Pitbull After Dark

Lately B has been taking Athena on night time walks.  It has started to get dark here around 8:30, so if we leave the house for a walk any later than this, we take a walk in the dark.

B actually prefers walks in the dark to walks during the day time.  Here are his reasons why:

• Temperature (in the summer it's much cooler!)
• Less traffic (we live in the city so there are many cars out and about on day time walks)
• Less dogs (we have yet to encounter an off-leash dog in the dark and many people put their dogs inside that they usually leave outside during the day)
• Athena goes right to bed (when we get home from an after dark walk Athena is so pooped that she goes right to bed which means that we have time to write blog posts!

While on a night time walk we always have safety lights with us to make sure that cars, bikers, and other walkers can clearly see us.  B clips the Planet Bike Super Flash blinking light to the back of his pants.  One of us will also shine the Cateye OptiCube LED light as a flash light.  B also uses both of these lights when he rides his bike at night.

We are all about keeping Athena safe during these night time walks, so there are a few more products that we are hoping to get in the coming months.  I found a list of recommended gadgets for night time walks here.  

These are the products that we think are essential for keeping your pooches safe on night time walks:

Nite Ize SpotLite LED Pet Light: Weather resistant, easily clips to collar with a D-ring, glow and flash mode, long battery run time.

Ruffwear Track Jacket: High visibility, durable, lightweight, and water-resistant.

There are other safety products out there including reflective leashes and LED dog collars, but we think that the above products are enough for the occasional after dark walker.

On another note, tonight we took a night time walk on one of our usual routes that crosses the Springwater Corridor.  Usually we will hop onto the corridor during the middle of our walk because it's nice to get away from traffic and other dogs (we have only met one dog on a leash while walking the corridor).  Today was the Hood to Coast run which stretches 199 miles from Timberline Lodge to Seaside.  The race was still going on at 9:00pm when we walked by the corridor, so we weren't able to walk our usual route with all of the runners and their teammates cheering!  It was fun to be a part of the action though, and Athena got some good practice walking through large crowds of people.

What safety products do you use when walking your dogs after dark?

-A & B

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Is My Dog Normal?: Bike Reactivity

Yesterday B showed me a new route to take when walking Athena.  Sometimes we get annoyed walking around the usual neighborhood because there are so many dogs that live outside and like to majorly bark at us through their fences, off leash dogs, and just bajillions of people who do weird things (like the time a PERSON barked at Athena!).

B thinks Athena is saying "save me!"

Our new route takes us along the Springwater Corridor which stretches 40 miles from Portland to Boring (yes there's a place called Boring, OR!).  We are lucky enough to live only a few blocks away from an entrance to the corridor.

Most people who use the corridor are bike riders who like to say things like "one your left," and "on your right" while we are walking and I have to quickly remember which one is my right and left so that we don't get ran over!

Check out that view of Mt. Hood up ahead!

When we first got Athena and began taking her walks in the annoying usual neighborhood, we would encounter quite a few bike riders and people on skateboards.  I don't think Athena had ever seen any of these devices because she was very reactive to them.  As soon as a bike or skateboard zoomed by us she would be pulling to chase after them!  This was a bit frustrating when we were trying so hard to train her how to walk on a loose leash.

A thinks Athena is saying, "weirdo!"

The weird thing is, this bike reactivity only lasted a couple of weeks.  Now that Athena gets out on at least two walks per day, she seems to be more used to the everyday distractions that pass us by.

We got to really test Athena's bike reactivity while walking on the Springwater Corridor because there is always at least one bike in sight.  Athena didn't even bother with ANY of the bikes that we saw on our walk!  Yay!!

Here comes the bike......no reaction!

Since it seems that Athena might not mind bikes too much anymore we have been thinking about how great it would be to start bike riding with Athena.  B bike rides, I don't, so this can be his little project.  A trainer had suggested bike riding with Athena as a way to exercise her to expend her excess energy.  The trainer suggested using a Springer Dog Exerciser to attach to B's bike that would allow Athena to safely run next to him.  We plan to look into this fancy device in the coming months.

Is your dog bike reactive?  Do you bike ride with your pooch?

-A
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