Being a Polite Country Dog – Etiquette Tips for Country Walks

Today we are teaming up with the dog-walking service, Rover.com to share our country walk etiquette tips. (Pop over to their site to learn more about them!)

We live in rural Quebec. About half the properties in our area are cottages, meaning May through October there are twice as many people around as through the rest of the year. Given our isolation and how early we get up, we rarely see people or dogs on our early morning walks. However, we know there are a lot of dogs around and want to share our tips.

Things to do to be a polite country dog:

My handless poop bag system

•  Stay on leash – there is nothing more stressful than walking by a house with a dog, to find a stranger's dog is now following you down the road because it isn’t on leash. Also, being on leash prevents your dog from sneaking onto other’s yards to do his or her business. Further, it will also prevent your dog from chasing or possibly harming the wildlife. We have lots of wildlife around!

• Pick up your poop - The spring thaw has shown how much poop our neighbourhood dogs have left this winter. It is gross and unhealthy. It takes less than 10 seconds at most to pick it up. You can purchase a poop bag holder that clips to your leash (so you always have bags) and has a place to clip the filled bags (so you don’t even have to carry the poop). We can’t train the deer and other wildlife to pick up their poop, but we can clean up the dog poop!

• Pick up your litter – If you are going to take snacks, cigarettes, take out coffee etc. on your walk be prepared to carry the garbage home. There are no garbage cans on the country roads, so if you take it out, you must take it home.

• Walk on the side of the road, or move to the side of the road when cars are coming – We need to share the road, so be sure to be mindful of cars and move.

• Wear appropriate reflective clothing – half the year, there is a good chance you are walking in the dark. Be respectful of drivers who may not see you out all in black. The reflective vest is not stylish, but it may keep you alive!

•   If we do meet and your dog isn’t friendly (or you don’t like dogs) say something – On the rare occasion we do meet another dog or person, my two go crazy! Last year we only encountered other people about 10 times (we walk nearly every day – only missing days we aren’t home or days below -20C). The dogs are going to be excited and as soon as they sniff you, they are going to completely lose interest. But if you don’t want this interaction, just let me know!

Those are our country dog etiquette tips. Follow them and you can be a polite country dog! Do you have any other tips to share?

All good things must come to an end

One of the things I am saddest about with this move is the loss of our beloved dog walker. I realize I made it sound like she died, but no, the reality is she just walks dogs in East Ottawa so we are moving out of her "territory" so to speak.

After 10 months of walks, Hailey had her last walk yesterday with Stephanie. Hailey didn't understand what all the fuss was about but was thrilled to be getting a bag of treats. That is just how sweet Stephanie is. We love her.

So if anyone is looking for a dog walker or cat sitter in East Ottawa (Orleans etc), we highly recommend Stephanie and Happy Homes Pet Care Solutions. http://www.happyhomespetcaresolutions.com/

Stephanie is truly one of the sweetest people I have ever met and she went above and beyond with cat sitting (funny story about how my sister's cat was at my house for sitting and needed meds and got himself stuck in the wall . . . . ). We hope to keep in touch because Stephanie has become an honorary pack member.

One week and counting . . . . .

A big day for Lee

As told by Lee

My Lady was home this morning and I couldn't understand why she wasn't taking me out, but then Stephanie came and I understood. I love Stephanie. I jumped up and kissed her! We had a good walk. She said I was pooped after.

I was home for a bit and then my Lady put me in the car. I was so excited I could tell we were going to Conroy. I was so excited to be there and my Lady made me wait and I didn't understand why and then I saw Uncle Chris and Emma. I was so happy to see them. It was Emma's first visit to the dog park. At first she was not good off leash so she had to be on it. I tried to get her to chase me, but she couldn't. I didn't like that everyone thought she was cuter than me.

Emma watching me run free

Eventually Emma was allowed off leash and she did a pretty good job. If people said she was cuter, I would run into the woods and Emma would follow and she would get in trouble. I thought it was funny. My Lady gave me more cookies.  Emma learned quickly if my Lady called to come cause she had cookies.

A few times other dogs were not nice to Emma or Emma got overwhelmed. When this happened I would run in, get myself between Emma and the other dog and make sure Emma was ok. My Lady thought this was great and gave me extra cookies for being such a good cousin.

After this we went and I had a big nap.

It wasn't long before my Lady called me again and said I had to go to the vet. This scared me and I was a little nervous. I was ok in the waiting room. I was scared of going on the scale. I had put on 3 kg but Woody says I am perfect. I was good during the exam. Woody sat on the floor and did it, so I didn't have to be scared on the table. He gave me lots of cookies. My Lady says I was so busy eating them that I missed getting my shot. My Lady had my microchip checked just to be sure it was still there, she said she didn't trust me. Overall I got a clean bill of health.

