How much exercise do you (really) give your dogs?

teacuptiger

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#21
From early spring-late fall Roxie gets a bike ride that lasts up to an hour (I slowly increase, since winter she doesn't run on pavement at all). I also walk her in a collar (heel walks) for about an hour and a half before work, and then she pulls me (not always consistently) in her harness anywhere from an hour to two or three hours at night (I basically am just out around town until I get really, really hungry and tired).

We also play fetch out in the park whenever, and tug a LOT in the house. Roxie loves tug.

In winter though, we just play in the house. I despise walking in winter, since nobody takes care of their sidewalks at all. Plus, Roxie doesn't enjoy being outside in winter, no matter what I dress her up in (I have a Fido Fleece, a Hurtta Coat, a hoodie... she's spoiled). We both hibernate in winter. I will sometimes take her to Petco though, just to socialize with other people. I can't imagine her having to be around JUST me, lol.

I really wouldn't consider our exercise "routine" substantial or even really needed that much... I'm sure Roxie would be just fine laying around all day and only going for an hour walk. I just enjoy being out, but I have a little bit of social anxiety so don't really like being alone. Roxie's my shadow. She gives me an excuse to be wandering around town all day.

ETA: I do have a part-time job, so I have a lot of hours with Roxie to just do whatever. I doubt I would be able to do the same with her if I worked a 9-5.
 
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adojrts

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#22
This winter so far has been terrible for exercising, deep snow and COLD.

I try to do 20-30 mins of walking/jogging ending or starting with a 20 - 30 min off leash time on our farm twice a day with Punk. Punk also rarely walks but trots on leash. Who gets once a day and the old dogs have no desire to go this time of year unless it is warmer and nice.

Punk also goes swimming twice a week and will until it is warm enough out to go to the lake. My bank account will like that lol.

Last week I purchased a human treadmill and I have worked Punk up to 6, 3 minute sessions a day. Esp with it so cold out. The goal is to drop a session every other day and add the time to the other sessions. Building to a 15 - 20 min session once a day. At this point she is still only walking on the treadmill, hope to start some trotting later this week. That said I would rather she have walks and off leash time as the weather improves instead of the treadmill.

That said for a dog that I am conditioning to compete with in the warmer months the schedule is this.

Day 1: Long slow distances on leash once or twice a day for a total of 1 - 1 1/2 hrs.
Day 2: Swimming, 10 min warm up and stretching, building to 7 mins swimming, 5 mins of walking, 7 mins swimming, 5 walking, 7 mins swimming, 10 mins cool down.
Day 3: 30 min walk, 3 - 5 reps of 500 ft recalls up a 10 degree grade hill.
Day 4: Long slow distances again and/or swimming.
Day 5: 30 min walk encouraging the dog to pull a bit while wearing a harness. 2nd walk -1/2 hr to 1 hour walk/hike
Day 6: Swimming/hiking again.
Day 7: Day off.

Each day also includes at once out off leash for 20-30 mins if not twice.
Schedule is adjusted for competing as well and how much agility training is done each day or every other day.
 
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crazedACD

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#23
In the summer/spring/fall? Quite a bit at the beginning and end of my working days...usually spend a bit of time before work playing outside with them. Then when I get home, usually outside for an hour plus. Weekends are walking/hiking, going to events, training more, playing outside in the kiddie pool and whatnot. They do go out on a fenced acre, and I think they entertain themselves wandering around and barking at stuff. I do do leashed walks a few days a week.

In the winter...as long as it is somewhat bearable, I'm going out in the mornings with them before work for a bit. And then if is one of those freak days where it is 30-40 degrees, I will go out at night and throw the ball or play with the flirtpole. Romeo can't see so I throw the ball and then he wanders and looks for it mostly :p. The weekends are better and I play with them off and on through the day. I'm doing 'indoor' training stuffs as best I can with Fi. And we are doing classes and whatnot.

Fiona needs more than she is getting right now, but it's so freaking cold.
 

RBark

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#24
I train whatever my dog seems to realistically need. Kobe is at a doggy daycare 3 to 5 days a week. He has free roam of the facility, so he gets lots of mental activity. He is tired when he gets home. I've skipped exercise and he is fine. I've taken him out for 4 hours of med-light activity and he was fine too.
 

