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Why I only walk one dog at a time

By David

Researchers watched dog walkers for 40 hours

Most problems on dog walks come from divided attention, not from people who don't care. That is the finding of a study published in August 2026 in the journal Society & Natural Resources.

Two researchers, Thomas Roberts and Haeyoung Eun, spent 40 hours quietly observing walkers at four sites in the Surrey Hills in spring 2025. They did not stop anyone or interfere. They just watched what actually happens on a walk.

One observation stood out for me. Professional walkers, dividing their attention across several dogs, had periodic lapses, even though they were generally very competent.

That single line is the reason Forest Hounds walks one dog at a time.

What the study did and didn't say

This was not a hit piece on dog walkers. The professionals it observed were good at their job, and most walkers of every kind picked up after their dogs without fuss.

The study was about the countryside, not about dog safety. It recorded:

  • Eleven missed poo pick-ups in 40 hours, nearly all within 50 to 100 metres of the car park.
  • Walkers absorbed in their phones who didn't notice their dog approaching other people or dogs.
  • Off-lead dogs flushing ground-nesting birds, and farmers worried about livestock.

The researchers put these down to distraction rather than carelessness (press summary, StudyFinds write-up).

It did not look at wild boar, illness or injury. What follows is my own reasoning as someone who walks dogs in the Forest of Dean, not a finding of the study.

The point that carries over is simple.

Attention is finite. Four dogs get a quarter of it each, at best.

Why attention matters more in the Forest of Dean: wild boar

In the Surrey Hills a lapse means a missed poo bag. Here it can mean a boar.

Forestry England is blunt about it. Dogs have been attacked, seriously injured and killed by wild boar in the Forest of Dean. It is rare, but it happens.

Their advice to dog walkers:

  • Keep your dog under close control and within sight, ideally always on a lead.
  • If you see boar, call your dog to heel and put it on the lead.
  • Give the animals space. Turn and take a different path, or stand still until they move off.

The risk is highest when sows have young. Visit Dean Wye says female-led groups with piglets are most often seen between late February and September, and that sticking to main tracks keeps you away from breeding and resting sites.

Boar leave signs before you see them: slotted hoof prints, churned-up wallows, mud scraped onto tree trunks. Reading those signs takes your eyes and your head. So does getting a dog to heel and clipped on in a few seconds.

With one dog, that is easy. With five, some of them off the lead and one tangled round your legs, it is not.

Alabama rot: rare, seasonal, and easy to miss

Alabama rot (CRGV) is rare, but its season runs from November to May. The Royal Veterinary College counted 318 confirmed UK cases between November 2012 and February 2024.

Nobody knows the cause. What vets do know:

  • Cases cluster in the wet months. A 2018 study of 101 cases found fewer than one in ten were diagnosed between June and August.
  • Many affected dogs had been walked in muddy woodland in winter or spring.
  • It usually starts with unexplained skin sores and can progress to kidney failure.
  • Cases have come from all over the UK, so the RVC does not tell owners to avoid particular places.

The Royal Kennel Club suggests two precautions: keep your dog away from very muddy areas, and wash and dry them after a wet or muddy walk. Neither is a guarantee. Most skin sores are not Alabama rot, but an unexplained one after a muddy walk is worth a prompt trip to the vet.

This is where numbers matter again. I can steer one dog round a bog. I cannot steer five. And I can check one dog's legs, paws and belly properly before they go home.

What a Forest Hounds walk looks like

One dog, one walker, one hour in the forest. The only exception is a second dog from the same household.

  • I collect your dog from home and bring them back within a two-hour slot.
  • Your dog is in sight and under control the whole time, and on the lead wherever boar or livestock are about.
  • We stick to main tracks during the boar breeding season.
  • After a muddy walk I check legs, paws and belly, and tell you about anything I find.
  • My phone stays in my pocket unless I'm sending you a photo.

It costs more than a group walk. You are paying for an hour of undivided attention.

Five questions to ask whoever walks your dog

  1. How many dogs do you walk at once?
  2. What do you do if you meet boar?
  3. Is my dog on or off the lead, and where?
  4. Do you check and clean them after a muddy walk between November and May?
  5. Where is your phone while you're walking?

Good walkers will have an answer to all five. If you walk your own dog, the same list applies to you.

Book a solo walk

Forest Hounds covers Cinderford, Coleford, Drybrook, Edge End, Goodrich, Lydney, Parkend, Speech House and the villages between. Solo walks are £30, and the meet and greet at your home is free.

Email [email protected] to arrange one.

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