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

[Laurelin]

And what do you count as 'exercise'?

I ask because well... I was bored at work and poking around on a forum reading about peoples' experience with a breed. It seemed every.single. post about herding breeds or sporting breeds was like 'oh no, a one hour run a day is not going to cut it. I exercise my dog 5 hours a day.' and then they lay out this (imo) INSANE schedule where I'm not sure how you'd have time to do anything else. Especially when one peron swears they work 12-14 hours a day and then work their dogs 5 hours a day... And not that I'm an internet stalker (ok I am) but on another thread it wasn't like they worked in a dog training facility or anything. So 14 + 5 = 19 hours. That gives you 5 hours to clean house, sleep, eat, shower, etc? Is that possible?

Anyways, I read stuff like that and think maybe I'm not cut out for the breeds I love. I've always been attracted to herders and to be honest the shelties we never went to any extraordinary measures at all with, even the sport bred one. They just played with us and I taught them stupid tricks. Rosie was probably the highest energy of the three and we just played tug a lot and ball. We walked them around 3x a week. I do a heck of a lot more with Mia and Summer (though the shelties would have easily kept up with my schedule now)

So maybe I think I must not count some things other people do? For me exercise is when I purposefully work the dog or walk the dog or hike or something. I don't really think of when I mindlessly toss the ball for Mia while I straighten my hair.

We have a very variable exercise schedule that is weather dependent and day dependent. I work full time so in the winter things get scarce after work whereas in spring and fall and cooler summer months we may go to the park for off leash time for up to an hour or two after work. We do agility classes 1-2 times a week, nosework around 3 times a month with the group. I do some fun classes every now and then as they're available and as $$$ permits. We go to pet stores probably once a week or two. We hike at least 3 times a week off leash (weather permitting). We do silly tricks or nosework training at home. Play a little ball here or there. But in reality some days we do nothing or only 15 minutes. Other days we may be active all day. Starting this Saturday my dogs will be working at least 3 hours in class on saturdays for 6 weeks and that's without our usual hike. Seems like a lot but then you get wednesdays which will soon be pretty much empty. But yeah... no way can I commit to the exercise some people mention.

And the people I know in person don't have crazy schedules. I do know a few that do around 2 hours every day but they have super high drive young sports collies and are very competitive. And they do it mainly for conditionings sake. I was talking to some Aussie people I know and they do a 45 min walk a day plus some training in agility a few times a week.

Do you have a schedule for your dogs? How much exercise do you give them? Am I being unrealistic about wanting a 'high energy breed' with my schedule?

 

[Toller_08]

Honestly I don't really know. I'd love to say I do a bunch of stuff with my dogs every day, but that'd be a lie. By the time I get home from work I'm tired and hungry and it's dark and icy out and as a result I just often don't feel like going and doing stuff. In the summer my dogs get a lot more activity because I love summer and there is so much more to do, but in the winter we all kind of hibernate and nobody seems to mind.

I'd say that they get a good off leash walk/run usually two to three times per week (an hour or two usually, sometimes more), and in between I teach a couple of them new tricks or work on some old ones, and they occupy themselves by chewing bones or playing with one another or just playing a bit with me in the house. On a daily basis they get anywhere from a half hour of activity to a few hours... just depends on the day, what's been going on, etc. I personally purposely try not to have a schedule for my dogs also. I find dogs on a schedule too dependent and needy (for me to live with), so every day is usually a little bit different.

It works for us. I have four dogs of what are supposed to all be higher energy breeds... but I seem to raise couch potatoes. Journey definitely has a lot of energy, but if she gets less activity one day vs another, she's perfectly content. As long as she has people time she's happy, be that playing or cuddling. It doesn't matter how much daily exercise she has. The house is certainly quieter when I exercise them for an hour or more daily as they all just sleep in the house then, but they're not rambunctious or crazy without either. The only time I notice them getting antsy and pent up is when it's been -40 and we've literally not done much of anything for a week, but by that point I kind of feel the same way haha.

