Walking With Two

Ah yes, these were the days. About 7 years ago and we just had the one quirky poodle to deal with. Walking was easy then. Just pick out the perfect stick, put Gypsy into her favorite Harley hat, and away we go. High stepping, searching for bunnies, and keeping an eye out for anything that moved.
Life was so easy in the old days!
Walking quickly became Gypsys' most favorite thing in the world to do. I became known in our neighborhood as "the poodle guy." Not a very macho nickname is it?

And then Rim came along.

We knew we would have to make some adjustments to our walking schedule with the two dogs. Gypsy likes a nice long walk, and Rim, being a pup, didn't need as much walking. We decided that it would probably be a good thing if we walked them apart from each other. Giving each of them some time alone and one on one with us. Sandi has trained Rim to be an all star on the leash. He does not pull, sits when she stops, and is very well behaved when people come up to greet him. As Rim has grown, we feel he needs a bit more exercise so, we started walking them together more often.

We purchased one of those straps that tether the two dogs together and connects to one leash. They walk side by side, Gypsy still high steps, searching the neighborhood for intruders. Rim kind of lumbers along, hoping to find a cheeseburger that someone dropped.
I could be so lucky!
At first, Gypsy wasn't very fond of the side by side walking. Rim kept nosing her trying his best to get her riled up and she wanted no part of that. When we walk, Gypsy is all business. After a few times out, they are doing great walking together. Rim is still a "little brother" doing whatever he can to annoy Gypsy but, she basically ignores him.
He can be so childish!

 We went out for a long walk this morning before the rains/snow come in. From the time we left the house we could hear the geese squawking away. When we came up to the field, we saw hundreds of them.
Drop the leash! Drop the leash!
They are hard to see in the photo but, Gypsy and Rim would have had a great time running through the middle of these guys.

We will still give them the one on one time that they need and walk them solo as often as possible but, I think they really enjoy walking side by side now.

Of course this is the benefit of walking your dog. A walked dog is usually a good dog.