big yard = no walks?

[misticaleclipse]

I'm also one of those who do not walk their dogs daily. My 3Ms are small dogs, and my fenced in yard is huge. I think they get enough excercise chasing each other around. I do spend plenty of time daily to play fetch, cuddle, train, and provide individual attention to each one of them. Beside this, I take them out (to my parents & in-laws' houses) weekly, and once in a while we go to the dog park or dog beach where they get their socialization times.

I think it depends on the individial's situation and also the dog breeds, because some may need more stimulation & excercise than the others.

When I originally got Charlie we lived in an apartment and went for walks daily. When we moved into the house I kept doing it, but over time he seems less and less interested and just wants to sleep when I get home.

He runs around the yard, plays fetch with my fiance during the day, and every day or so gets a visit with the next door neighbors dog/s as well. He then gets the occasional walk and also comes with us on any outings I can bring him on. I always have a good game of fetch when I get home and hes pretty tired for the night.

So it does depend on the dog.

 

[Road dog]

Our girls have about 2 acres fenced for their safety. Everything a dog could want. Trees, grass, open space, places to play hide & seek, rabbits to chase, and thinking about putting in a pond this summer for their swimming pleasure.

Despite all this, when I say "How about a walk?" they both jump for joy and we had BETTER be serious about taking them, or we'll be paying for it with hyper dogs later. We try to take them out for about 90 minutes to 2 hours a day. Sometimes leash walks in town, but usually long off leash romps out at the farm museum I volounteer at (with permission of course)

They also get at LEAST two trips to the dog park every week. If the weather is bad, we go to Petco and let them shop Not much exercise but it's still an outing.

Edit: I read this post out loud to Roxy, both girls are in the room with us. I had to spell out w-a-l-k, m-u-s-e-u-m, p-a-r-k, and
P-e-t-c-o to keep the dogs from going bonkers, just like with kids LOL

 

[DanL]

Despite all this, when I say "How about a walk?" they both jump for joy and we had BETTER be serious about taking them, or we'll be paying for it with hyper dogs later.

I don't even have to say walk. As soon as I grab a poopie bag out of the plastic bag holder and put it in my pocket he's jumping off the walls.

 

[uhmanda00]

we go to Petco and let them shop Not much exercise but it's still an outing.

Lucy and I do that too... at least every other week... she LOVES it!!

And we go to Academy [Located in South and East US only] sometimes too... Petco is more fun though, because people in there aren't surprised when a dog comes around the corner. We mainly went there right before she had her CGC & TDI tests, so she could work with distractions.

 

[boxerbaby]

I think this really depends on the yard and the owners. If some one is out playing with their dog in the yard is fine, but just leaving them out is different. I didn't have a fenced yard. We did have a big yard and I played with him constantly. We did by one of those under ground fences to teach him the boundries, so I didn't like to accually walk him out of his boundry, I lived on a main road and if the door got left open (he stayed in the yard, so if he went out he didn't go any where) I didn't want him to decide to go for a walk by him self, it only takes a secound to get hit by a car. So I wouldn't take him near the road on walks, he didn't know the difference between having a leash and walking with me or walking by himself, just wandering a little. So no, I think the yard was fine, but I did talk him for a ride so I could walk him some where else and he could get other expiriences. I just feel if I accually walked him out of my proprty with a leash, he may have decided to go alone (I didn't just leave him out unattended, but he was trained to stay in the yard, and he went out while a door was opened he wouldn't run off or wander, I think because he was never allowed to walk out of his boundry.)

 

[frenchboxer]

My cousin lives on a 22 thousand hectare farm, and she walks her Rottie twice a day :lol-sign: .

 

[oc_spirit]

YA the whole big yard=no walks is a myth. Its simply a lazy person's excuse for not getting off their butts and walking their dog. A dog simply does not excercise itself in a yard anyways. Sure they may run around some and bark at things but those crazy zoomies are outlets of pent up energy and do not suffice as proper excercise. If I kept the boys in the yard all day and did not take them out of it ever, they would go stir-crazy! They start getting into stuff and doing things they're not supposed because they get so boooooored and so full of energy.

 

[lakotasong]

I don't walk my dogs daily. I do go hiking with a handful of them (and I rotate which ones) every weekend though. I hike on my property and my neighbor's mostly, but sometimes pack a few of them in the car and go to the state forest land just for a change of scenary.

The three lightened parts of the property are what is fenced for dogs (the photo is about 15 years old and taken before we fenced it for dogs):

The large one is where I do activities with them, throw balls around and play tag mostly. The smaller two (one behind the barn and one next to it) are where they are during the day while I am at work.

They have the ENTIRE barn (yes, everything except the white ranch house is barn) to play in each morning and evening for about an hour at a time while I do farm chores. I have 10 dogs, and they're Siberians. They keep each other busy. Most of them are also older dogs. When they were younger, we were training in harness 3-5 times a week (up to 20 miles at a time).

My dogs get plenty of socialization with our 4H classes held here, my friends, and my foster dogs coming and going. And I do a few public demos a year with them, where they are hugged and loved on by kids and adults of all ages.

I also do agility, and our set up is in the larger red part of the barn to the right of the ranch house. We have everything except a dog walk.

But no, I don't do daily walks.

 

[tessa_s212]

YA the whole big yard=no walks is a myth. Its simply a lazy person's excuse for not getting off their butts and walking their dog. A dog simply does not excercise itself in a yard anyways. Sure they may run around some and bark at things but those crazy zoomies are outlets of pent up energy and do not suffice as proper excercise. If I kept the boys in the yard all day and did not take them out of it ever, they would go stir-crazy! They start getting into stuff and doing things they're not supposed because they get so boooooored and so full of energy.

You simply cannot assume that. Every person and every dog is different. To say that just because a person does not walk their dog because they have a huge amount of backyard does not make a person lazy. I for one excersize my dogs quite a bit. They are HAPPY to just spend the time inside without walks by the time I'm done with the training and playing and going to classes and shows.

And yes, actually, my two active dogs give themselves plenty of excersize by themselves in our yard. They run around quite a bit, up and down, they play together, grab toys and throw them in the air.

And if my dogs aren't proof enough, same goes for at least two of my friend's dogs. One lives in town and could walk her dogs, but there is no need to. And the other lives in teh country, and the dogs never get walked.. just time to run in the yard.

Walking or not walking your dogs should not be the end of hte argument on whether a person is lazy and taking care of their dogs properly. You must look at all other aspects as well.

 

[oc_spirit]

The OP was talking about just letting the dogs in the yard NOT about going into the yard with the dogs and actually doing stuff with them. Or at least that is how I understood it. If I am wrong forgive me. Going into the yard and playing fetch or doing OB drills or agility runs is WAY different than just opening the screen door and saying "there you go fido" also whether you have a one dog home or two dog home is different as well.