AllieMackie

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#25
Finn gets exercise/stimulation every day, but as to how much, often not much. Haha. A good walk, a good playtime in the yard, or a good playtime in the rec room (where he has room to run and fetch things) almost every day. I include him in certain activities once or twice a week, like hikes, walks and my runs when the weather is nice. We both hibernate and get a little fat in the winter. :p

He's happy. If he's not happy, we exercise. Then he is happy.
 
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#26
All depends on time of year.

But I do like to make sure they get atleast a 30mins walk a day. at minimum. currently we have been under massive ice storms, high winds and temps of -40. So we dont go outside much right now, but its just not reasonable to. even washroom nbreaks are 2 mins and inside. to dangerous to be outside with falling trees and power lines due to ice.

we have just moved cities. and now finally hae a decent sized yard (just under a 1/2 acrre. much more roomy thne our old town house of about 20x15)

we also live now a 20mins walk down a beutiful hikinh trail to the lake.

So I forsee much more walking in their future when the weather warms up to atleast -5 lol. since we are new here, we will have fun walking and learning this city.

We do have a decent field a 3 mins walk from the house. so Blaze can be offleash and solo on his 30 foot flexi. we try to walk to it every day and do the "loop" of the neighboor hood which is 2kms and about a 30mins walk. which is decent.

Neither of my dogs need much of anything both are lazy. but the do loe going out. and so do I.

we also go to my moms where they play with her new dog (I moed out so she needed a dog lol)


honeslty some days they get zero actiity except a kong to chew and other days they get a 5 hour walk/play. what they do at the end of the day, after either of those scenarios is sleep any way. thats what they do best lol
pet stores. dog events. friends. car rides. training classes ect
 
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#28
I can't remember the time we went for a walk or played ball or did any training at all. I don't think I've done any formal type training since September, maybe August. We don't really go for walks unless it's hiking. We usually do bike rides, but that hasn't happened since November. The past few weeks I haven't done anything besides walk outside with them for a minute and come back in.

We're all getting a little stir crazy, I think it's time I find some task to teach them while we're stuck inside. -19F air temp right now, not sure what windchill is, so screw you if you think i'm going outside :)
 

Dizzy

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#29
I have no plan and no routine.

Winter... Little to none from me. I work out the house, leave in the dark and return in the dark. Weekends I like a long walk but depends on the weather. I live in a rainy place.

Summer, usually daily. I love walking after work in the summer, but varies in length and activity and on the weather. Usually swim every day in the summer. Spend full weekends at the beach.

All walks are off lead and usually involve a ball or some chasing.

During the day both dogs spend time with my other half round the house and that might involve a walk (rarely), often involves a chase round the garden (major chase) or just pottering round.

Varies a lot.

Dogs generally needs as much exercise as you give them!
 

Slick

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#30
In my experience, there is a lot of mumbo jumbo on the internet about herding breeds. "oh, they need 534953459346793 hours of exercise or they will go nutso".

In my opinion, with the majority (but not all) herders the reality is that they "could" go all day, but that they absolutely do not have to. A good dog has an off switch and knows how to settle in the house even without tons of exercise.

I did my research when adopting Leo and went with an adult dog because I had specific wants about a high-energy dog who could live in an apartment and settle. Leo is perfect for this. He will go go go go when we are doing something together, but he will chill if nothing is going on.

As far as amount of exercise, I rarely see him super tired, but he really only needs one good run/sprint a day in order to be happy. I think on average, he gets about an hour of exercise a day, but can definitely survive on less. I usually take him on a twenty minute walk in the morning before work, and then have a longer 30min to an hour walk + fetch session, or walk + dog park in the afternoon after work. And it is totally enough for him.

If you choose a good breeder with non-neurotic dogs, I think you can totally have a herder, and forget about all of the dumb vastly exaggerated information that some people spew on the internet
 

Sekah

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#31
When Cohen was a puppy I was in school part-time and I lived at home with my dad and sister. I would walk/play with Cohen 3-4+ hours a day, and my family probably tossed in another hour or so daily too. You know what happened? By giving my dog 5 hours of exercise a day, I created a dog who NEEDED 5 hours of exercise a day.

