walking a dog daily?

[Beanie]

I don't walk Auggie much either. If I do walk him, usually I load him into the car and we go to a park or to the community college, which has a bunch of great winding walking paths. He would rather be on a walking path because we get to go go go go go, whereas walking around the neighbourhood is not nearly as exciting. Plus, I live really close to some bad neighbourhoods, so I have to carefully plan where I can and cannot go and often have to adjust that route based on how many less than desirable people are out walking themselves... as well as how many obnoxious children are about.

Maybe if I lived somewhere farther from the ghetto we could walk more often. I like walking him out in parks and stuff in the meantime though. There's something about just getting out and spending a couple hours, just me and my dog, that nothing else compares to.

[Xandra]

I don't walk mine that often either. There is a park down the street and that is all that is in range.

I don't walk him on leash if I can help it. I hate it and he hates it. So I don't like walking him on roads or anything, and usually late, late at night/early in the morning.

Sometimes I'll walk him to the kinda secluded parking lots behind strip malls and stuff and let him off, bring a ball and bounce it on the concrete... let him chase rats lol whatever.

Just walking him, even for a couple hours, does little for his energy level.

[dogsarebetter]

walking mine daily is what I have always thought was best. however we do run into loose dogs daily, and wild children. The kids know to not come NEAR my dogs because my dogs are very reactive. They are fine with the loose dogs as long as the loose dog does not become reactive to my two. My dogs love to go on walks, but just around the neighboring subdivision does bore them. Ruckus would be fine staying at home, but Lynn still would rather walk the subdivision than nothing.
we also have hay fields around us and I have permission to walk in them. So we do that a few times a week. my dogs love smelling where wild deer and turkey have been! I dont think they even get tired of walking in fields.

I always thought that walking your dogs an hour a day was the golden rule! I guess it depends on your dogs.

[sillysally]

DH and I walk ours in the park daily. Sometimes on the weekends we go to different parks. We don't walk around the neighborhood though--too many loose dogs for Sally's taste and the vet said not to walk Jack on hard surfaces if possible....

[dogsarebetter]

this post opened my eyes to a whole new world!
I was expecting
yes yes yes yes we walk our dogs every single day at least an hour a day.

I am so glad I asked this question! I am serious! I have walked the dogs when I had the flu, I have walked them with a bad headache, I have even walked them with a broken toe because I thought it was a necessity!

I feel relieved. Darn it, next time I catch a cold we are staying home!

[sillysally]

I really wish i could walk jack for an hour at a time--he could definitely use it! Unfortunately with the elbow dysplasia it's just not possible to walk him for that amount of time.

[colliewog]

I used to have to walk my dogs when I lived in apartments. I haven't noticed a difference in those dogs and my current 'self-exercised' dogs.

While I don't take mine for walks, I do take them for car rides and such, so they get 'out'. I think the togetherness, plus some form of exercise to expel energy, is more important than the actual walk itself.

[smkie]

Walk them or most likely get them out somewhere they can run. Almost every day unless it is bitter cold or I am too ill to go. They don't let that be an excuse very often.

[Tankstar]

Originally Posted by dogsarebetter

this post opened my eyes to a whole new world!
I was expecting
yes yes yes yes we walk our dogs every single day at least an hour a day.

I am so glad I asked this question! I am serious! I have walked the dogs when I had the flu, I have walked them with a bad headache, I have even walked them with a broken toe because I thought it was a necessity!

I feel relieved. Darn it, next time I catch a cold we are staying home!

I think it all depends on the dog too. you know your 2, and know if they can last a day or 4 with out any walks.

Blaze can go a day or 2 if needed. But I prefer he dont. As he drives me nuts after a while. and I feel bad. I dont like being cooped up at home all day, and I doubt he does. If I didnt want to walk him or do somthing out of the house every day, I would have got a cat alot earlier in life lol.

Although some days I feel bad for marley as she is a cat and stuck inside. so she gets car rides too lol.

Our past dogs just didnt care for walks much, so they didnt go much, they never got excitied when I would grab leashs. But car rides were lke disney land to them, so they got many many of those a week.

[BostonBanker]

Nope, not in the traditional sense. Some days we ride out to the barn together, and she runs around and hunts groundhogs with her best buddy there. When Tristan is sound, she'll now go trail-riding with us (something she refused to do until recently). Some days (most) we go down to the green, and combine playing with the chuck-it, practicing "out" "go" and "flip" around the trees, and practicing our contacts on the curb. Some days we go hiking off-leash alone or with friends. Some days, we veg. Bless Meg, she will give me a day or even two of slacking before she gets too jacked up.

Walking on a leash does very little for her. Doesn't even touch on her exercise needs, and she gets more stimulation with our varied exercise in my opinion.

But I'd be the first to admit that all dogs have different needs.