Dog Community

walking situation

Posted : 12/29/2006 11:14:45 PM

i am really sad for berserker, he does not get to go for his walk today, there is no one here to watch the baby. so my question is, would it be enough to walk him around the yard for the winter? i will still walk him whenever dh is home, but that is not very often now. having a dog walker is not an option either, i would not trust anyone i didnt know to walk my dog and all the people i know that live close enough to do it are pretty old and wouldn't want to.

also, if i am just walking him around the yard, does ten minutes at a time sound reasonable? say ten mins every 2 hours? i can take the baby moniter out with me, but leaving a baby in the house while im in the yard for any more than 10 mins seems neglectful, even with the moniter. no matter what i do i feel like i will be neglecting somebody, i cant believe im even in this situation, i feel like such a jerk [&o]

edit: wanted to add that i would only do it while the baby was sleeping of course, and the moniter would close enough to her for me to hear her breathing.

WolfDog

Posted : 12/29/2006 11:22:19 PM

Well, maybe you want to exercise the dog indoors? Teach him to retrieve, and play fetch. You can still keep an eye on the baby this way, and can still take out the dog when he needs to.

Benedict

Posted : 12/29/2006 11:27:27 PM

Gayle - I don't know what your yard is like, of course, so this may be a silly question, but is putting up a dragline an option for you? That way Berserker can run himself without you being there some of the time, and then when your baby is asleep you can go out with him. He wouldn't get all his exercise time with you, but the combination might be enough to give him a sufficient workout, without you feeling too bad about it.

Kate

gayle

Posted : 12/29/2006 11:59:55 PM

unfortunatly i can't leave him outside alone, he will just sit there and howl until i am back in sight, he grew up out in the woods/country and until april when our lease is up and we can move back out to the country, we live in a small town, so i think he is scared of the traffic and closeness of everything (houses, sidewalks, etc).

he does play inside alot though. he's not much in the way of retrieving, but him and my 3 year old spend half the day chasing each other back and forth.

Benedict

Posted : 12/30/2006 12:05:24 AM

OK, next suggestion lol. Is it possible to feed him all his meals in a treat ball/buster cube/kong or similar, so that he is getting some good, tiring mental stimulation without you even really having to think about it?

Personally, for what sounds like a relatively temporary situation, I would give him as much mental activity as I could, play with him as much as possible inside the house and take him outside when you can. It's not perfect, but since when did everyone have a perfect situation, all the time? I certainly wouldn't feel guilty about it.

Kate

Pwca

Posted : 12/30/2006 12:05:25 AM

What about getting a sling-type carrier for baby so you can walk Berserker and baby can come along? With the baby up against your body, he (she?) should be warm enough.

gayle

Posted : 12/30/2006 12:12:03 AM

yeah pwca i thought of that before, my mom made me a fleece one, and i kind of thought if i zipped her up inside my jacket she might be ok, but i still need to check with her pediatrician just to be sure, it gets pretty cold up here in the winter and she is only 7 weeks. would be nice if i was given the ok.

kate there is no way of not feeling guilty about it, everytime we go out he pulls me towards the road. i do like the treat ball idea, i will pick one up for him tomorrow, he's never had one so it would be extra exciting to him.

thank you all for the suggestions, me and b appreciate it alot!