Walking dogs in groups - why?

Although the word has become quite a dirty word in the dog world, because of it's misuse in training, strictly speaking dogs are 'pack' animals in the sense that if left to their own devices they will very often live in groups, much like their ancestors. However, the difference with the dog on your rug and the wolf in the wild is that the pack structure feral dogs will form is much more loosely operated than the pack structure of a wolf pack. Another interesting fact is that the 'leader' is not the most dominant of the group or the parent (as seen in wolves) but is in fact the one with the most friends, the kindest and least selfish of the group. What I am attempting to explain though, is that dogs are very social animals and do enjoy interacting with other members of their species (as well as members of ours!) which is why walking dogs in groups is such a good idea, providing the individual dog has not had a past which has resulted in him not enjoying other dogs company.

Although we do offer solo walks most of our walks will take place in groups. You only have to sit and watch a group of dogs play to truly understand it's importance. Not only is it great fun, it's also a great opportunity to learn important social skills (especially for younger dogs) and learn how to appropriately interact with one another without causing upset. A lot of dogs live in one dog households where, unless they are provided with walks where they have the opportunity to interact with other dogs, they may end up lacking in these social skills and may have trouble coping if circumstances change and they end up sharing their life with another dog.
Walking dogs in groups is also a brilliant way to effortlessly tire them out. A 45min-1hour walk just strolling along is not much of a workout; however, a 45min-1hour walk romping about with other dogs, never ending a continual jog is a huge workout and is bound to leave your pooch extremely content and very tired. Which has it's benefits for the owner also as, in general, a tired dog is a quiet dog!

Obviously sometimes it cannot be helped but have a dog to be walked solo, especially if it has a tendency to act aggressively towards other dogs, it wouldn't be safe to integrate this dog into a group until after undergoing extensive behavioural adjustment for him to view dogs in a different light. However, if a dog has none of these issues than the importance of being given plenty of opportunity to interact with many members of his species cannot be stressed enough! Just remember to not take on more than you can chew! A maximum of 4 dogs per person is my rule, unless you have eyes in the back of your head!

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