walking a dog daily?

[Beanie]

I don't walk Auggie much either. If I do walk him, usually I load him into the car and we go to a park or to the community college, which has a bunch of great winding walking paths. He would rather be on a walking path because we get to go go go go go, whereas walking around the neighbourhood is not nearly as exciting. Plus, I live really close to some bad neighbourhoods, so I have to carefully plan where I can and cannot go and often have to adjust that route based on how many less than desirable people are out walking themselves... as well as how many obnoxious children are about.

Maybe if I lived somewhere farther from the ghetto we could walk more often. I like walking him out in parks and stuff in the meantime though. There's something about just getting out and spending a couple hours, just me and my dog, that nothing else compares to.

 

[Xandra]

I don't walk mine that often either. There is a park down the street and that is all that is in range.

I don't walk him on leash if I can help it. I hate it and he hates it. So I don't like walking him on roads or anything, and usually late, late at night/early in the morning.

Sometimes I'll walk him to the kinda secluded parking lots behind strip malls and stuff and let him off, bring a ball and bounce it on the concrete... let him chase rats lol whatever.

Just walking him, even for a couple hours, does little for his energy level.

 

[dogsarebetter]

walking mine daily is what I have always thought was best. however we do run into loose dogs daily, and wild children. The kids know to not come NEAR my dogs because my dogs are very reactive. They are fine with the loose dogs as long as the loose dog does not become reactive to my two. My dogs love to go on walks, but just around the neighboring subdivision does bore them. Ruckus would be fine staying at home, but Lynn still would rather walk the subdivision than nothing.
we also have hay fields around us and I have permission to walk in them. So we do that a few times a week. my dogs love smelling where wild deer and turkey have been! I dont think they even get tired of walking in fields.

I always thought that walking your dogs an hour a day was the golden rule! I guess it depends on your dogs.

 

[sillysally]

DH and I walk ours in the park daily. Sometimes on the weekends we go to different parks. We don't walk around the neighborhood though--too many loose dogs for Sally's taste and the vet said not to walk Jack on hard surfaces if possible....

 

[dogsarebetter]

this post opened my eyes to a whole new world!
I was expecting
yes yes yes yes we walk our dogs every single day at least an hour a day.

I am so glad I asked this question! I am serious! I have walked the dogs when I had the flu, I have walked them with a bad headache, I have even walked them with a broken toe because I thought it was a necessity!

I feel relieved. Darn it, next time I catch a cold we are staying home!

 

[sillysally]

I really wish i could walk jack for an hour at a time--he could definitely use it! Unfortunately with the elbow dysplasia it's just not possible to walk him for that amount of time.

 

[colliewog]

I used to have to walk my dogs when I lived in apartments. I haven't noticed a difference in those dogs and my current 'self-exercised' dogs.

While I don't take mine for walks, I do take them for car rides and such, so they get 'out'. I think the togetherness, plus some form of exercise to expel energy, is more important than the actual walk itself.

 

[smkie]

Walk them or most likely get them out somewhere they can run. Almost every day unless it is bitter cold or I am too ill to go. They don't let that be an excuse very often.

 

[Tankstar]

this post opened my eyes to a whole new world!
I was expecting
yes yes yes yes we walk our dogs every single day at least an hour a day.

I am so glad I asked this question! I am serious! I have walked the dogs when I had the flu, I have walked them with a bad headache, I have even walked them with a broken toe because I thought it was a necessity!

I feel relieved. Darn it, next time I catch a cold we are staying home!

I think it all depends on the dog too. you know your 2, and know if they can last a day or 4 with out any walks.

Blaze can go a day or 2 if needed. But I prefer he dont. As he drives me nuts after a while. and I feel bad. I dont like being cooped up at home all day, and I doubt he does. If I didnt want to walk him or do somthing out of the house every day, I would have got a cat alot earlier in life lol.

Although some days I feel bad for marley as she is a cat and stuck inside. so she gets car rides too lol.

Our past dogs just didnt care for walks much, so they didnt go much, they never got excitied when I would grab leashs. But car rides were lke disney land to them, so they got many many of those a week.

 

[BostonBanker]

Nope, not in the traditional sense. Some days we ride out to the barn together, and she runs around and hunts groundhogs with her best buddy there. When Tristan is sound, she'll now go trail-riding with us (something she refused to do until recently). Some days (most) we go down to the green, and combine playing with the chuck-it, practicing "out" "go" and "flip" around the trees, and practicing our contacts on the curb. Some days we go hiking off-leash alone or with friends. Some days, we veg. Bless Meg, she will give me a day or even two of slacking before she gets too jacked up.

Walking on a leash does very little for her. Doesn't even touch on her exercise needs, and she gets more stimulation with our varied exercise in my opinion.

