Pack Walks

Pack walks are a great way for your dog to get the triple benefits of exercise, mental discipline, and socialization. Physical activity can help your dog get their heart pumping, but the mental discipline of following the rules, and the social energy expended navigating a group of their peers, are also great ways for your dog to expend their energies. Think of the way that being in a classroom or attending a party can make you tired even though you didn’t really do anything physical. These are engaging and healthy experiences for your dog and can do them more good than simply going on a walk alone.

Pack Walks are $35 per dog

For the safety and comfort of the dogs as well as the public we follow these guidelines

  • Dogs are never off leash for Pack Walks. Interviews with both dog walkers and veterinarians reveal that when a dog does get injured out in public, it nearly always could have been prevented by using a leash.

  • To minimize contact with hazards like foxtails, ticks, and snakes, our pack walk routes are paved, usually on sidewalks and streets in neighborhoods where there is very little traffic. On hot days, routes are chosen for maximum shade.

  • Dogs always have access to water on walks, with a dedicated water break and additional water offered any time a dog seems hot or thirsty.

  • Kie’s canines are not allowed physical contact with any other dogs or people while on the walk. Even friendly dogs can react differently when in a pack, or as a single dog interacting with a pack, and this policy prevents any possible mistake or mishap.

  • We never use prong collars or any similar device. Prong collars are extremely easy to misuse, especially in a pack setting, and are almost never necessary for a professional dog walker. Prong collars can sometimes create dogs that are more prone to biting, as a prong collar simulates a bite to the neck, which is a correction that a dog would normally only use as an extreme communication, and can teach your dog that in our pack, we go from 0 to 100 over the smallest things. As such, prong collars are prohibited during walks with us.

  • Pack walks typically happen as scheduled, rain or shine, but if the weather is extreme, particularly if it will be very hot, walks may be canceled at no charge. Occasionally we will not cancel the whole walk, but will decline a walk for a specific dog that has particular trouble with the weather in question.

  • Owners always receive updates regarding health or behavior issues noticed on the walk

Kie’s Canines is pleased to provide all leashes and other gear necessary for our Pack Walks

Kie’s Canines uses our own collars and leashes for pack walks. This is so that we can address any professional considerations that arise when managing up to 8 leashes at once. We use martingale collars [pictured below]. Martingales are half and half slip style collars that, as the leash is pulled, get tighter, but only a controlled amount. This style allows the collar to be worn loose enough to be completely comfortable, while contracting enough to ensure a dog cannot slip out of it, all without the strangling dangers of a full “choke chain” style slip collar

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By using a martingale, we can let your dog’s collar be comfortably loose, yet be certain your dog is completely unable to slip out of the collar, with no possibility of the strangling effect of a full slip lead.

Buckle collars often have to choose between being loose enough for a dog to get their head out, or tight enough to prevent this, which is not a comfortable fit for the dog.

We generally prefer to use the martingale collars over harnesses, as a harness can actually be easier for dogs to slip out of, and also tend to encourage leash pulling behaviors. However, if you prefer a harness, or if your dog has the delicate windpipe of a smaller breed, we are happy to instead provide a harness for our walks.

For dogs that are pulling on the leash too much, we often either switch to a harness with a chest ring, or use a Halti brand “gentle leader” [pictured right] which attaches the leash to the dog’s snout and is similar to a horse halter