If your dog could talk: a good walk.

A good walk isn't measured in kilometres. It's measured in experiences.

t's six o'clock. You've finished work, changed your shoes and clipped on the lead. You've got forty-five minutes before heading home.

Your plan is simple: walk at a good pace, cover a reasonable distance and make sure your dog gets enough exercise. Your dog has a very different plan.

They stop to sniff a hedge. They pause to watch a blackbird hopping across the path. They decide that today's lamppost isn't nearly as interesting as yesterday's patch of wildflowers.

While you're trying to finish the walk, your dog is only just beginning it.

We often measure a walk by how far we've gone, how many steps we've taken or how long we've been out. Dogs don't. For them, a walk is one of the most important parts of the day. It's their chance to explore, gather information, make choices and experience the world beyond the front door. It's not simply about exercise. It's about experience.That experience, however, won't look the same for every dog.

A young Border Collie may enjoy covering long distances and solving challenges along the way. An elderly Cavalier King Charles Spaniel may be perfectly happy with a slower walk filled with opportunities to sniff. A Beagle will often spend much of the outing with its nose glued to the ground, while a Bulldog may need shorter, gentler walks, especially during warm weather. Puppies stop every few metres because almost everything is new. Senior dogs may stop more often simply because they prefer to take their time.

None of them is walking the "wrong" way. They're simply experiencing the world according to their age, their body, their genetics and their individual personality. There isn't a perfect walk.There is only the right walk for the dog beside you.

We've already discovered that dogs read the world through their noses. But a quality walk is about much more than sniffing. Whenever it's safe to do so, it's about having the freedom to choose a direction, investigate something interesting, pause to observe, walk at a comfortable pace or simply spend a little longer exploring a place that catches their attention.

Research in animal welfare has consistently shown that giving animals opportunities to make choices and exercise some control over their environment contributes positively to their wellbeing. A walk where a dog is allowed, from time to time, to make simple decisions is often far richer than one where every step is dictated for them.

It's easy to judge a walk by what we can see. A long route, a brisk pace or even a large group of dogs walking neatly together may look impressive. But dogs don't measure the quality of a walk by how it looks. They measure it by what they're able to experience.

If every dog has to keep moving at the same speed, in the same direction and without stopping, some of the most meaningful parts of the walk inevitably disappear.

If you live in Calvià, you're surrounded by places where every walk can become a genuine adventure. Pine forests, coastal paths and Mediterranean scrub offer an ever-changing landscape of scents, textures and wildlife that no pavement can ever provide. Sometimes, simply slowing down or choosing a different route is enough to transform an ordinary walk into an extraordinary one.

So the next time your dog stops for what seems like no reason at all, perhaps resist the urge to say, "Come on." There may be a very good reason. You just can't smell it.

Did you know...?

Dogs don't just gather information during a walk—they leave it behind too. Tiny scent glands between their paw pads deposit chemical traces with every step, adding another layer of information for other dogs to discover. Research also suggests that dogs allowed to spend more time sniffing during walks tend to display more positive emotional states, reminding us that exploring the world through their nose is far more than a pastime—it's an important part of their wellbeing.

“Every time you slow down for me, you're not wasting time. You're making my favourite part of the day even better.”

• Mellor, D. J. (2016). Updating Animal Welfare Thinking: Moving beyond the "Five Freedoms" towards "A Life Worth Living". Animals, 6(3), 21.

• Mellor, D. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Littlewood, K. E., et al. (2020).The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals, 10(10), 1870.

• Horowitz, Alexandra (2016). Being a Dog: Following the Dog into a World of Smell. Scribner.

• Duranton, Charlotte & Horowitz, Alexandra (2019). Let me sniff! Nosework induces positive judgment bias in pet dogs.

• Mills, D., Karagiannis, C., Zulch, H.

• Young, R. J. (2003). Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals.

• Rooney, N. J., & Cowan, S. (2011). "Training methods and owner-dog interactions: Links with dog behaviour and learning ability."