I'm not really that much of a 'go, go, go' type of person, but all of the breeds I like are high energy, more demanding breeds. I seem to give my dogs enough for their needs and they're definitely not activity deprived, but I certainly don't give them endless amounts of stimulation and exercise as people like to suggest high energy dogs need. And it's yet to have been a problem. I have dogs that are laid back in the house and are happy to go out and do stuff but very rarely pester me for anything. They're pretty easy.

 

[*blackrose]

Um....I'm slightly ashamed to post this, but...none. And I own a nine month old Chessie.

We *may* go for a hike when I'm actually not working until dark. And whenever I go out to my parents they come along and get to run around on three acres. But, beyond that, we do a lot of indoor playtime and I try to get out with Abrams at least twice a day and let him run around like a looney outside.

There is a reason Abrams drives me insane sometimes. LOL He's been an absolute angel these past three weeks because I've been off work and he's been getting a lot interaction and stimulation. And by that, I mean he's not crated for ten or eleven hours during the day and gets to help me shovel snow. LOL

 

[SizzleDog]

Honestly I don't really know. I'd love to say I do a bunch of stuff with my dogs every day, but that'd be a lie. By the time I get home from work I'm tired and hungry and it's dark and icy out and as a result I just often don't feel like going and doing stuff. In the summer my dogs get a lot more activity because I love summer and there is so much more to do, but in the winter we all kind of hibernate and nobody seems to mind.

I'd say that they get a good off leash walk/run usually two to three times per week, and in between I teach a couple of them new tricks or work on some old ones, and they occupy themselves by chewing bones or playing with one another. On a daily basis they get anywhere from like a half hour of activity to a few hours... just depends on the day, what's been going on, etc. I personally purposely try not to have a schedule for my dogs also. I find dogs on a schedule too dependent and needy (for me to live with), so every day is usually a little bit different.

It works for us. I have four dogs of what are supposed to all be higher energy breeds... but I seem to raise couch potatoes. Journey definitely has a lot of energy, but if she gets less activity one day vs another, she's perfectly content. As long as she has people time she's happy, be that playing or cuddling. It doesn't matter how much exercise she has. The house is certainly quieter when I exercise them for an hour or more daily as they all just sleep in the house then, but they're not rambunctious or crazy without either.

This basically describes my situation as well.

 

[Linds]

Laughing so hard at the 5 hours a day thing.

The amount my dogs gets varies a lot due to my schedule, weather, time of year and my mood.

During the spring/summer/fall I like to try and get out at least three/four times a week for a bike ride with a swimming break and I like to do the dog park hike at least once a week. That doesn't always happen and sometimes it happens in excess. Sometimes they get a bike ride and dog park trip every single day together. Sometimes I'm in a funk or the weather is super sucky or life gets in the way and they don't get out to really run for a couple weeks.

Since I've picked up disc they do though, during the spring/summer/fall get a couple 5-10 minute disc sessions outside everyday (again, depending on weather and sometimes it fluctuates). Which I like a lot and keeps them happy.

Winter? HA! I hate winter. I hibernate. They're lucky if they get out for a good hike every few weeks. I try to walk them more during winter, usually a couple times a week at night and I take them both out to the backyard and let them run and wrestle for a few minutes. But really, that's not exercise it's just blowing off some steam.

If we get some nicer days where there isn't snow I do sometimes bike with them.

I do a lot of training though during the winter, a lot of mental work, core work and so on so that lets me get away with not running them like I should in the winter.

I will say I'm having trouble right now though. I sprained my ankle bad a few weeks ago and with the cold weather we've had I just haven't been able to get them out to run and they are feeling it. Thank god for mental work.

 

[PWCorgi]

Frodo gets essentially nothing. Just short training sessions. He hasn't been on a regular walk in...a month or 2? But he also has medical issues going on, so I don't know if he counts.

Siri, it totally depends on the week and my schedule. We do a fair amount of training, by which I mean 2-3 sessions of about 5 minutes a day 5-ish days a week? We have agility every other week.

As far as actual, full out exercise goes: when the weather is nice we do about an hour of continuous ball mixed in with agility things (mostly running cones), 4-ish days a week. When we are doing that she turns into bone and muscle and not much else. Structured walks we only do if we go with Megan and Gabby, or Frodo goes with us, but it really doesn't do anything for her energy level.

