Are You Trying TOO Hard?

It's tough being a Dog Walker, don't make it harder

When we ask “are you trying TOO hard?”, we simply mean “are you resisting too much?”. When you stop and reflect on your expectation of a dog, is it achievable? Is it natural? Is it fair?

As a dog walker, we meet loads of different dogs and loads of different expectations of what the owner believes their dog should be. Hopefully, by doing so, it can be more harmful than good.

If in the grand scheme of things, the behaviour is not detrimental, maybe accept it for what it is. For instance, barking when greeting at the door, they love jumping in the river without permission or expecting them to walk at your heel for the whole walk, etc. Dogs will never be perfect, they are animals at the end of the day.

However behaviours that are down to proper etiquette and manners, that’s different and should be corrected as it puts themselves or others at risk e.g dog reactivity, lead manners, counter serving or even vet anxiety.