Energy Levels - General Info

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Do dogs care about route? → What factors determine which direction the human takes in the case they are walking for their dogs gain?

<aside> 💡 Other example case for context: going for a run (goal is to exercise/efficiency); errands (goal is to complete something in time), etc.

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How I got to this question: Is distance the only factor or does the dog care? I was thinking about how heavily the dog's goals affect the users decision to take a specific path.

Qualitative Info:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/comments/8k59nd/help_does_my_dog_care_if_we_take_the_same_route/

"I like switching it up. I find that I get a skewed view of my dog's leash behavior if I take the same walk every day. He tends to stop sniffing at a lot of spots he's sniffed before and walk much nicer with me generally. If I change it up, I see the "real" level we are at. I look at new routes as a way of practicing with pretty mild distractions." - u/shiplesp

'I think dogs appreciate novelty. On walks, my dogs are exploring the world with their nose, and it’s not really exploring if it’s sniffing the exact same things over and over. It’s far from the end of the world to have the same route most days, but I do try to change it up so they get to sniff more things!" - u/court67

"Try letting him pick the route every once in a while, it’s actually really fun to see where the dogs nose guides you. We ended up by a lake, circling it 3 times before heading into a forest I’ve never been in before." - u/Dizzymizzwheezy

"When dogs are on a walk and smelling stuff, for them it’s like when we are watching TV. So much information past and present, animals and other. I like to think of different routes and spots and different shows. The same show gets boring over and over." - u/calmdrive

Interpretation/Thoughts