Right now it's super cold out and we don't really go outside other than to potty. The most real exercise she gets is when I take her to work and play ball with her downstairs in our surgery suite. But that is only once or twice a week. Otherwise we practice agility inside with a tug toy. And do lots of trick training. And right now I am working on disc stuff that is more physically demanding. But overall, not very much. And she also looks like a dog right now instead of Skeletor.

 

[Airn]

Gwen really doesn't get much exercise. I'm meaning to do more with her but weather and... I'm lazy. She gets 'walked' three times a day, normally. SO tends to actually take her for a walk around the block. I want her to do her business so I just take her down our little walkway and back. In the warmer months we go to the lake a few times and the dog park a few times a month. We also try to take her to this open field which is like less than 5 mins walking distance. But we're not very outdoorsy people.

She seems to be fine with being a couch potato. If she wants to play, she nudges my hand or brings me a toy. And we play. It's just simple. I've been training her more so she's getting more mental stimulation.

I could never be one of those people that spends hours on a daily basis training/walking/physical activity with their dog. I'm sure Gwen COULD handle that but I can't/don't want to. And I don't think anyone's a bad owner for not doing so. Like, in a perfect world, maybe, but it's not so meh.

I also do not have a job associated with dogs so I can't spend hours at a time with them. Working for ten hours, coming home when it's dark.... just not an ideal time to go play with your dog. Not to mention Gwen is simply my dog. She's not a sports dog or anything fancy.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Honestly, I was super scared off from herders from what I read online. I just thought... it wasn't possible. But from the BCs and Aussies I've met, as well as read about online, I've become MUCH more open to the possibility. I don't think it's necessarily a 'bad' thing to scare some people away from herders because... well, they're NOT for everyone. But to try and say they all need 5 hours of exercise a day would be ridiculous. Most of the population have jobs. Even if a dog is going to get that much, they shouldn't expect it IMO. I think a lot of ppl make the mistake of giving a dog too much every day and then they expect it. I feel like I kind of made that mistake with Jackson honestly.

But as far as exercise goes, it honestly REALLY depends. There will be certain weeks where we're busy busy busy... meetups, dog park visits, pet store visits, hikes, walks, swimming, etc. Then, like the last 3-4 weeks, we've honestly done VERY little. It IS kind of starting to show (he's more whiny and needy) but he's learned to just go lay down and chill. Lately it's either been the weather or having other things to do. And when it gets dark at 5pm, it's honestly just so depressing, lol. We haven't even really been doing any training.

When I say very little, I mean maybe a 15 min game of fetch outdoors (we do have a giant hill, so he gets a good workout) 2-3x a week and maybe a 5 min session indoors. A couple of car rides during the week (running small errands, the bank, etc). We've been extra lazy lately. He is starting to get kind of annoying though. We did have a fun snow day on Saturday though, he did lots and lots of running through the snow.

I would say his more "average" though (weather dependent) is at least 3-4 walks per week (usually ranging from 2-5 miles), a few really good runs/sprints per week (when we visit my dads fenced in yard), fetch outside uphill almost every day for at least 10 minutes, a pet store visit once or twice a week, a dog park visit a few times a month, and in the summer it's swimming in the pool 3-4 days a week.

I would say we average a 1/2 hour - 1 1/2 hour a day of true exercise. But again sometimes it's more.

 

[Oko]

Let's see..Feist is 4 1/2 months old, and we probably do more than she *needs*, although she gets pretty crazy with pent up energy if we do less than our routine for a couple days, and starts paying too much attention to the cats/bunnies and turns her attention to being naughty.

So, with that in mind: We usually take an off leash walk every morning for at least an hour, she zoomies around grabbing pine cones, rock climbing, etc. (wherever we happen to be) at her own discretion. Mostly I think it just helps her brain to go off and play and be a dog. I'm really not big on ball fetching as a form of exercise, because I hate the glazed over look she gets in her eyes when she does it, so I avoid the ball as it's something she obsesses on unless I really need to (like on Christmas morning when I needed her to be tired, we played some chuck it fetch). Holee rollers are not the obsessing variety of balls, thank goodness.

