If Ray T. Snapp has learned anything in his 15 or 20 years of walking dogs, it’s that dogs can survive with food and shelter, but will thrive on discipline, affection, exercise and routine.

The Bedford dentist walks his four dogs every afternoon for about an hour near his home on Bedford’s east edge. Snapp’s dogs, all rescue animals, are thrivers.

“When you have a dog, it forces you to do your walk,” said Snapp. “They make you go when you otherwise wouldn’t. It can be a misting rain, cold, it doesn’t matter. We still go out.”

Snapp, 67, said he looks forward to the daily jaunts as much as his dogs.

“When I’m at work, I’m looking forward to taking a walk when I get home. It’s as much a mental exercise. After being in all day it feels good to get out,” he said. “We don’t do a real strenuous walk. I let them stop when they want to sniff. When I get home, I’ll do a more rigorous workout on the treadmill or stationary bike.”

Walking dogs in the winter can be a challenge when temperatures drop, and snow and ice make walking dangerous for man and beast.

Dr. Jerry Rusch, a veterinarian at Spring Mill Veterinary Service in Mitchell, said as long as dogs are acclimated to cold temperatures and are in good health, they can walk in most any weather.

Dogs that spend most of their time indoors, older dogs or dogs with arthritis, may be better off with a short session of play in the yard than a long walk on bitterly cold or icy days, advised Rusch.

“A dog has to be conditioned for exercise just like a person,” said Rusch. “Start out small and add distance gradually. You can’t expect your dog to go out and do three or four miles if they haven’t walked that far before. I recommend the same rule of thumb for dogs as runners—increase mileage 10 percent a week.”

Other precautions include avoiding icy surfaces.

“Dogs slip and fall, too,” said Rusch. “Fluids are also important. We think about that a lot in summer, but in winter, they need the same intake of fluids.”

Dogs whose coats are groomed short may benefit from a sweater to keep them warm.

Twenty to 30 minutes of exercise a day is a good target for most dogs, said Rusch. “But it depends on the dog. An older dog may not want that much,” he said. “It’s also a good idea to keep your dog on leash so they don’t get into anything like antifreeze toxicity and animal carcasses.”

Over the years, Snapp said one of the things he has enjoyed about walking his dogs is training them to follow commands and watching the relationships between his dogs as a pecking order is established.

One of his dogs that was the most difficult to train is now the alpha dog.

Snapp’s goal for his dogs is for them all to be trained well enough to walk off leash. Even though he walks in a low-traffic area, he makes sure they heed his commands.

“Their primary command is ‘come’ and they are good about that,” he said. “They don’t get off the leash until they understand that fully and I’m absolutely sure they do.”

Snapp keeps the dog who is new to off-leash walking close to his side.

“That’s when an old dog or an alpha dog comes in handy,” he said. “When you give a command, the weaker dog will watch what that older dog does and will follow him.”

Snapp also puts adhesive tape on the heads of his dark-coated dogs so motorists are aware of them.

Snapp believes in repetition and reinforcement with his dogs so he always carries treats and rewards them for heeding commands during their walks.

“If they’re after something and I call them off and they come, I always give them a treat for coming to me,” he said.