Benefits of Decompression Walks
As warmer weather slowly approaches, many pet parents are trying their best to get their dogs outside for longer and longer walks. However, with everyone’s busy schedules, it can be difficult to make time to get both exercise and outdoor enrichment for your pooch. That’s where Milwaukee Paws can help!
One of the many services we offer is our Urban Adventure Decompression Walks. These walks, ranging from 2-3 hours in length, allow our team to give your dog the one on one attention they deserve while also getting ample outdoor time. In addition, the extra time allows for our team to get creative in taking your dog to local parks, trails, and neighborhoods to check out all the new sights, sounds, and smells! Many dogs who utilize our shorter walk services also take advantage of our urban adventures. Even if you walk your dog every day, our Urban Adventures add an extra amount of cognitive enrichment and stimulation that many dogs may be missing on their quick jaunts around the block or local park. In addition, many dogs are able to utilize the long lead on these walks, providing them 15-30 feet of extra exploration length! Below is a list of some of the many benefits that these adventures can provide for your dog, along with some team testimonials about the numerous benefits they’ve seen first hand:
Decompression Walks: Exploring New Places
Since our Urban Adventure Decompression walks are 2-3 hours in length, our walkers have the option to take your dog somewhere new! With a wide range of parks, neighborhoods, and trails in and around Milwaukee to choose from, many dogs enjoy new locations every adventure! These new surroundings are an excellent way to safely expose your dog to new sensations that they may not get to see on a regular basis. Places like trails and beaches provide your pet with new textures, sounds, and visual stimuli that they may not encounter on their regular walks! New neighborhoods allow your pup to enjoy exploring some new environments while working on leash manners and on-the-go training. We have seen first hand how these new locations can take any dog out of their comfort zone and allow them to grow and blossom into a whole new pup!
Decompression Walks: Benefit of a Long Lead
Many of our Urban Adventure Decompression Walks utilize long leads. Long leads (15-30 feet in length) are attached to your pet’s harness and are utilized as a way to give your dog a little more freedom on the adventure! Our walkers have seen how many dogs seem to relax and even grow their confidence with the long leads. Long leads allow dogs to do what dogs naturally do- explore! Many dogs find themselves exploring new textures and trying new experiences when they’re given the opportunity! When dogs have the opportunity to explore, they build resilience and confidence. We even utilize them to allow our dogs to explore the refreshing waters of Lake Michigan! Allowing your dog these extra few feet of freedom gets your dog to sniff, explore, and build their skills of agility and problem solving.
Decompression Walks: Transportation Practice
We know that a ride in the car can be a sensitive thing for many dogss. Urban Adventure Decompression Walks are an excellent way to help expose your dog to positive experiences related to riding in the car! Many of the dogs may only experience the car when they’re heading to the vet or groomer (which are scary enough!!). Because of this, the car can be a stressful experience for many. The process of safely transporting dogs to their decompression walks, allowing them to explore and have fun, then bringing them home, can help build positive associations with the car. All dogs are secured in the car with a seatbelt attached to a harness. Crates are used as needed, but many solo adventures allow your dog to ride in the front or back seat, whichever they are most comfortable with! Our walkers are more than happy to accommodate nervous passengers! We utilize what we call “shredders” for our nervous riders (cardboard, newspaper, and treats/kibble sealed up and stuffed tight for your pup to play with and tear apart!!) to keep them busy until we reach the destination. We also can bring along lickimats, play calming music and reassure your dog. No matter what your dog needs, safety and comfort are our top priorities.
Decompression Walks: Team Member Testimonials:
“As someone who has transported a few nervous pups, I have seen them become so much more confident in the car on our adventures! Shredders and reassurance from me seem to make the whole experience much less stressful for us both. Plus, who doesn’t love a pup cup after a fun day at the beach!” - Emma, Team Member
“I love adventures! They’re so great for getting city dogs OUT for sniffing and decompression with no city/human sounds around. It’s easy to forget how overstimulating all the cars, pedestrians, trash, moving objects, and smells can be in the city.” - Audrey, Team Member and Office Manager
“Urban adventures are my favorite! It gives me a chance to get to know a different side of these dogs (that I maybe also walk three times a week on city sidewalks) in a whole new environment. It’s super rewarding to have novel experiences with our doggy friends, like bringing them to a park or trail I know they’ve never been to before, and watching their confidence grow when they come up against something new and figure out how to navigate it. Plus, so many good sniffs, zoomie opportunities, and stick to gnaw on!” - Becca, Team Member and Team Lead
“I love so many things about urban adventures. I think my favorite thing is how you can really tailor them to meet the needs of the individual dog. Some dogs really need to get out of the city and sniff. Some dogs have trauma history or anxiety and having more space and a quieter environment can help build trust and give you a whole new window underneath the shut down exterior. Other dogs can RUN, or take in potential triggers at a safe distance, or practice focus skills for a little while and go zoom it off after!” -Sylvie, Team Member and Lead Trainer
Decompression Walks: Final Thoughts
Today's urban dogs often do not get into nature enough to really decompress and destress. According to a study done in Japan in 2010, dogs who spent time in a forest environment showed "forest environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments." Our team and clients have seen the benefits of decompression walks in nature first hand. Many clients report noticing that their dogs are calmer at home, appear to be less stressed and more confident and are overall a happier dog when they participate in decompression walks weekly.
For more social dogs, we offer group hikes and adventures as well. All the same benefits of our solo Urban Adventure Decompression walks, but with fur buddies to join the fun! These group hikes are typically 4-8 dogs with multiple staff present, to ensure safety of all the dogs.
If you’re considering signing your pup up for our Urban Adventure service, feel free to give us a call (262) 794-2882. Information about pricing can be found here.