If you spend time in downtown Coldwater or at the Dog Park, you’ve probably seen the man who walks five dogs. Locals have wondered and he was asked if he is in the business of walking dogs.
His name is Jamie Burdette.
He is not his business of walking dogs. He has a full-time job in Sturgis. All five dogs are his, and he walks them for about an hour every day.
“Walking the dogs is never a chore. I do it for my own relaxation,” Burdette said. “The dogs are in it for the mental stimulation, the scents, sights and sounds rather than a quick walk for cardio exercise.”
Burdette studies dog behavior by carefully observing his own pack so that he can better understand and care for his dogs and by reading the current literature on the dog’s mind.
“Although there are breed specific traits, each dog’s personality is his own. One method of correction will not work for every dog,” Burdette said.
He often walks other dogs with his own. He uses the context of the moment to train them.
“I watch for the dog’s action in a situation. Then determine how to let the dog know what I want of him or her in that situation,” he explained.
Sometimes the communication solves the behavior problem immediately and other times it is a long pursuit. But in every case, it’s worth the effort, he said.
Burdette seems to have an immediate bond with every dog he meets.
