How do you know...

[BostonBanker]

Well... an hour after posting this they're both asleep.

I really think the immediate aftermath just must hype them both up.

I try for two hours a day of something for them too, and at least 1 hour a day being something like off leash walking where they can go explore. The rest might be training or ball playing.

Summer could get by on nothing but I don't think it's fair to her.

Further proof that we own the same dogs.

[houlahoops]

Ours are always jazzed right after a big outing/event as well.

For the curs, we judge by the number of mistakes we can make. When they're tired, we can make one, maybe two mistakes (not locking up the garbage, leaving a ladder leaned up near the fence) that they won't take advantage of. Otherwise, all bets are off

[JessLough]

At nearly 16, Rosey comes home after 3+ hours of hiking and swimming and runs around or paces XD i agree with Linds, it comes down to taking the edge off

[Southpaw]

I pretty much just tell her "OK that's enough exercise."

The only thing that really TIRES her out would be a couple hours of swimming or running at the dog park. Which we do like....never....
so basically we go for our walks and then I ignore her and tell her to lay down, which used to be a struggle but now she's adapted.

She gives me no sign during exercise that she's tired. It's usually when she zonks out in the car that I know I met her demands, but she would keep going if I never made her stop.

[Fran101]

When they are bearable to live with.
Oh and when they don't JUMP to go running/on walks. That's when I know they've had enough lol if they drag their feet to leash up I figure they are done for the day

[JacksonsMom]

It's hard to say. There's been days where I have done things with Jackson for 3-4 hours straight (dog park, petsmart, walk, etc), come home, and he's all ready to play or do whatever but usually it's only the initial aftermath of it all. Like you said, about an hour afterwards, he passes out for a while.

That's why I hate summer so bad because I'll take him outside, we do a 30 minute walk and he lays down and acts like he's dying (lol)... but then we come home, and he's all hyper and ready to run around because he really didn't get that much exercise. He just hates the heat.

So in the fall/winter, we get to do a lot more in terms of TRULY tiring him out. He can easily go lay down and chill for a while by himself, but it's just a matter of him being bored and nothing else to do.

Ok, actually, the only time I've seen him really really zonked is after a day of swimming or if we are on vacation doing a lot of traveling.

[Linds]

In winter I truly put to test that off switch I rave about them having. I hate cold and kinda go into hibernation in addition to swimming not being an option.

"Go outside, play fetch for five minutes, come inside and if you bounce off the walls I will end you"

[sassafras]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

I really think the immediate aftermath just must hype them both up.

That absolutely happens to Squash. He will get just absolutely maniacal sometimes after he's had what intellectually I think should be plenty of exercise for him. Nine times out of ten if I put him in his crate with a stuffed Kong when he's like that, two minutes later he's out cold.

[Taqroy]

Originally Posted by Linds

"Go outside, play fetch for five minutes, come inside and if you bounce off the walls I will end you"

I'm pretty sure I have said this to my dogs. Last January we had negative temperatures for over a week - it was too cold to be outside for more than a couple minutes. And everyone behaved PERFECTLY while we were stuck in the house. I was amazed. And then it hit the positive side and they all started acting like jerks again.

I can tell when Mu has had enough when she is not trying to bore holes in me from across the room. If she doesn't get enough physical exercise AND mental exercise she will sit around and stare at me. It's very disconcerting. She gets bitchy (er) when she hasn't had enough and when she's had too much.

Tipper gets way super barky when she hasn't had enough exercise. I mean, more barky than usual (hah). She barks if you look at her, she barks when you get up, she barks if you make rude gestures, she barks if you go upstairs....etc.

Murphy is the wonder dog. He exercises himself most of the time and he'd be absolutely fine hibernating for however long I wanted him to. He doesn't fetch, he doesn't play with toys, he's not suitable for the dog park, and he's not reliable off leash, so I'm glad he doesn't need a lot of exercise. I get bored walking around my neighborhood.