dog walking once a day

That's a good idea Pikachu we're fortunate to be able to give our dogs 2 walks a day as we don't go out together. I think this afternoons walk will be a little shorter today though as there's a very strong wind and our little poodle finds that difficult to deal with.

He actually gets two walks a day as my neighbour takes him when he goes out for his daily walk.

I drive about a kilometre to my usual dog walking area. Yes, rarely see anyone when I walk the dog, and his recall is excellent so no worries about letting him have a run after his ball. Common sense.

Taking my dog out once a day and we walk in fields at the moment. Rarely see anyone. I have no doubt that we could do out normal routine without catching or passing anything on but I think that it's important to support the attempts to stall the spread.

chelseababy; I think all dogs should be on a lead at the moment anyway just in case they run off, get injured or chase sheep. And we've twice panicked this week seeing dogs in the distance off lead as we don't want their owners coming up to us to retrieve their dogs if their dog runs up to ours [which dogs tend to do].

You could say it’s deserted because most people around your way are doing as the government has asked.

If they all decided they could do differently then you wouldn’t have those deserted streets for you to differently and to take your second walk.

Not sure what difference a lead would make chelseababy

Last four days I have taken the dog out and in that time only on one day did I see one couple walking. There was nobody on the streets and it was deserted, I know they say one walk outside only if you live in an area and most people seem to be staying inside why can't you have another short walk in the evening?
It's like the big Clap we had a few nights ago I went out at 8.55pm to show support and apart from someone banging a saucepan around the corner I was the Lone Ranger clapping and cheering.
It seems to me where I live most of the people are basically
miserable sods and all that is keeping me going are the phone calls from family and extended family.
Stay safe all.

Can dogs carry the virus eg on their coat or collar? Shouldn't they be on leads?

We used to walk our dog twice a day but with the restrictions he gets one walk a day .

Walking your dog is about exercise but its also about wearing out their active minds. You can do that in a number of ways in even the smallest of back gardens.

We use a number of different methods for our Sam. Dogs have great noses and should work them. Firstly we take either a portion of his dinner, or some treats , face him towards you ( hold the collar if he wont stay) and toss one treat onto the grass about 3ft away , let him go and say 'find it' . He will immediately quarter the area to find the treat. You can repeat this for 10 mins or so throwing further away or closer . Working for his food makes his brain work and he is often tired out when we have finished.

If the weather is bad we do something similar indoors which involves a selection of boxes or toys or pretty much anything. Hide one piece of food and say 'find it' he'll go and scent for his treat .

Of course if your dog isn't food motivated you might have to use a favourite toy or similar. Its definitely worth making your dog work as part of his daily exercise.

That is correct Ellianne my dogs are hiding in case anyone else wants to take them out

I've just spoken to a friend in France who says they are allowed to go out dog walking for an hour but no further afield than one kilometer from home.

In Scotland they’ve just said that you may take a dog out twice a day if you don’t have a garden or other area where it can relieve itself. Otherwise, it’s once a day.

Yes that’s right. The modelling is on the basis that the first peak would be those who have to be at work and at risk, the youger, fitter people in society. This is a large percentage but fewer(0.5%) of them would need health care.

However if we ignore the restrictions we will have a much larger peak and the health service will not cope. Particularly if this includes people over 70 who are 40% likely to need health care and the over 80s who are almost all going to need health support.

When the health service is overwhelmed it will be because people didn’t see themselves as an at risk group and didn’t follow the advice to stay at home.

Not just a risk to themselves but a risk to the the who,e health service.

I usually take our dog out for about 45 minutes-1 hour in the morning, and my husband takes him out in the evening. If I were on my own, I would continue to do two, shorter, walks. I see people jogging and cycling and there is no knowing if they have been out and about for half an hour or three hours. I think a reasonable amount of time is one hour.

Expert opinion seems to be that, provided people keep at least a 6 foot distance from each other, and preferably more, there is little chance of contracting the virus. In my experience, many people cross the road if they see someone walking towards them - and I cross over if they don't.

Going to areas where there are large numbers of people - as happened a few days ago when there were crowds on beaches, in parks, etc., all fairly close to each other - is a different thing because it is difficult to maintain the required distance.

We are allowed to have some sort of exercise - eg walking, jogging, cycling - once a day. It is important that people who are not knowingly suffering from the virus get exercise, particularly older people.

In reality, I think the vast majority of people will eventually get this virus as it is nigh on impossible to maintain a completely sterile environment for an extended period of time. As I understand it, the government is working on that principle anyway but is trying to "stagger" the incidence of the virus so that there isn't a huge number of people at one time needing emergency treatment.

Far more likely to pick up the virus shopping that out for a walk.

That’s two chances of catching and transmitting Maybelater..

Oh course you can go out to exercise and walk your dog as part of that exercise. Not a case of dogs before people. And if you live in a flat with no access to a garden you can take your dog outside to do its duty when necessary says the RSPCA.

Just outside and observe the 2m rule.

I think a little tolerance and understanding needed, and common sense. Especially now. My DD, SiL & DIL are all essential workers.

Mm One hour walk or two twenty minute ones?

Yes; but you could crash the car. The car could break down etc etc. It's as much about doing everything possible to not put pressure on the front line workers as it is maintaining social distancing. Every single tiny little thing that we can do will help. If you drive to the country and let your dog off lead it could run off. Farmers are asking people not to walk across their land partly because of lambing and also because farmers are not in a position to be constantly washing their hands. We have a style near use. People are climbing over it; not washing their hands etc etc.

I don't have a dog, never have, but I would have thought it would be safer from a health view for people to drive a distance, isolated in their car, to an empty spot to walk their dog, than walking up and down the village lane which passes the end of my road ; eight people all out at the same time, not in groups.

Silver Darlings : You are brave!

I am sticking to the rules, 1 walk a day with my dog, no bike,no car.

Very irresponsible Labaik.

Eglantine,I agree with you.My daughter and both son in laws are key workers so maybe I too see it differently.We are not going out at all,as you say the less people going out,the less spread and less risk to the people who have to be out.

My partner took the dog down our nearby lane early this morning. There was a family; three children, two parents. Spread over a hundred yards or so. Small children on bikes. One fell off and hurt herself. On top of that they had a spaniel off lead and they were walking past fields of sheep and lambs.