Before
Sam was walking Milo twice a day, an hour each time. He came home and herded the cat, then the sofa cushions, then Sam.
Busy parks were off the table because other dogs set him off, so the walks got longer and quieter. Milo got fitter and more wound up.
What Henry noticed
More running builds a fitter dog, not a calmer one. A collie mix needs something to control, track and finish.
Henry swapped part of the walking for twenty minutes of structured work in the garden: herding a large ball, learning names for his toys, and a find-it game to close each day.
“Twenty minutes of thinking wore him out more than two hours of walking ever did.”
Written with Sam, Milo's owner
What changed
The second walk got shorter. Milo settles by eight now, and the cat has stopped hiding upstairs.
The sofa cushions are back where they belong.
