If you love taking your pet out for a walk or for a good run on the beach, this is for you.

Sharing my experience with my young puppy in training on the Beach.

Here comes weekend and I’m all set to take Ollie to the beach. I grab couple of toys , a long leash and we are all set to go.

We reach the beach and the indies hanging out at the entrance let us in smoothly. No fuss, no barking. We start our walk on a nice loose leash. Ollie loves the sand and she is always amused by seeing so much of it around. For the first 10-15 minutes I always let her sniff as much as she wants to let her relax.  I try to select a quiet area away from the food stalls, people  & then put her on a long leash & bring the toys out. We run, play with toys, act silly in the sand……in short have a really good time. I also practice Recalls during our beach time. She is not so keen on going in the water so we are still working on that.

We met around 4-5 pets & pet parents during our time on the beach. 2 of them, one being a big black shepherd cross, charged straight towards Ollie & almost knocked her down. The owner couldn’t call her dog off Ollie. Finally I had to ask her to put her dog on leash & take him away. The 2^nd indie  was curious to sniff & had a very good body language.  After a brief interaction with him, I called Ollie away, and we started our play again.  The next 2 dogs we met were young females & approached us on leash. One of the pet parent wanted her female lab to go on playing with Ollie, as she thought it was a good idea to let the dogs run around with each other. After a couple of minutes I politely told her that Ollie is under training &  walked away. The last one we met was coincidently named Ollie a young female Irish Setter. The dog & parents were very sweet, we chatted for couple of minutes & went away doing our own thing.

My idea of going to the beach is to have a good time with my dog. I don’t encourage my pet to run completely out of control, chasing other dogs. While outdoors I love observing pets interact with their pet parents. It tells me a lot of things about their nature, level of training. I try and learn from each situation.

In a city like Mumbai , struggling with space constraints, beach is the one place where one can enjoy at least some quality time. Since most of pet parents don’t  have the luxury of secured open spaces for their pet’s  daily walks or exercise, it is a must that we respect each other & work in coordination with others, to enjoy quality outdoor time.

Tips to make your pet’s walk/ outings  more fun :

• Train your pet for a solid Recall
• Start Recall training in your building compound/ terrace/ parking lot. Begin with places where your pet has daily access & less distractions.
• Ask a friend with a pet to train with you for practice.
• In a public place, don’t leave your dog off leash, completely out of control
• Start with a long leash which gives your pet freedom to run but also keeps them in control in case of distracting environment
• Be polite to other pet parents & non dog people in public places
• Get professional help to train your pet with positive methods