The Pup Who Hates Walking

Not every dog was built for long runs. Flat-faced breeds — pugs, Frenchies, Bostons — overheat faster and tire quicker than their enthusiasm suggests. Paying attention to when your dog slows, sits, or simply refuses is not stubbornness. It is communication.

A useful rule: match the walk to the dog, not the neighbourhood. Twenty minutes at a slow sniff-heavy pace does more for a pug's enrichment than forty minutes of pavem-pounding. Scent work engages the brain at a level cardio alone cannot touch. Let the dog lead the nose.

The dogs who "hate walking" often hate a specific part of it — the heat, the traffic noise, the concrete that reflects mid-afternoon sun back at paw level. Try the same route at 6am. A different dog entirely.