When to NOT take your dog on an adventure

This may seem like a very strange blog title given how often I’m encouraging everyone to take their dogs adventuring with them.

And yet sometimes it is a good idea to leave your dog when you head out adventuring.

There are numerous reasons why you might leave your four-legged best friend at home:

Age
Injury
Terrain difficulty
Weather
Length of walk

I’m sure you can think of many more, however random and varied.

Saturday morning I got up early. So early in fact that my dog, Minttu, didn’t bother getting up to greet me, clearly assuming that I would go back to bed shortly.

But with 7 weeks to go until Oslo Skogsmaraton I needed to get some hours and kilometres in my legs as early as possible, before the family would wake up.

Minttu is not the greatest fan of longer distance running. Up to 10km she loves to bounce around, finding sticks, exploring and playing….. But then she just sort of gets bored. She is not tired, she is very capable and she will go at my pace for as long as i run…… But i can sense she isn’t having fun.

Therefore I hatched a plan to accommodate training, Minttu enjoying herself and getting back in time for mid-morning cycle with kids.

And so off Minttu and I set into the woods with a tennis ball. We ran, leapt, played and enjoyed ourselves for 7.5km, mixing up gravel tracks with smaller mud trails. Eventually looping back home to drop off Minttu, happy and tired, she could have her breakfast post exercise, as i explained to her that I needed to head back out.

Then with a happy, fed dog at home, still 0630am and I was off to Bjørnholt and back for a further 26km, which went surprisingly well.

Minttu was disappointed not to join me, though she had no idea where or how far I would run.

Sometimes we have to weigh up what is in the best interests of our dogs, based on the adventures that we will undertake.

After 8 long walks during working hours last week, and totalling more than 25 walks with me during the last week, I knew Minttu needed to rest up. Her chances of injury would have increased had she joined for nearly 34km of running.

Just like an overtired toddler who needs a nap, sometimes we need to insist to our dogs that they relax.

Doggies: Deano, Hank, Sonja and Henie