We daily practice lots of tricks that involve movement, maybe do some disc work or little agility foundations stuff (just driving ahead to a toy, chasing me, that kind of thing). We play a lot of tug, and for Feist that is definitely exercise, the way she plays it. I try to get in some balance work every couple days to work on that, which is coming along nicely.

Along with that she also has her bitey face smackdowns with Wesley, and they chase each other like loonies around the yard.


...This could be why I have a border collie that sleeps, lol.

 

[Babyblue5290]

You know, I was really worried about the same thing about getting a border collie. I always heard they needed four hours of heavy exercise a day. Even though I'm pretty active i was still concerned, butt after getting Talon it was somewhat of a let down. He definitely needs exercise and mental stimulation to be happy, but we go to the park maybe three times a week to throw a friend's or ball and do some trick training for a meal each day and he's more than happly. Lately we haven't even gone that and he's ok. We do a lot in the summer but i think it's more extra rather than required. Hall, art required more than talon does lol.

I think those that require 5 hours a day are either exaggerating our they've built up the dogs endurance to the point that the dog can't sit still without it. Than again i don't know how typical talon is for a bc.

 

[SpringerLover]

The amount of exercise my dogs get has always been dependent on where we live. When I lived out in the country, they'd run multiple times per day. Likely totaled an hour or more of just flat out free running, broken up. In the spring and fall it was obviously more, winter and hot summer less.

I don't do nearly as much where I live now. I haven't found that magical field to just let them run. When it's nice I leash walk Gabby quite a bit. And we've gone to the big fenced dog park a couple times for an hour or so.

 

[Elrohwen]

Every day, except for maybe a dozen times when I was sick or the weather was really horrible, we walk for 30-90 min. More like 30 in the winter, but a bit over an hour pretty much every day when it's nicer. That includes some long line time on my property and maybe fetch, though Watson won't fetch or play with the flirt pole longer than 10 before getting distracted. Honestly walking tires him out pretty well most days because he spends the walk sniffing and quartering back and forth in front of me.

We usually do 2 classes a week on top of that which helps for mental stimulation. Some weekends we go to a store or even go for a hike. But usually it's our standard walk of 1-4 miles.

He is a dog who needs to get outside every day and mental stimulation doesn't really tire him out. However, I just have to do something and let him stretch his legs and sniff and he's fine.

I'm very skeptical of people online who claim to run their dogs hard for hours a day (and that the dogs need it). I'm sure some dogs would love that, and I'm sure some people have jobs that allow them to do it, but I'm skeptical of 90% of those claims.

Eta: Watson has been called high energy by lots of sports trainers. He's not malinois high energy, but he's certainly higher than average. I'm not the most active person and I don't find it hard to live with him at all and he sleeps 95% of the time. I think people exaggerate how hard it is to live with high energy dogs.

 

[stardogs]

I think it is insanely easy to build a dog that needs 4+ hours of exercise a day, especially in certain breeds, but it's not essential, KWIM.

TBH, I have 4 dogs that would be considered high energy. On most days they play in the yard for about 20-40 mins and spend the rest sleeping. On the weekends, though, we're doing stuff: schutzhund training, sport trials, hiking 7-10 miles, etc. Easily 5+ hours/day. People have asked me how I do it, and I honestly don't know why my dogs have such awesome off switches.

If they are getting really stir crazy on a 'regular' day, I take each dog out for 20 mins of disc or 15 mins with the flirt pole and voila, happy, flat dogs.

 

[Laurelin]

Mia seems to have more of a need to *do something* vs actual exercise. Although she really needs a couple times a week at least to really blow off steam and run, a lot of days you can hold her over by shoving a stuffed food toy in her face or taking her for a car ride. Even a 10 min car ride and that seems to satisfy her need to 'do something'.

Summer is totally cool spending all week just hanging out and cuddling and eating. She enjoys exercise but doesn't get stir crazy at all/

Poor Talon, I'd take him! I like a dog that turns on when needed and off when wanted.

 

[sassafras]

5 hours a day BAHAHAHAHA.

The youngsters go scootering or skijoring (depending on time of year) ideally 2-4 times a week, for 30-60 minutes per time. On their "off" days, it's primarily free play in the backyard and training at home. Sometimes nothing at all. I really only walk them when it is too hot/humid to go scootering in the summer.

