Mindful Walking With Your Dog

This blog post will illustrate some steps you can take to turn your dog walk into a mindful dog walk. Small things can help to make you appreciate the time you spend with your dog more and allow you to notice some of the smaller things in your surroundings making for a more enjoyable experience for both you and your dog.

Step 1: Try to bring your dog to your side as you walk, connect with them and allow yourself to adopt some of their curiosity for the environment around you.

Step 2: Begin by taking a nice deep breath, smell the air around you. What can you smell? Does it smell pleasant? Do the smells remind you of anything?

Step 3: Listen to the sounds around you. Perhaps even close your eyes for just a moment and really listen to what is nearby. The sound of the ground under your feet. The sound of your dog walking and sniffing away beside you. The sound of the air passing by your ears, maybe its windy or maybe its beautifully still. Take a second to really appreciate the sound of nature.

Step 4: Look around you. What can you see? Look at your dog, how they move, how they walk, the way their hair and ears move as they explore their surroundings. What colour are the leaves in the trees? Can you see anything new or different that perhaps you have never noticed before?

Step 5: Finally, take a moment to check in on how you feel. Don't dwell on things you have to do or things you are worried about, simply consider how you feel in this moment, in the outdoors with your beautiful dog that loves you. Appreciate how your dog feels, spending time with the person they love most in this world and having fun on their walk. Allow yourself some time to feel as care-free and blissfully happy as your dog.

These steps will help you to be in the moment when you are walking your dog. It will slow you down a little and give both you and your dog a chance to unwind. Dogs find sniffing around and investigating their environment very enjoyable and stimulating so giving them a little more time to do so will make them happy. Dogs can also sense when we are stressed so creating a space where you can clear your head will be good for both of you!