Walkies!

[Mercgirl]

Every day.....rain or shine....Wookie has a walk of at least 3 miles. We're very fortunate that where we live there are dozens of fantastic places we can take her where she can have a romp off lead and run about to her hearts content. Country parks, woodlands, canal towpaths....she enjoys them all, and every walk is finished off with a fifteen minute ball throwing, which she absolutely loves.

People at work are surprised that she has such a long walk every day, as she is 'such a little dog', so I was curious to find out if other Yorkies have a similar appetite for 'Walkies'.

[Wylie's Mom]

I'm with you...mine *love* their walkies!

[matese]

When I had my pack of 3 they were walked twice a day, rain, hail, sleet, snow, they were properly dressed and out we went. 1/2 an hour walk everyday twice a day. They do love walks.

[airplane]

Well, it's currently winter here. I'm talking in the -30's and with windchill it gets into the -40's. So they go out to the back deck for about 20-40 seconds and that's it. But in the summer we walk around a lake that's close to my home. Probably a 3 mile walk or so. It's no issue. They love to go. There is a off leash area, but it's right next to the road. My dog's are not quite to the off leash point in their training yet. And honestly I worry about them taking off chasing a squirrel or whatever. There have been some dogs who have been hit by cars in that area. It's called an off-leash area but there is no fence or anything. It's actually kinda dangerous I think. We love our walkies though, and we just do what we can to be safe and get a little bit of exercise in. Also, my backyard, that's the hangout and run for 6+ hours in the summertime area. I have to bribe Theo with a ride in the truck to get him to come in from the backyard.

[yavenay]

Yup Duchess can easily "run" 3 miles a day. She is hyper energetic. She doesn't really walk anywhere.......she runs every where I usually walk her weather permitting....so we walk a lot more in the summer. In the winter, we don't go for walks too much but I will let her out on the back deck so she can bark at the little woodland creatures in my back yard.

[Russpilot]

I really wish I had the place to walk mine that long! We live in a gated condo so we walk about 30 min at a time. but there is nowhere that I can let them really get out and run. I would like to find a local dog park, but I worry about them because they really don't have any socialization other than with each other...

[Britster]

Oh yeah Jackson will go for miles. He tires more in the summer- hates the heat. But he will go go go in colder weather. We don't go for typical 'walks' quite as much as we live on 4 acres with no sidewalks etc so we do a lot of fetch and playing outside but when we do, we used to go anywhere between 2-5 miles.

[lisaly]

My little girl loves her walks. During the summer we can't walk as much because of the heat, but Katie and I go for walks between two and three miles at a time, and we often do that more than once a day. She also loves running for her ball also. It was a huge obsession of hers, and at one point she didn't love being taken away from that to walk. That has changed, and she loves her walks. I vary the route, but Katie knows the longest way back home and does everything she can to convince me to keep walking. Sometimes I don't know how I'm going to deal with the bitter cold walking for over an hour, but I've learned to bundle up. When it's unusually cold, I put a winter coat over a cashmere sweater on Katie, but she is eager to long as long as I am willing to go.

My last Yorkie walked at least two miles a day up until a few days before she passed away close to her seventeenth birthday. A week before her veterinarian remarked at how strong her heart and lungs were, and he laughed when he saw how fast she was. I believe the walks helped to keep her mind stimulated and physically stronger.

[Mercgirl]

It's lovely to read about other Yorkies who enjoy their walks as much as Wookie does.

We're just getting into colder weather now, but nothing like the -30's and 40's that some parts of the world get. The coldest day I can remember recently was -10....I remember distictly as we were out in our convertible with the roof down, dressed as bears, off to a charity event. Long story!

We do worry about the really cold ground being bad for Wookie's paws, but as all of her walks are away from pavements and streets, we're hoping that sticking to grass won't be as bad. I did buy her some boots, and it took her two days to forgive me, so unless the temp drops below freezing we'll try her without them.

[lisaly]

I use Musher' Secret on Katie's paws. It's a barrier wax that protects her paws. I use fleece booties also when it is bitter cold.

Mushers Secret-all season paw protection for your dog

[canana]

Scottie and Casie love their walks too! I never tracked how long in distance, but we usually have two 30-45 minute walks each day.

They'd probably enjoy a daily run in the fields too. But they don't get that very often as I live in the city. During the summer, I sometimes take them to the open field dog parks though. I tie a long rope, each end to both their harnesses, and let them run together. People laugh and joke that they're taking each other for a run. But really the rope lets me catch them easier if there was some dangerous situation. They know "come", but you just never know. I always hold my breath and pray nothing goes wrong when I let them run off.