How much is to much exercise?

[katielou]

I have noticed i think that every country i have lived in will have a different answer to this (of course every person will to but it tends to average out different in every country i have lived in)

I like my dogs to be physically as fit as i can make them.

Counting out the dog getting dehydrated or the dog being completely exhausted because obviously you have gone to far at that point.

How much is to much exercise for a mature adult dog?

 

[Teal]

I don't think there is any, so long as your dog is healthy and isn't either of the things you listed above. When I lived in Oregon, on our days off we played long-distance fetch, took the dogs swimming, did urban agility... for 12-14 hours, every other day. On days we worked, we did as much as we could... including using lighted tennis courts at night for MORE exercise!

I say, if your dog wants to keep going and it's healthy to do so... let them!

Though different rules apply if you're just beginning to exercise a dog... they need to build up stamina and tolerance, of course.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

It depends on the breed and the dog I think but generally in my opinion between 1 hr (for lazier/older dogs) up to 3 hours a day is good. Also it really depends on what kind of exercise, fetching and walking are completely different as is agility vs. weight pulling or something.

I prefer that puppies learn to settle down and not to take them out continuously because soon they are expecting 4, 5, 6 hours of exercise a day otherwise they get very antsy and unable to settle. Especially where I live considering it rains almost continuously from Sept to March and exercising a dog in the rain for 6 hours a day really isn't ideal at all. Even if I get a very high energy dog, provided the dog has a good off switch, I'll try to teach them to settle down around the house and be satisfied with perhaps about 2 hours of running exercise a day, split up into 2 or 3 sessions.

Recently I've been talking to someone that trains a lot of puppies and she actually click and treats puppies, especially high energy breeds like terriers and herders when they're laying around doing nothing, basically relaxing. She says that teaches puppies relaxing is good and encourages them to relax more and to get used to days where nothing too much is happening. I like that kind of thinking. Of course, she also exercises her dogs a lot and works a lot on building drive, she doesn't want to create a complete couch potato that never wants to do anything haha.

 

[cloudcandy]

It depends on the breed and the dog I think but generally in my opinion between 1 hr (for lazier/older dogs) up to 3 hours a day is good. Also it really depends on what kind of exercise, fetching and walking are completely different as is agility vs. weight pulling or something.

I prefer that puppies learn to settle down and not to take them out continuously because soon they are expecting 4, 5, 6 hours of exercise a day otherwise they get very antsy and unable to settle. Especially where I live considering it rains almost continuously from Sept to March and exercising a dog in the rain for 6 hours a day really isn't ideal at all. Even if I get a very high energy dog, provided the dog has a good off switch, I'll try to teach them to settle down around the house and be satisfied with perhaps about 2 hours of running exercise a day, split up into 2 or 3 sessions.

Recently I've been talking to someone that trains a lot of puppies and she actually click and treats puppies, especially high energy breeds like terriers and herders when they're laying around doing nothing, basically relaxing. She says that teaches puppies relaxing is good and encourages them to relax more and to get used to days where nothing too much is happening. I like that kind of thinking. Of course, she also exercises her dogs a lot and works a lot on building drive, she doesn't want to create a complete couch potato that never wants to do anything haha.

Wowww.....I never considered the fact excercise coyld increase their stamina(obvious when i think about it now).. I might have to try these ideas out.Only problem is is Coco is either asleep....or playing with a toy...chewing a toy...finding a toy to chew....she doesnt relax ie:lying around eyes open.I normally give Coco a few short walks a day...one in the morning and one in the evning at a minimum,normally 20-49mins long...a short walk and a play off leash either exploring or meeting other dogs.Funnily enough she gets.more.excercise.on days im at work 1 morning 1lunch 1 evening.She also joins me on most of my activies during the day if not she is crated.for max 3hours.
wondering now if i should give her LESS excercise so that her stamina does not increase above this?Though I thought.puppies had more energy than full grown...

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Wowww.....I never considered the fact excercise coyld increase their stamina(obvious when i think about it now).. I might have to try these ideas out.Only problem is is Coco is either asleep....or playing with a toy...chewing a toy...finding a toy to chew....she doesnt relax ie:lying around eyes open.I normally give Coco a few short walks a day...one in the morning and one in the evning at a minimum,normally 20-49mins long...a short walk and a play off leash either exploring or meeting other dogs.Funnily enough she gets.more.excercise.on days im at work 1 morning 1lunch 1 evening.She also joins me on most of my activies during the day if not she is crated.for max 3hours.
wondering now if i should give her LESS excercise so that her stamina does not increase above this?Though I thought.puppies had more energy than full grown...

I think your routine sounds fine. It doesn't sound excessive to me. You can also click and treat for when she's chewing on a toy quietly.

Puppies do have more energy and definitely need adequate exercise but this trainer has seen lots of dogs that are meant for agility or flyball get too much exercise as puppies. Because people end up with a high energy breed like a BC and they think during their youth they need as much exercise as they can possibly fit into their daily schedules, these dogs end up fetching, running for 4-6 hours a day not even counting training sessions and the dog begins to learn that it's normal for this kind of schedule and when they get less exercise they get really edgy. There's really a fine line between giving the animal adequate exercise and training the animal to want more more more more exercise in my opinion.

