Dog Walking
We love dog walkers and so do our dogs but there are a few key elements to do walking that are not all fun. Some of these involve our neighbours and their expectations, but they all involve what we want for our dogs
Walking a dog on ground that will burn their feet is not fun, being aware about how hot the pavement or ground is is an important part of any walking activity, check the ground by laying your hand on the ground, can you happily leave it there for 30 seconds if not then it is probably not safe talk the dogs do some training instead.
Before entering any cage
It is important that you communicate with a team member on any special needs. Take note of any information on the cage front. A lot of the dogs that are in shelter have recently had medical treatment and may be in recovery.
Behaviour issues
These are important and so managing dogs carefully and not allowing them to jump or push on cage doors will help them to be homed more quickly, playing the quiet game will help to teach the dogs manners that will help them get homes. If all four feet aren’t on the ground the dog shouldn’t get out of the kennel, no matter how cute they may be. Our dogs are often big and jumping is not a good way of greeting people.
Poo bags
It is the messy side of dog walking if you re not prepared to pick up the poo that the dog you are walking drops on the ground then please don’t walk a dog, play with it in the yard instead. Our neighbours do not like walking through poo to get to their businesses and even worse they complain and this could see us having to shut the shelter. Be aware and pick up any poo that the dogs do, make sure that you take multiple poo bags just in case they need to do more than one. Bring all poo bags back to the green bin at the shelter to ensure proper disposal.
Multiple dogs,
While it is great to take out more than one dog, not all our dogs like each other so it is important to ensure that any dogs on a group outing get along. Please check with staff first. If you notice any odd behaviours between dogs please be sure to let a team member know so that we can make sure that no incidence of aggression take place,
Signing in and out
It is always important for us to know where our dogs are at any given time, signing in and out is important so that we can keep track of who has been walking and who hasn't. It also gives us an opportunity to follow up if someone happens to notice some behaviour issues on further walks. Ths allows us to ask how you went on your walk.
The equipment we use is often second hand and it is important to check leads are strong enough for the dog we are walking. Most of our leads have poo bags attached, if you cant find a good lead with one attached please check with the staff.
Our neighbours are important to us and we really do want to maintain a good relationship with them, to help with this we ask that you don't let dogs wee on things like handrails or places where people are likely to sit and eat. To help reduce peoples concerns we ask that you do not walk the dogs down to or near the food shops. If you are heading North on Winnellie Road we ask that you cross the road to the opposite side of the food shops.
Stopping and waiting at road edges is good practice for our dogs for when they go to foster homes or forever homes. asking them to sit at the side of a road any time you are walking will help with manners training and their road safety.
It is very important to us that our dogs are calm, learn to manage the excitement of visitors and do not cause a nuisance to others in our neighbour hood. Walking our dogs helps them to learn manners and to use up some energy. When our walkers take the little bit extra time to help with their training this helps us and the dogs even more.