But I'd be the first to admit that all dogs have different needs.

 

[corgipower]

I don't walk them very often. The corgis are getting too sore to want to do much walking. They get to wander around the yard and house, but that's at their pace. If they want to move they can, if they want to lie down, that's fine too. I don't want to try to make them walk anywhere at this point. For the mals, a walk would be a nice warm up but that's about it. Some days I'll take them for a walk so they can explore things -- sniff, look at the scenery, socialization type stuff. They do get much harder - physically and mentally - workouts than a walk could ever be.

 

[iibao]

I try to do it everyday, 2-6 miles in the morning.

I think walks are about more than just exercise. i think most dogs would get pretty bored of just seeing the same 4 walls and backyard every single day..

its nice for them to get out and walk, smell new things, see different things. and all that stuff IMO

I agree.

 

[Laurelin]

Being in an apartment you just have to walk a lot. There's really no other way to do it. We do at least 1 1/2 hours a day. We go leisurely for the most part. Sometimes we'll stop and add a 30 minute run in a field or something. They stop and smell things, hunt crickets and squirrels (and today frogs too). They get doted upon by other people and plus about half the time they get a car ride too, lol.

Keeping a dog like Mia in an apartment even though she is tiny is all about changing things up. Luckily I'm in walking distance of a park. So weekly we walk to the park twice, walk to campus 3-4 times. Other days we'll drive to one of three other parks and walk there. They like campus the best I think because there is a ton to see. It's great for their socializing too, they're expected to be around big groups of people almost every day on campus. I am pretty sure that's a lot of why my two are so well mannered on a leash and in what could potentially be a stressful situation.

It's the best feeling of the day when I see their little faces light up when I grab their leash. I can miss a day, 2 days is pushing it though if I want my sanity.

 

[darkchild16]

loose dogs primarily.

we have had bad experience after bad experience and at this point *i* am so freaking reactive that my dogs don't have a chance. i'll go hiking with a friend if i can cajole somebody into going (i'm too chicken to hike alone, especially since a friend died alone in the woods after falling while hiking), but around town? it's simply not worth the risk.

Same..

 

[Southpaw]

I never walked the dogs much until getting Juno. Now for the most part we go every day, depending on the circumstances I might have to skip a couple days. We haven't gone for a walk since Saturday since it's been cold and rainy since then, and I'm freaking out like "omg it's been 3 days since she's been walked!"

 

[JessLough]

Rosey goes for a walk every day, 2-5 times a day, usually. First one of the day is usually when my sister gets home from work (~3am) and the last is usually when she leaves for work (~10pm)
She is very annoying and energetic if she doesn't go for a walk, it's annoying. Even at almost 12 years old, still hasn't slowed down.
I walked her when I had broken bones in my foot, didn't matter to her if I was hurt or not. *shrugs*

However, I think it fully depends on the dog.

 

[Island dog]

I take Molly every day at noon to meet and play with her buddies at the community hall grounds, usually finish it off with a walk in the woods and a dip in the creek.

 

[PoodleMommy]

LOL @ Lola'sDad... that looks fun though, I bet Lola loves it.

I think walks are good for your dog but not the only way to achieve the goals intended... you can take them places to meet new people, see new things and exercise them in other ways.

Mine hardly ever get walked in the traditional sense. But they go more places and see more things than some people so I dont think they are lacking in the mental stimulation area. Plus they get plenty of exercise to keep their muscles toned and their weight healthy. Those two things (mental stimulation and exercise) are the main reasons for walks, so it is possible to get them without walks.

Even if you are dead set on walking your dog everyday, I certainly dont think you need to walk your dog with the flu! They surely can skip a day there.

 

[Bailey08]

I admit, I didn't have a regular walking schedule for B for a while. Before the move, he had a dog walker, and got 1.5-2 hours/day. Since the move, he goes to daycare most days and I figured that plus walks a few times a week was enough.

But, since I'm increasing my own exercise, and he's a great exercise partner, he's been getting lots and lots of long walks, and a bit of running. Even when he's been running around all day at daycare, he gets super excited when I ask him if he wants to go for a walk. We go everyday, rain or shine (more for me -- if I let myself "get away" with it, then I may not get back to it -- so we were out in the pouring rain today, lol).

 

[Romy]

Strider goes everywhere with me since he's my service dog, and we probably walk anywhere from 2-5 miles on an average day.

Charlie I don't usually take on outings. Robert does. Not every day, but every day he does get taken out to the pasture/beach and spends an hour or two hunting birds and swimming/running. He finds grouse and quail in the pasture, and all kinds of waterfowl down on the beach, so it's like paradise for him.