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Can You Be Safe Walking Your Dog With Your Headphones?
As I get ready to launch a twice a month radio show next month – I put a question out to one of the pet sitter forums I am a member of. I was 
wanting to get a feel to see if people would want to listen to our podcast while they were walking dogs and the results were shocking to me.
Music.
It is what keeps us alive. There are sting in my car seat at 1yrs old. I have been an avid salsa dancer and west coast swing.
Books.
Love them! Just fall asleep reading, so I have lots of business books on tape. It is food for my soul. After the awesome invention of the iphone my library follows me everywhere… from my home, my car, and yes, you guessed it, walking dogs.
So imagine my complete disbelief when a lot of pet sitters sounded off about NOT walking their dog clients with their head phones on. They said it would distract them and they wouldn’t be able to see things that were coming. Like a dog off its leash, a car gone crazy, etc.
I didn’t quite understand this because that would all be sight (not sound) driven. I wouldn’t ever be listening to something so loud that I still couldn’t hear what was going on. I would still be funny aware of my surroundings, this is why I have 5 senses. I walk my own dog, and your office manager, Rocco, with ear buds in my ears.
So I am curious… how do you feel about this? Do you think it is safe to walk a dog with headphones on? Do you do it when you walk your dog?
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- The Secrete to Finding The Perfect Pet Sitter In Scottsdale (bellashouseandpets.com)
- ASK THE TRAINER: What Does It Mean When My Dog Holds The Leash When We Walk? (bellashouseandpets.com)
I use my ipod for both music and podcasts when I am walking myself (I have walked for years for weightloss) and I always find it gives an added dimension to the walks. When I set up Custom Canine Care I walked without head phones simply because everything was new and I was working out the finer details. Now I have things like how I carry my equipment sorted, and have a good understanding of the dogs that I walk, your blog post has promted me to give the ipod a go when walking the dogs. I will let you know if i find it distracting or not.
Yes, I sure do listen to my headphones. They are not noise canceling ~ I can answer calls hands free ~ music is VERY low ~ all attention is safely where it needs to be … on the dogs I am walking!
I think my lab can hear my earbuds. She walks differently depending on the kind of song. Today she started walking like an Arabian horse when a Guy Farley eastern sounding song came on. I am serious- she was prancing and holding her head really high and she is normally in sort of relaxed hunting mode when I walk without music.