Apartment City Living: Keeping Safe and Having Fun while Walking Your Dog

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Apartment City Living: Keeping Safe and Having Fun while Walking Your Dog

Staff Writer · Jul 26, 2010

Walking your dog is a necessary job, which can be fun. Not only does your dog love to walk, but it will also provide you both with exercise. Living in a major metropolitan area should not stop or impede your walking your dog on a regular basis. To make the most of your walk with your dog in a city, it is important to be safe and think ahead.

Don’t Walk in the Dark

The best way to keep yourself and your dog safe is to walk when it is light outside in the morning or late afternoon. Walking when it is dark outside is dangerous because you will not be able to see who surrounds you or who is trailing your walk. Possibly, you could become the victim of a crime if you are walking your dog in the dark. Walking during the daytime hours, however, reduces this possibility.

Additionally, regardless of the time of day you should stay out of unpopulated areas. Keeping your path to the sidewalks and other busy areas makes it less likely for you to be the victim of a crime. Safety comes in numbers, after all.

Have the Right Tools

Most cities have “curbing” laws which require a dog owner to pick up and properly dispose of their pet’s feces. While some cities may offer plastic baggies at regular intervals along well-traveled paths, you should always carry your own bags with you. Used, plastic grocery bags are a great bags to use. At most pet stores you can usually find a tube with plastic baggies that will attach to your dog’s leash so that you will have baggies with you whenever necessary.

Protect Yourself

You should also take precautions to protect yourself should the need arise when you are on a walk with your dog. Pepper spray and other small personal safety items will provide you with the peace of mind that should you be assaulted you will have the means to defend and protect yourself. Many pepper sprays come with a hook that can be attached to your dog’s leash.

Don’t Create a Pattern

Walking in the same path for each walk makes you an easier target. Keeping the path of your walks random will ensure that no criminal will watch you on your walks. Have two or three different pathways you will take with your dog and vary them so that you are not using one multiple times in a row.

Find a Safe Place

It is essential to choose a safe neighborhood, park or other area to take your dog on a walk. Do not walk in unlit or dangerous areas or in neighborhoods that are unfamiliar to you as you may get lost. Stick to paved or dedicated pathways and do not stray into heavily wooded areas. This will keep you safe, prevent you from getting lost and help avoid injury. Many cities have specific parks dedicated as “dog parks”. These parks, as their name suggests, are dog friendly and most likely are accompanied by a walking path.

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