 

[thehoundgirl]

I honestly think it depends on the dog, really and how they are built, etc. Like Teal said if your dog is healthy there shouldn't be any issues. Obviously some dogs need more exercise physically and mentally than others.

I have two terriers, they aren't always go go go though but are highly active especially Dixie but she is young so not quite a mature adult in my eyes.

Rudy is 3 and a half a little more lax than Dixie and Dixie isn't quite mature yet she is not even 2 yet but she knows when to settle down and so does Rudy. They get really good exercise; Dixie would play fetch until she drops if I let her. My hound gets moderate exercise as he is almost 8 and is starting to get arthritis so I cannot overwork him.

 

[Maxy24]

I don't think you can do too much unless it's physically harming the dog or you're forcing him to do it. That said I do think it is sort of awful to get a dog used to tons of exercise and then suddenly cut way back because of a schedule change or something. For example since I've been home from college I still only take Tucker on one walk a day. We go to the park a few times a week, but it's not enough for him to get into a routine of it. When I go to school I don't want him to crave more exercise than he'll be getting because he and my parents will be miserable. So do what you can maintain.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

Recently I've been talking to someone that trains a lot of puppies and she actually click and treats puppies, especially high energy breeds like terriers and herders when they're laying around doing nothing, basically relaxing. She says that teaches puppies relaxing is good and encourages them to relax more and to get used to days where nothing too much is happening. I like that kind of thinking. Of course, she also exercises her dogs a lot and works a lot on building drive, she doesn't want to create a complete couch potato that never wants to do anything haha.

Why would you not simply breed dogs with off switches? Dekka's jacks are totally chill when there is nothing going on, and ready to go play if she cares to go do something. It's breeding, not training.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Why would you not simply breed dogs with off switches? Dekka's jacks are totally chill when there is nothing going on, and ready to go play if she cares to go do something. It's breeding, not training.

Actually, in her opinion it's both. Even a dog with a good off switch if stimulated in a way at every possible opportunity become more and more edgy at home and starts to expect a lot more.

Edit: A dog without an off switch possibly can't be trained to have one but dogs with off switches can learn to become restless at home.

 

[Dekka]

But then why not work at not breaking it lol. There is nothing wrong with click and treating puppies, but if you NEED to to make calm puppies, then IMO they don't have decent off switches. NONE of my dogs have ever been restless at home, no matter how much drive building, racing or rat work we have ever done.

Dekka in fact is so chill people are shocked when they see her 'on' as she is VERY on, or VERY off. I can take her down town Toronto and go in and have my nails done, she just lies on the floor, people can step over etc. She can work movies, where she has to be so chill in busy and stressful environments. I never clicked her for being calm. In fact she was so chill I checked her thyroid (full panel) before I bred her.

Kat is busier, but after a brief (like 10 second zoomie) she just lies down and chills. (and she is working bred on her sire side) She never needed to be taught to relax.

I do think this is a good idea though for rescues, or dogs who have been stressed to the point of learning not to settle. It can help a dog who just won't seem to settle, to learn that its ok to relax. I don't think though with puppies that its necessary unless there are issues in the lines (though it won't hurt)

 

[stardogs]

Too much is when you create a dog that cannot adjust to less than their normal amount of exercise without exhibiting behavior problems imo. This of course varies widely.

As far as off switches go I'm of the mindset that it's both nature and nurture. I have 3 dogs all raised from puppies (5mo, 12-14 weeks, 14 weeks) and all of breeds that some people say are very busy naturally. Two are mixed breeds one is purposebred. Two of the three are what I would call "high drive". All three have tremendous off switches and routinely get very little exercise on a daily basis but can also handle long trial weekends and 9+ miles hikes without trouble.

I don't put up with busy behavior, so my dogs quickly adjust to my rules on that. I know that Aeri is an "easier" malinois (her breeder picked her for me since that's what I wanted to start with), so she is naturally lower key in the house, but I have no idea of Z or Kes' lineages so I don't know how much of their off switch is ingrained and how much is the training I do.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

I said in one of my posts. This is mostly geared towards people that get high energy breeds geared towards sports that at a young age they're afraid of creating a lazy dog and end up waaaay overstimulating the puppies into terrors. They sometimes unknowingly create dogs that are restless and to counteract it the trainer tells people to teach their kids to be calm.

 

[Dekka]

Well I breed high energy dogs (JRTs), for sport primarily (agility, racing etc) -though with ability to work.

I still say that good off switches are genetic. Sport (badly bred but oh so cute BC) has never done drive building exercises. We have had him since he was 11 months. He is crazy! He would have benefited from click for calm behaviour, but learnt to settle (though it took over a year).

So I stand by my post that it would do no harm, but may mask some less than desirable breeding traits. IMO as a breeder of high energy dogs for sport, that if you need to teach your puppies to settle, then you aren't breeding good off switches.

 

[Linds]

Too much is when you create a dog that cannot adjust to less than their normal amount of exercise without exhibiting behavior problems imo. This of course varies widely./QUOTE]

Yeah, I like this.