Then it was the scary part. Woody was very skeptical when he took me to the back for my blood work. Last year I screamed and freaked out so much that they couldn't take my blood. It was very embarrassing for my Lady. My lady waited in the waiting room on the edge of her seat waiting for me, listening to hear me scream.  After a few minutes I came out. My lady was shocked, she hadn't heard me. I got a little nervous but I was very good when they took my blood. My lady told Woody that living with a behaviour analyst can be good for a dog and that I had generalized my ability to get my nails cut to getting blood taken. Everyone was really proud of me.

I came home and was trying to rest and then there was hail and I had to hid. For most of the rest of the day I slept. While I love having my lady home, I think it is too tiring! [Editors note - she was exhausted she hardly moved from al evening!]

The Tick

Note: there are no graphic pictures for this one!

On Wednesday I happened to be home when the dog walker came by. While giving Lee her happy to see you pet, she found this thing on the back of her neck. We both stopped and looked and thought it must be a tick. So while Lee was on her walk, I did some Google research and determined yes it was a tick. I found some great sites that told me how to remove the tick. They also said scary things like how to keep the tick alive so that I could take it for tests and all the crazy tests Lee should have, so I called my vet and he basically said that he didn't want to see my tick, Lee did not need meds, and the only way he needed to see her would be if I didn't get the whole tick out at once.

By the time I had done all of this, Lee and Stephanie were back and it was show time. Stephanie helped me by feeding Lee cookies while I did tick removal. It took a few attempts to get a good grip and get it out, but I am very happy to report that I clearly got all the tick out at once! The spot where it was appears to be healing well and so far in my daily tick check no more.  I think she got it at the beach, because we couldn't have a trip without something! 

Overall the tick removal was very easy and I didn't find it that gross. 

Dog Walker Update

Lady: "Lee you have had over a month to get to know your dog walker, how are you enjoying your time with Stephanie?"

Lee: "Oh I love her! I am so excited to see her. I jump up and I want to kiss her. She is such a great person. She gives me so many treats! I don't love when she puts my harness on me though, but she gives me cookies for it, which you don't."

Lady: "How is learning to run going?"

Lee: "I don't love the running. I will tolerate jogging. When she makes me run it is hard to sniff and watch for evil squirrels."

Lady: "Running would be a good thing to learn to do. It would make you tired and sleep more during the day."

Lee: "I don't want to be tired and sleep through the day. If I do that, I will miss things. I don't want to miss things. I want to live my life. Lady, I love walking with you, but I love walking with Stephanie too. Thank you for getting her for me."

Lady: "You are welcome. Lee I love walking you too but it is nice to be able to put early morning appointments two times a week and not be rushed or have to get up at an insanely early hour."

Thanks Stephanie from Happy Homes Pet Care Solutions!

Dog walker day 1

So yesterday was Lee's first walk with her dog walker.  This is our conversation after.

Lady: "Did you have a good time with Stephanie?"

Lee: "At first I was kind of scared. I didn't really want to go with a stranger. I thought she was stealing me. I tried to hide, but at the same time, since you neglected me I really needed my walk. So I went."

Lady: "How was it when you went?"

Lee: "It was great! She ran with me. You don't run with me. I didn't mind the running, but I needed some sniffing time too. She let me sniff. She was mean and didn't let me chase the squirrels either."

Lady: "Stephanie said you were really good. You didn't pull or anything."

Lee: "Of course I was good. I am a perfect angel. And she gave me treats, I love treats."

Lady: "You seem tired. Will you be good when I am out seeing clients this afternoon?"

Lee: "You have a 50/50 chance of this."

Lady: "I noticed you whined when she left. Do you think you will like going out with Stephanie on Wednesday?"

Lee: "Yes. I look forward to my time with her."

The dog walker

Yesterday, Hailey and I interviewed a dog walker. This is our conversation after.

Lady: "Hailey what did you think of Stephanie?"

Lee: "I don't know yet. She gave me cookies, which was good, but she seemed to be an all talk no action kind of person. She kept saying walk but I didn't go on one while she was here."

Lady: "We were meeting her to see if we thought she would be a good match. Even though there are not many dog walkers in the east end of the city, it is important that we both like her. I thought she seemed very nice."

Lee: "Let me go for a few walks with her and then I will decide."

Lady: "That is fair, it is kind of like dating I guess, you both have to feel the other out."

Lee: "Exactly. I am wondering if 30 minutes will be enough. Lady, you usually take me out longer."

Lady: "We are trying this out to see. We can see about making it longer if you like it."

Lee: "I love walks. I love walking with you Lady. Why won't you take me? Do you not love me?"

Lady: "I love you very much, and I will still take you. It is only 2 mornings a week that you will walk with her. We will go out those evenings, and we have all our other mornings."

Lee: "Ok, I will try this and I will let you know. When is my first walk?"

Lady: "Monday. You will go out with her Monday and Wednesday. It will be fun."

Lee: "Maybe she will let me get the squirrels. If she does, I will love her more than I love you!"