Pip goes to the dog park anywhere from 1-4 times a week ideally, but recently it just hasn't been working primarily because of the weather. We go for about 45 minutes each time.

 

[Finkie_Mom]

For Pen and Bubby, they get nothing really. I sometimes feel bad. They get played with every day and walked at least 3 times a week. Pen goes to the nursing home once every other week. They each get a bit of training a day, but not too much. Sometimes it's just a long sit or down for their food, other days it's heel work outside - depends on my schedule. But in reality all they really want to do is cuddle LOL. Pen will also get the ball thrown outside in all weather at least once a day for 10 minutes or so. Usually I do it before bed to get his last bit of energy out.

Kimma and Jari get to come to work with me, so they get to play in the agility yard or at least go for a walk during my lunch break (if the yard is a muddy mess or super icy, we don't go out there). I do sometimes alternate who goes which days since it can get hectic there if we have tours/press coming in. Jari gets like three 5-minute training sessions a day, Kimma gets 1-2 sessions. Then they get a good walk every day. 30-40 minutes or so usually. Time to sniff and take the edge off a bit. They each get a half-hour agility private class a week, and they come with when I teach on the weekends. I use them for demo work and they get to do some agility training since all the equipment is there.

And of course they play altogether and with toys, and get things to chew. Weekends and days off are when we can go explore parks and other areas, and I like to do off leash work with them all whenever possible.

 

[Fran101]

Depends heavily on time of year and how much I feel like it. It's pretty similar to Devan's schedule actually lol which is funny because they are siblings.

His walking 99.2% of the time is conjoined with some kind of selfish activity "TODAY I AM WALKING YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE MALL SO I CAN BUY SHOES AND THAT'LL BE YOUR WALK"
exchange shoes for groceries, school supplies, going to work etc.. he goes everywhere he is allowed which is actually A LOT of places lol so most of his walks are errands.
3 times a week or so he gets a GOOD off leash walk/run/dog park.
Otherwise? It's mostly little errand runs or potty breaks. That plus lots of doggy playtime at the store where I work

Time wise..
perhaps 45 minutes-one hour a day (if you want to count exercise as any time he is outside).. if you add up potty trips and walks to/from various places.

and plenty of fun toys and inside play and maybe 4-5 training sessions (very short) per week.

 

[Beanie]

If the only thing that really counts as exercise is a walk, um, pretty much never.

When the weather is nice/the sun isn't set by 4:30, we are outside doing agility stuff most lunch breaks and evenings. They also play together or with me in the yard just doing stupid chase games and/or chasing thrown toys. Inside they again are playing together, or we are playing fetch games or tug. Probably a few hours a day are spent just playing. Payton plays almost constantly, even if it's just by himself rolling around on his back and making wookie-sounds while he throws a toy around - although now that it's winter he's actually sleeping some. We also play every night when I get into bed... he hops into bed after I've gotten in under the covers, throws himself against me, then rolls around making wookie sounds while I tickle his belly and then he jumps on the floor and grabs Sherman the Sheep and throws Sherman around. I also still sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to him throwing Sherman around.

We also do training in the house, usually multiple times a day, 5-15 minutes per session.

Auggie gets bored and fidgety and starts looking for stuff to destroy in the winter when he can't go outside and play much, but times he can't go out and play much are reserved for times like right now where there's a bunch of snow and it's really, really cold. All other times, he is fine. Payton also gets bored and frustrated when he can't go outside, but he just walks up to me and whines and we play a game and TA-DA he's fine. Canine equivalent of "Mo-om, I'm BOOOOOORED."
And Pepper... well, she's just Pepper. Snuggle. FOREVER.

Honestly the play and engaging with me in the house is where they get the most "exercise" and IMO where they get their kicks. Playing with me is waaaay more fun, exciting, and stimulating than most everything except chasing a squirrel.

 

[noludoru]

Um....I'm slightly ashamed to post this, but...none.

I will say that jumping into and out of bed is exercise.

 

[Laurelin]

I will say that jumping into and out of bed is exercise.

I have been known to play tennis ball with Mia while I'm still in bed.