Added of course to what they are physically capable of. Kaylee is not built to be able to go like Traveler can. She's just not as physically sound nor as mentally able.

Traveler on the other hand is incredibly fit, has a ton of stamina that I have cultivated from what he naturally has and is soundly built. So for exercise I pretty much do what I feel like doing. The only time I've quite early was when out biking and the sun came out and spiked the temp up a ton. He started to get way to hot so we stopped early.

During the spring, summer and fall I'm probably out 4-7 times a week with Traveler either doing long bike rides with swimming in the middle (4-10 miles) or out at the Quarry or Dog Park for a few hours with a lot of swimming, hiking and running.

That being said, there are weeks that I don't get out and do anything. Either I'm working or it's storming or it's just too bloody hot out to do anything other than let him run around the yard if that. And you know what? He deals. After about 4 days he starts getting antsy and getting into things. But he's not 2 yet and I think he's got a pretty good off switch for the energy his body contains.

And during the winter? We get a ton of snow which limits things you can do. I can't bike, I can barely walk him so we're limited to the dog park, flirt pole through the snow and things. So pretty much very limited exercise.

 

[PitBullLove]

It depends on the dog and the breed IMO. But my dogs are outside A LOT. I live on property and right next to a lake that you have to hike to get to. The dogs don't go down to the lake by themselves, but I try to take them down there every chance I get when it is nice outside (usually only in the summer here in WA). But they are always running around the yard and playing. And if they are not outside, they're jumping all over every bed and couch in the house playing.

 

[monkeys23]

I think it depends totally on the dog in question.

Even just comparing my two to my parent's BC there's a difference. He may be able to sprint well (great for his 4 wheeler obsession... ) but the girls can literally go hard all day long in any weather.

Even between the girls there is a difference, I'm pretty sure Lily was specifically bred by a musher and it shows. Doesn't matter if its 110 degree heat or a nasty blizzard, she has to run 3-5 miles hard every day. She starts chasing her tail if she doesn't get enough exercise... And she's extremely thrifty on both food and water. She will konk out in snow or lay directly in the hot 100 degree sun in summer, doesn't matter to her. She seems to love the desert sun despite being a sled dog. Whereas Scout who was "bred" by a hoarder from dogs of questionable genetics, has much less tolerance for weather extremes, the poofy long stock coat, less thrifty, water hog (I have to watch her on hot days...), and while she's got great endurance she does actually get tired and she will actually stop if she's tired. I'm honestly not sure Lily has ever been truly tired, give her five minutes and she's good to go again, girl's got endurance. She's great to live with as long as she gets her daily hard run. Scout is great too, but she wouldn't be as obnoxious if she didn't get the daily exercise either.

 

[Teal]

Dekka in fact is so chill people are shocked when they see her 'on' as she is VERY on, or VERY off. I can take her down town Toronto and go in and have my nails done, she just lies on the floor, people can step over etc. She can work movies, where she has to be so chill in busy and stressful environments. I never clicked her for being calm. In fact she was so chill I checked her thyroid (full panel) before I bred her.

All this talk of an "off switch" is interesting! It's a concept I never thought of, but it makes perfect sense... I can take my bulldog bitch out in public, and she'll lie down and hang out. However, get her anywhere near a lure or somewhere she can run and she does a complete 180 and is an uncontrollable ball of energy. In general, she is wiggly and always happy... but she definitely has an 'off switch' when you compare how she is when she's on!

 

[Specsy]

I never knew breeding "off-switches" was something people even did. Wow you learn something every day, I guess I lucked out with my off-switching dogs?

 

[Beanie]

I never knew breeding "off-switches" was something people even did. Wow you learn something every day, I guess I lucked out with my off-switching dogs?

It's not breeding an off-switch so to speak - more simply it's just breeding a proper temperament. Let's say you own a farm and you need a sheep dog. You want a dog who can work all day in all kinds of weather as long as you are also out working your sheep. But when you are done for the day, you don't want a dog who's pacing around anxious and obnoxious and can't settle even though there's no work to be done. And what if the weather is terrible and you're basically spending a few days holed up in the house with your animals penned up in the barn? What good is a dog who's going to be going insane because it can't go outside and work sheep because you're in the middle of a blizzard?


Honestly unless you're actually looking for a working (or sport) dog, you probably don't have to worry as much about if a breeder is concerned about a dog having an off-switch or not. If they are breeding dogs that are largely companions, they would have an off-switch - if they didn't, they wouldn't make good companions. Obviously this is generalizing, but I think it's a fair generalization. My sister got two shelties, one from unknown breeding and another from what we think was at best a crappy BYB and at worst a puppymill, and both of them are almost chronically off-switchy, LOL.

 

[my boy blitz]

i must say i havnt found the limit, blitz runs all his playmates till they drop and then begs me to throw the ball until my arm falls off and then takes the ball to the next willing thrower. (heelers have way to much energy lol) i agree with previous posts, if the dog is healthy isnt dehydrated and seems like they are having a good time and are willing, keep playing provided you too are up for it.