When do you walk your dog?

[elektra]

My poor dogs have been so neglected since DS was born. They do have company all day long, as I am home, and they also have a fairly large yard to run around in, but they are not being walked or allowed to run in a huge open space on a regular basis.
I am the one who has always walked them. It was usually DD in the MBUS with me pushing both the stroller and holding the dogs on one of those 2-in-one leashes. We would usually go right at 5pm, after the nanny left and then come back in time for dinner. But that is no longer practical as I am usually nursing DS at that time or he is napping.
And I just don't feel in control enough with the BOB Duallie and the two dogs. Does anyone else walk 2 dogs plus 2 kids in a stroller? It makes me so nervous when I see a loose dog because my hands are so full with even just one baby and two dogs. I don't know how I would protect the kids and still maintain control of the dogs.
I am thinking I need to just go in the morning before the kids wake up while DH is in the shower.
DH has not responded to my nags about this so I can't really count on him stepping up. He does have a point in that if I am not worried about one thing, I am worried about another and we have to take care of ourselves and our kids first. However, we made a commitment to those dogs too and I want to at least walk them every once in awhile!

[doberbrat]

Don’t really know what to say. To me, my dogs are part of the family and have the right to expect certain things from me – exercise, outings are part of that.

Oh, I wont lie and say they get out just as often as prebaby, but I get up early at least 3x a week and take my Doberman out for a run –SHE runs, I stand still and throw a tennis ball w/a chuckit stick. Then I go back home and pu the other dogs and we all go for a walk together. And 1-2x a month, each dog gets a solo outing with me. Home depot, petsmart, bk, ice cream. Whatever. A chance to sit in the car and hang with me.

I actually had dd at the dog park when she was a week old. In the winter in subfreezing weather. People thought I was crazy but I figured start as you mean to continue. When she was young, I just wore her. It was easier than trying to deal w/a stroller. When she hit 2ish, I started taking a stroller more often.

Could you wear one and have the other in a stroller? Ask the nanny to stay an extra 15min or get up 30min earlier? For me, early am works best b/c there are fewer people out. Normally when I go out before 6:30am, I see no one. Gets really hard in the winter when it isn’t light until 7am though since I need daylight to run the dobe.

[AngelaS]

My kids are a bit bigger now and we walk our hairy beast either in the morning or later in the afternoon. It's just part of our daily routine. If your kids are big enough to ride in the stroller, I'd put them both in there and go for a walk. :)

[brittone2]

Our dog's preferred form of exercise is (a soft) frisbee in the backyard. He's 1/2 germ. shepherd, 1/2 border collie. The border collie in him makes him a frisbee lover.

[catroddick]

We have waist leashes for our Aussies. They are each on a leash that attaches around my (or DH's) waist, then we walk with one on each side of the jogging stroller. The waist leash leaves your hands free to control the stroller.
We do use pinch collars on our dogs, mostly because my girl dog can back out of a collar in nothing flat. But this also prevents them from trying to drag anyone while walking attached to a person's waist. I also feel that because the stroller is between them, they don't get excited and feed off each other. They're in their own little world, paying attention to DD in the stroller, or whatever is happening on their side.
I'll admit, we get a lot of looks when we're out. But everyone is out and happy!

[wendibird22]

Typically DH walks the dog in the am before sun up and before DD and I are up. Sometimes DH and I both take the kiddo and the dog after dinner.
Lately we've both been taking turns (and I usually have DD with me in a stroller) because we just planted grass and DH won't let the dog be outside loose (we have invisible fence) while the new grass is growing. So, he's getting at least 2 walks per day.

I wish we could just toss a ball, but though my ESS is a flushing and retrieving breed, he's horrible at bringing the ball back. He'll get it, but then wants you to chase him down for it.

[kozachka]

We only have one dog and one child so I have no idea how it is to walk two dogs with two kids in a stroller so take what I say with a dash of salt. Our dog currently lives in a condo but even when we lived in a house with a large yard we always walked him twice a day for 30 minutes or longer each time. If we could not do it ourselves for whatever reason, we had neighbour's teenage son walk our Lab for us. Dogs need to be walked not only to poop and pee but also for exercise and 'entertainment' if you may. Imagine beeing locked up in the house for weeks at a time, you'd go stir crazy, even if it's a large house.

I guess you know this already so cudos to you for trying to figure out a way to walk your dogs and maintain sanity. Walking dogs in AM while your DH showers is one option, even if only for 15 mins. Your DH also needs to step up and help you with walking your dogs. Or pay someone else to have them walked.

[elektra]

I think I just need to get my butt up out of bed sooner. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow to see how things go. I was just wondering how everyone else was able to fit it all in.

[TwinFoxes]

DH walks our two guys. I do admit they don't get walked nearly as much as when we lived in LA. For one thing, our yard in LA was tiny, they would bounce off the walls without a walk. We also only had the girls for a couple of months in LA. Here, our yard is HUGE, the front 1/2 is grass, the bottom is a ravine, almost forest like. But DH still walks them a couple of times a week, and they occasionally go to doggie daycare. They don't seem to need more exercise. There's no way I could walk both of them (boxer and poodle mix) with the girls in the BJCMD. The poodle's a runner, if he ever got away I'd never see him again.