What To Do When You Can't Walk the Dog

Originally published March 2019. Updated May 2024.

Our suburban American culture is deeply committed to the idea of walking the dog.

Many people labor under the idea that if you don’t regularly walk your dog, you’re a bad owner and your dog might become a bad dog.

These beliefs make the concept of not walking the dog (even just temporarily) very scary to consider.

Owners wrestle with internal guilt, fear of what other people will think, and dread that their already difficult dog will become worse without a daily energy release.

Why not walk?

As a professional trainer, I most often recommend pausing walks as part of making walks more enjoyable for both ends of the leash. If the walk is more distressing than de-stressing, why are we doing it?

The recommendation is not cut the walks and do nothing else.

It’s replace the walks with other activities that are less behaviorally-risky and more enjoyable for both ends of the leash.

We do want your dog experiencing an enriched life, but we don’t want activities that create behavior problems or feed chronic stress.

If neighborhood walks are out for your dog due to weather, injury, or training, here are some things you can do instead!

Enrichment Feeding

This is beneficial for all dogs, but is particularly valuable for the dog who isn’t taking neighborhood walks. Instead of feeding your dog from a bowl, use a food-dispensing toy or other work-to-eat approach:

• West Paw Toppl or other food dispensing toy

• Snuffle bin: save up your recyclables, dump them in a box, and then pour your dog’s food inside. He’ll have fun hunting through the bottles and tubs for his dinner!

• Scatter feeding: gently scatter your dog’s food in a section of your yard and then release him to sniff out his dinner. Sit outside with him and enjoy the activity together!
  
  If your yard is treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers, put his kibble in a bunch of little open-topped containers and then place those around the yard.

• Find It feeding. Crate, tether, or shut your dog in one room of the house. “Hide” little piles of his food around the rest of the house, and then release him to “Find It!” As he gets better and better at finding the piles, make the hides less obvious and more challenging.

Car Rides

Going through the drive-through for a late night treat? Take Missy along! As long as your dog is neither anxious nor reactive in the car, this can be a great way to spice up her life.
SAFETY FIRST: 1) buckle your dog in using car tether and body harness, and 2) crack the windows instead of rolling them down all the way.

Training Games

My clients who receive the pause-walk-news always have other skills they’re working on indoors in prep for returning to walks.

Practicing daily training with your dog helps keep him from going stir crazy, and gives you something enjoyable to do together. Increase the fun by picking a silly trick to learn! Dog Training by Kikopup on YouTube has some great tutorials.

BONUS: Exploration Outings

If you’re pausing walks because of your dog’s behavior towards other dogs, an early morning weekend adventure at a local shopping strip center parking lot can be a great alternative! Your dog can enjoy exploring a new environment and you can relax a little knowing it’s unlikely you’ll run into another dog.