Benefits of our daily walks

Our furry guests love their daily explorative walk because it helps preserve their muscle tone and joint movement, it helps expel excess energy, it improves their cardiovascular fitness, it lowers blood pressure and decreases stress.

Did you know that a dog’s sense of smell is up to 100,000 times more sensitive than ours? We encourage our guests to stop and sniff while on our daily explorative walk. We do this because we understand that while we use our eyes to take in the world around us, dogs use their noses. When they’re sniffing, dogs are gathering critical information about their environment through scent. When dogs stop to smell something, they’re finding out who has been there recently and whether there are any potential threats. They do this by processing pheromones.

Benefits of sniffing

Reduces stress and anxiety - When dogs engage in scent work their brain releases dopamine. This is the feel good chemical that helps lower stress. Therefore sniffing has a calming effect on dogs that helps lower stress.

Slows down older dogs - Walks that involve a lot of sniffing are slower, therefore much more gentle for aging dogs and those with arthritic joint challenges. Slower sniff-focused walks also help with cognitive health. Research shows that mental stimulation can help delay cognitive decline in aging dogs.

Provides mental stimulation - Sniffing activates a dogs brain and can help them process more complex scents, essentially solving puzzles. Research shows that a mental workout can be just as tiring as a play session or long walk.

Our dogs return from their walk with a huge smile, and a deep sense of contentment. They have exercised their body as well as their minds.

What if my dog doesn’t enjoy long walks?

If your dog doesn’t enjoy long walks, or cannot engage in a long walk due to age or a health issue that is absolutely fine. They can still partake in our walks from the safety of one of our dog prams.