Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The purpose of a dog walk is for your dog to defecate.

Our dog poops at home. Our dog gets a little exercise/stimulation/socialization on his walks.

You dog never poops on walks? Ever?

NP, my dog never poops on walks. She always goes in the yard. She pees on walks, but we never take her on a walk just to poop. I keep a plastic bag tied to the leash just in case and I've had to change it several times because it gets ragged. But I'm sure the time I don't have a bag, or it has holes. is the one time she'll decide to go on a walk.

OP, I say this in a gentle, helping, fashion.
I don't really think you are ready or should get a dog. You seem like you don't get basic dog stuff and when the unexpected happens (the Dog got too big!) then he will end up at a shelter. I used to volunteer at a shelter and from your posts, you strike me as someone who would give up at the first sign of Dogness.

Some dogs truly do not care about walks. We have been breeding, raising, and training German Shepherds for years. Most GDSs enjoy a daily walk, but are perfectly fine when it doesn't happen. On bad weather days my Shepherds run outside, go potty, and run back in. They hate rain. On days when I don't feel well, they don't care about going for a walk. If it's cold outside, I often have to force them to go for a walk.

And like the PP, my dogs never poop when we go for a walk. They are trained to use the bathroom before we leave. It's a really good habit to encourage. People don't like it when your dog pees on their grass. They also don't like it when your dog poops on their lawn, even if you pick it up.

My sister sometimes walks her dog around Home Depot when the weather is bad. Her dog of course uses the bathroom outside before they get there. She has always had a great experience with employees and customers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To all the rude commenters, why on earth do you decide to click on a forum meant to be helpful to people just to be hateful and rude? My guess is that you have zero friends, are fat, low self esteem and find joy in being a mean hateful troll. This is an anonymous forum so you can let the Satan inside yourself out and unleash it in this forum. Go back to hell where you came from.

Dramatic, much?

NP. It's not rude to reply honestly. If OP is idiotic enough to ask this "dog 101" question, they should not get a dog. It's so basic, and honestly anyone who doesn't know this would be incredibly irresponsible - OP is likely the type to want to get a dog because they're cute, but has never had any kind of experience with any dogs.

Totally disagree that it's "dog 101" that dogs need to be walked in the rain. If you weren't so narrow-minded you'd see that her question was really "how can I ensure my dog gets enough exercise when the weather is bad." My dogs are in fantastic shape (according to our vet) and I don't recall walking either of hem in the rain, outside of the times we got caught in it or I was doing a "rain walk" with my kids.

I feel bad for the dogs whose owners feel they are adequately stimulated/exercised after hanging around the apartment all day just because their owner takes them for a leisurely walk around the neighborhood everyday. Of course, I'm kinda contradicting myself here since it's probably fine for some, less active breeds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To all the rude commenters, why on earth do you decide to click on a forum meant to be helpful to people just to be hateful and rude? My guess is that you have zero friends, are fat, low self esteem and find joy in being a mean hateful troll. This is an anonymous forum so you can let the Satan inside yourself out and unleash it in this forum. Go back to hell where you came from.

Are fat people more hateful and rude than others? I've never noticed that.

Nope but people that throw out the good ol' "well you're a fattie" as an insult when they disagree with someone most definitely are.

Please don't get a dog. You don't have a clue. Get a hamster.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The purpose of a dog walk is for your dog to defecate.

Our dog poops at home. Our dog gets a little exercise/stimulation/socialization on his walks.

You dog never poops on walks? Ever?

Anonymous wrote:To all the rude commenters, why on earth do you decide to click on a forum meant to be helpful to people just to be hateful and rude? My guess is that you have zero friends, are fat, low self esteem and find joy in being a mean hateful troll. This is an anonymous forum so you can let the Satan inside yourself out and unleash it in this forum. Go back to hell where you came from.

Are fat people more hateful and rude than others? I've never noticed that.

Anonymous wrote:To all the rude commenters, why on earth do you decide to click on a forum meant to be helpful to people just to be hateful and rude? My guess is that you have zero friends, are fat, low self esteem and find joy in being a mean hateful troll. This is an anonymous forum so you can let the Satan inside yourself out and unleash it in this forum. Go back to hell where you came from.

Dramatic, much?

NP. It's not rude to reply honestly. If OP is idiotic enough to ask this "dog 101" question, they should not get a dog. It's so basic, and honestly anyone who doesn't know this would be incredibly irresponsible - OP is likely the type to want to get a dog because they're cute, but has never had any kind of experience with any dogs.

The immense majority of dogs NEED outside exercise and stimulation from nature. Not to eliminate, but to exercise their bodies so that they can behave at home and stay sane. The number one reason a dog misbehaves is that he is lacks exercise.

Some breeds are fragile and need protection from the cold, others suffer in the heat. But you can work around that and still go out!

We have two happy, healthy dogs and we rarely take our dog for a walk when it's raining. Exercise is cumulative. On the week days when it's not raining, our dogs get a walk (or run) and either fetch in the backyard and/or dog park. On the weekends, it's usually a combination of all three and/or a hike. They get a lot of exercise, so I don't worry if there's a day or two here and there where they don't get much. On rainy days, if they seem antsy, we'll throw the ball up the stairs or let them wrestle in the basement (we don't usually allow them to wrestle in the house). When we only had one dog and he was still a puppy, we used to drop him off at the doggy daycare once in a while.

Few people can say that their dogs get as much exercise/attention as ours and I'm not concerned at all that I don't walk the dogs in the rain. We are an active family and we enjoy making the dogs a part of our activities. I highly doubt that all the sanctimonious posters who claim to be walking their dogs every day come hell or high water are actually doing that on a consistent basis. Or they believe that a leisurely walk or two per day is actually good exercise on it's own. Walks are great (for humans and dogs), but a dog should be panting for it to be exercise. Their dogs are often fat.

Of course, if you don't have a yard for your dog to do its business, that's a different story. Then I suppose you have to buy a good raincoat.

OP, it's a good idea to meet other people with dogs so that when the weather is really bad, you can have a doggy play date. My dog doesn't mind cold, rain, ice, etc. I've been very lucky because my neighbors on two sides both have dogs who like to play with mine, so we just get them all together in one of our yards where they play and get their energy out, while we stay warm inside. If you can put together a similar type of situation, it will serve you well in bad weather. This isn't something we rely on in the heat,I should say.

To all the rude commenters, why on earth do you decide to click on a forum meant to be helpful to people just to be hateful and rude? My guess is that you have zero friends, are fat, low self esteem and find joy in being a mean hateful troll. This is an anonymous forum so you can let the Satan inside yourself out and unleash it in this forum. Go back to hell where you came from.

Maybe get a cat.