What Exercise Should I Give My Dog?

Whilst there are a number of factors that lead to behavior problems, if you are coming to me with issues there is a good chance that not giving your dog the right amount or right kind of exercise is a significant factor.

Example of a dogs first walk getting them to off lead on the move safely.

So How Long?

Most breed are bred to do a tremendous amount of exercise each day. For example, your sporting breeds like Poodles, Spaniels and Labradors are out with their person lifting birds and retrieving them all day. Your herders like collies and German Shepherds are out herding sheep, your Corgi’s and cattle dogs are out herding cattle. Your scent hounds like beagles and bassets are out tracking scents of rabbits, deer etc and your sight hounds like salukis and Afghan Hounds use their sight and speed to see and capture prey. So even if you have got a miniature version of these, unless you are really working them you are probably not giving them enough exercise and mental enrichment.

1hr a day around a small park is certainly not enough for most dogs if you are then giving them nothing else to do at home.

Imagine giving a three-year-old child an hour in the park, two meals a day and otherwise expecting them to sit and do very little all day and behave.

Downtime

However even dogs out walking all day have intervals of downtime and is super important and yes you can also over exercise and over stimulate your dog leading to issues likes hyper arousal so we must strike the right balance for your particular dog.

Puppies & Growth Plates.

You may also have heard the advice of 5-10 minutes per month of age when they are a puppy? Though you may have tried this yourself and found what a terror you dog is by giving so little exercise.

So, what’s the answer? According to an animal osteopath the 5-10 minutes of exercise per month of age is about not putting too much high impact through the joins till the growth plates are closed to prevent issues like hip dysplasia. According to the Animal Osteopath growth plates close in smaller dogs sooner, maybe as young as 5.5 months in the smallest breeds and up to about 18 months in larger breeds like St Bernard’s.

According to an animal osteopath high impact exercise is jumping up and down like stairs and bounding around with other dogs, jumping in and out of cars.

Therefore, with puppies limit the amount of high impact exercise but do not overly limit your slow on lead sniff walks, and training exercises.

Sniffing

Sniffing increases serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin whilst reducing adrenalin, cortisol and Norepinephrine (the stress hormones). It is also hypothesised that 20 minutes of sniffing is equivalent to an hour’s walk, in terms of enrichment and stimulation. So, allowing your dog is the MOST IMPORTANT thing for your dog’s exercise. It’s also a dog’s primary sense so not allowing your dog to stop and sniff would be like you going out partially blindfolded.

For this reason, I frequently recommend our scent course for any dog but especially ones with high arousal..

Exercise in Pens

In an enclosed space, boisterous dogs can practice boisterous behaviour because the other dog who is not enjoying it cannot get away like they can on a dog walk out in the park. Moreover, the dog who does not wish to reciprocate this boisterous play may try to give all the polite calming signals it can to stop it but eventually will be forced to escalate to a growl and then bite if it cannot flee.

Enough interactions like this and the now fearful dog does not even bother offering polite calming signals it goes straight to fleeing if it can or lunging, barking and perhaps biting if it cannot and the boisterous dog who is now used to this kind of in appropriate solicitation of play practices it until they are always a bully.

I therefore advise against pens and thus we provide dog day care in Chiswick, Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush, East Acton & Ravenscourt Park a little differently differently.

Though they are of course pens are critical for reactive dogs, fearful dogs and puppies to get their needs met safely until they can go out and about. However who else is in that pen should be carefully considered and therefore for responsible dog ownership councils should be installing more dog pens. It would also be kind if you do not need a pen to give it up to people who really do.

Ball Play

Puppy or adult alike bounding backwards and forwards after a ball is a lot of impact through the joints and should not be done on a regular basis.

This high arousal play will also trigger stack your dog making unwanted behaviors worse.

Also so many dogs become completely ball obsessed which can cause a number of unwanted behaviour problems.

Therefore keep ball play to a minimum or better still make it a slow find it/ scent game as to fast chase and retrieve game. Book an appointment for more on that.

Conclusion

Get in touch with the That Dog Guy’s and we will speak to you about you and your dog’s individual needs and aims.

 A good example might be a 2hr off lead, keeping on the move on That Dog Guy’s perfect adventure dog walk out in the woods and rivers and fields of the country park.

We pick up for our dog walking service in Chiswick, Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush, East Acton & Ravenscourt Park.

This might then be followed by some down time at home with food puzzles and treats, followed by a slow sniff walk around your local area and food puzzles for dinner.

Any training you do is also great enrichment. Whether it’s recall or find those keys or sunglasses you keep losing. We provide dog training services with accredited dog trainers in West London and if you want dog training services in south london, north london or East London you are welcome to come to us. We also do online dog training if appropriate for your dog.