I moved out, got a job, got married, bought a house and am living a more "normal" life with a normal schedule. It sucked and was genuinely upsetting to have to leave my dog alone in the home for 9 hours a day without breaks. I think I had more trouble with it than she did.

Cohen is now 4, so she's settling down a bit. On a normal day I'll walk her/play with her for 15-30 minutes before work each weekday morning. I'll come home and feed her and then probably spend 30-60 minutes walking/playing with her at night. Some nights I don't do much and she settles pretty well.

If I'm around, she pesters me. Sometimes all she needs is a quick game of tug/chase/fetch and she'll settle. Weekends are a bit of a crapshoot since my schedule can vary so much. I wouldn't say that what I'm doing now is really exercising Cohen -- just ensuring she gets the mental stimulation of some quality sniffing and trick training. She's not had to run hard outdoors for a while now.

In general, I'd say that Cohen gets at least 30 minutes of quality 1 on 1 time with me each day, with 60 minutes being more average. I feel like a good dog owner when I can give her 90+ minutes a day on a nice long off leash walk, or a training class/session. She's always good to go if I can offer her more.

Mega gets just quick trips outdoors to pee in the winter unless it's above freezing. She probably plays tug/fetch 15-30 minutes a day. I think she tires herself out shivering.

E: Winter sucks. I had a private agility lesson on the weekend and Cohen was panting and tired out 10 minutes in. Normally her endurance is twice that. Despite plenty of breaks, she was clearly done about 50 minutes into the session, and again she can normally go for longer.
 
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#32
If you choose a good breeder with non-neurotic dogs, I think you can totally have a herder, and forget about all of the dumb vastly exaggerated information that some people spew on the internet
I do think a lot is exaggerated to the general public for all sorts of reasons, but I do think there is some truth to it. They do need a lot of stimulation and they don't. Things are rarely black and white to me, this included.

My last post showed I haven't done anything with my dogs in months. Seriously, nothing other than letting them outside for few minutes. They don't even do anything other than go to the bathroom and then sit by the door and wait for me to come out and play, which I haven't done recently.

They come inside and are fine. Well one will pace 100 miles in the living room because she wants to get the cat sitting in the cat tree and knows I won't allow it :) but if it's not there, she chills just fine with the rest of us too.

BUT, i have done a ton of work with them and have a great relationship with them. I could easily see them in another circumstance with someone that thinks, oh, they can chill in the house and get the dog to just be a dog like so many do and they would turn into terrors.

The general public doesn't usually build relationships with their dogs like a lot of us do. A lot of people dont' interact with their dogs at all other than dropping a bowl of food, and getting mad at them when they don't come, pee in the house, bark too much or chew something up. That doesn't usually build good stuff between you and the dog and if it's a dog that has more "stuff" inside than a regular couch potato, things can get bad.

Once you have the relationship, they can be anything, but if you don't I think a higher energy dog will drive most ****ing nuts
 
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#33
A good dog has an off switch and knows how to settle in the house even without tons of exercise.
Haha everyone thinks this until they have a dog who doesn't have an off switch. Maisy and Pip can settle nicely in the house and Squash is learning, but if I value my sanity and my stuff he absolutely has a minimum exercise requirement.
 

Taqroy

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#34
Um, I do enough to keep the dogs from losing their minds. So the minimum for Tipper is about 20 minutes of hard running (fetch usually) three times a week and for Mu it's the same but she could get by with one to two times a week. Murphy doesn't need anything but a good stroll every once in awhile.

Winter was sucking pretty bad for the girls this year - my schedule has entirely changed so I leave in the dark and get home in the dark. So a friend of mine comes over and runs them for about half an hour twice a week. Summer time is fine though, I just strap the baby to me and go play fetch after work. :)

Mu NEEDS training at least once a week, but I try to make it more because I need it too. I guess the amount of time spent every day must vary greatly by dog and by the age of the dog. Mu needed a lot more stimulation between puppyhood and two years than she does now. And I imagine a dog bred to be a drivey, sporting, balls to the wall, kind of dog will have much higher exercise reqs.
 

