.
How fun Sugar. Your mom sure makes sur4 your life is filled with fun things. I love that.
Have a woof woof day. My best to your mom. 🙂
Great ideas, Sugar! Most parks have the kind of attractions that you have fun with. We just walk on our own property, which is large and has trails and a pond and a long driveway. Not too interesting for Dakota the Corgi, but she does have a huge yard to run around in and keep free from squirrels. She also patrols the fence and watches the deer and bunnies on the other side. Her other hobby is chasing butterflies, so she gets lots of variety in her outside play.
Sugar, you are brilliant! I love your ideas!!
Going to a Park is a FUN thingy… always.
You are such an awesome girl, sweetie=we always enjoy your fun, beautiful photos!…Have a fun weekend, precious friend…xoxo…Calle, Halle, Sukki, Mommy Cat, Daddy Cat
Hi Sugar, Great to see you enjoying the park. You are looking great as ever! I am wondering if you are still in Hawaii? Have a wonderful wknd.
Beth
That sure looks like a fun part to go to. You had such a good time Sugar. Hope you have a great week end.
Great post! Just curious, but why is Sugar wearing shoes? (they look great on her, purple is her color!)
Great ideas, Sugar…you are so smart! We didn’t know you used to do agility–how fun! We will definitely be looking for creative ways to make our walks more fun.
Hi Sugar! Maybe we should combine forces to come up with a great Park Day 2.0? I get to go to Blog Paws so will be some new walks there. But after that wold love to try something different! Love Dolly
You make it look like so much fun outside Sugar! We aren’t allowed out though so we have obstacles all over the house!
Great ideas for fun,Sugar! Now to find a park that Mom will take us to.
Happy weekend.
Woos – Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
That’s a great point about the different unfamiliar surfaces and areas that might cause your dog fear. Kelly is pretty adventurous so I think she’d be game for just about anything. We do tend to take the same route most often, so I think it would be good for us to change things up.
I’m sure Honey would enjoy walking with you, Sugar. We like to do some of the same things on our walks.
The playground equipment has been really helpful in getting Honey ready to cross a moving gangplank to get onto a boat.
Great post!
Nola
Great ideas Sugar 🙂
Oh, I loved your ideas Sugar!! Thou, doggies aren’t allowed in the parks here, so Ma will have to think of somethin’ else. I do gets bored!
Kisses,
Ruby
Great post… great ideas and beautiful pictures! Happy Friday!
Sugar, We have been following your blog for almost a year now, and we want to thank you for all the great ideas! You are definitely one of our favorite dog blogs! Would you mind adding us to your list of blogs you follow? With all your blogging experience, we would love to get your feedback on our posts!
Bark Bark!! That is great advice, we get bored with the same old walks and really wag when we try something new…so thanks for telling our peeps!!
Wyatt and Stanzie
Where we live, dogs are not allowed on playgrounds. I think it’s an actual law. We are all for switching things up though. The lake by our house has a paved path around it. There is also an outside gravel path and a few footpaths wandering back and forth between the two. We try to vary the route we walk every few times to spice things up.
Very smart. We tend to go on the same walk every day. We don’t have a park within walking distance. And since Maya and Pierson have to be walked separately for training reasons, it is a bit inconvenient for me to have to drive to a park destination. That doesn’t mean I don’t do it. I just don’t do it often.
What a wonderful post chock full of great ideas!! We especially love all of your pictures!! LadyBug played on the playground equipment at some of the RV Parks that we stayed at. We have to be very careful with Chloe though as she has problems with her knees. Mama has rheumatoid arthritis so it is difficult for her to do many things.
Thank you for inspiring us with all of your great ideas! You are beautiful, Sugar, and so is your mom!
xo Jeanne, Chloe and LadyBug
Sadly my park doesn’t have any of that stuff:-( I have to be content with chasing the birds
Great ideas, Sugar! We don’t usually go to parks like that, but maybe we should try it, especially in the off seasons when the kids aren’t likely to be there. Most parks at least have picnic tables though, and I’m sure other types of obstacles we could play on.
Looks like lots of fun Sugar – Shiner does love to sit on a nice picnic table every now and then.
Great ideas Sugar, I usually let the dogs choose the walk. I will sometimes hide from them, or have them jump over fallen branches or call them back for a bit of kibble catch. Whatever they like to do is fine with me. 🙂
My dog loves to run up and down the slide with the kids. He is on a leash, but he doesn’t seem to mind that.