PWCorgi

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#35
Um, I do enough to keep the dogs from losing their minds. So the minimum for Tipper is about 20 minutes of hard running (fetch usually) three times a week and for Mu it's the same but she could get by with one to two times a week. Murphy doesn't need anything but a good stroll every once in awhile.

Winter was sucking pretty bad for the girls this year - my schedule has entirely changed so I leave in the dark and get home in the dark. So a friend of mine comes over and runs them for about half an hour twice a week. Summer time is fine though, I just strap the baby to me and go play fetch after work. :)

Mu NEEDS training at least once a week, but I try to make it more because I need it too. I guess the amount of time spent every day must vary greatly by dog and by the age of the dog. Mu needed a lot more stimulation between puppyhood and two years than she does now. And I imagine a dog bred to be a drivey, sporting, balls to the wall, kind of dog will have much higher exercise reqs.
I want to come play fetch with Tipper! :p
 

smkie

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#37
we are hibernating. NO one is getting anything exercise unless you count that fast as we can get back in the house before we freeze solid. Soon as it is better outside, they will get their walk.

It isnt' right, Neccy locks up and so do I, but it is unavoidable.
 

StillandSilent

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#38
The boys do daycare 5 days a week. Three for 7 hours and 2 for 10, during my shifts. Gambit doesn't require much else. Shaman gets additional walks/work.

Now that he's a fungus and not allowed to got to daycare, he's become a very naughtly little monkey who wants attention and exercise all the time.
 

Saeleofu

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#39
Gavroche...well, I force him outside to pee no less than twice a day, usually more. If it's warm I'll throw his jolly ball around for a while or play tug with it. Then he comes in and lays on the couch. Occasionally he'll get up and play chase for a few minutes inside (I hide around corners and pop out, he barks, I run off and he chases, he barks some more, repeat). Once a month or so I'll take him to Petsmart or TSC or something...actually it's been more than that lately since he's finally starting to be comfortable in public again. Once a year he runs lure coursing. Sometimes he'll play chase with Logan. If it's warm we'll go for a walk by the river or go on a hike on occasion. That's about the extent of it. He's the definition of a couch potato.

Logan gets to go out several times a day, and unless it's REALLY cold he rends to want to stay out for about an hour at a time (well, he's like to stay out ALL THE TIME but I make him come in after an hour unless it's a particularly nice day and I have nothing to do). He's not really much for fetch or tug or anything like that, but sometimes I can get him to play with sticks, or he'll play chase with Gavroche. He doesn't ply chase with me, though. I try to get him out of the house to work at least once a day, but sometimes that doesn't happen, especially the last couple weeks with holidays and cold weather. How much he works just depends. Sometimes it's half an hour, sometimes it's 8-10 hours. He does start to get a bit antsy if we haven't gone anywhere in a couple days, and I can always tell when I work him after a day off. When it's warmer we'll go for walks by the river or go for a hike when I get bored. When we get close to a trial I work more with him on rally/obedience/gaiting/stacking. He definitely has an off-switch, it's just not quite as good as Gavroche's ;) When he was younger he NEEDED a walk every day, but that's all he NEEDED - a half an hour walk would be fine, though usually it was more because I worked on training.
 

Whisper

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#40
I totally depends on weather, my mood, the dogs' moods, my schedule (lol, I almost made it sound like I had a life right there xD), etc.
I will admit that sometimes I'm just lazy as hell. I take advantage of the acreage and let the dogs run around off-leash while I just walk really slowly. :eek:
We go for hikes, but it's not very predictable. It might be 3 days in a row and then not again for another 3-4 weeks. Plus, some hikes might be 2 hours, but there have been times we've taken a path that takes 7 hours.
Either way I make sure the dogs get some way of stretching their legs and using their brains every day. Regardless, though, I still have never technically seen Fable sleep! Lying down, yes, but when I look at her she has her eyes open and will already be looking back at me.

Basically, it's varied and the dogs are okay if they just get a 20 minute run for a day. Fable is higher energy than a lot of the BCs and other herders I know, and even she doesn't need 5 hours, yeesh.
 

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