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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder how unfit dog owners manage?

262 replies

Bamboozleme · 30/04/2023 14:26

I love walking and run 4x a week. Children sport-mad.
we have a lab
2 long (and fast!) walks a day plus and 20 min evening stroll

scrolling through my steps history and realised… on the days I run and do all the dog walks (I mainly do all the dog walks despite promises otherwise!) my step count is never below 25k. On days I won’t run, never below 18k.

Some days - substantially more!

how do you fare if you don’t enjoy walking and / or unfit and have a dog that needs and enjoys max walks?!

OP posts:
Longwhiskers · 30/04/2023 14:28

Would the dog not adapt to the owners fitness? Your dog must be super fit because of all the exercise but I suppose some dogs would get used to having just one 20 min stroll a day.

Greengold123 · 30/04/2023 14:29

Well obviously most sensible dog owners get a dog that's energy needs match their activity. There are also other ways to exercise a dog that are lower impact on the owner such as playing with a ball or focusing on mental exercise tasks.

Then there are people who pay for dog walkers, exercise fields and so on.

Finally there are people who do get the wrong dog hence why you see so many border collies, spaniels, GSDs in removing centres

CheeseDreamsTonight · 30/04/2023 14:29

Dogs can do twice as much distance if not more as their owner if off lead and sniffing about. We have sheep fields near us and when empty lots of dogs play in there together meeting off steam.

There are also lots of other ways to stimulate your dog. Mine loves scent work and slow sniffy walks round the village where he guides me.

ToBeOrNotToBee · 30/04/2023 14:29

Dogs adapt to their owners.

I used to be super active with mine, like you. 10 mile walks etc.

Then I got covid and was bed bound for 2 weeks, and since then my fitness dropped off a cliff. My dogs are just as happy with their 30 minute walks as their 4 hour walks.

KateyCuckoo · 30/04/2023 14:30

Yes our dog doesn't need that much exercise. He loves a mooch about the woods and fields and we play with him a lot at home, both physically and mentally.

ComtesseDeSpair · 30/04/2023 14:30

Often their dogs just become overweight and unfit as well. I recall reading that a similar proportion of dogs in the UK are considered overweight or obese as humans: about two thirds.

TedMullins · 30/04/2023 14:30

I have chronic fatigue and would need to stay in bed all day the next day if I did 25k steps. I have a pug and a chihuahua. I simply….would not get a dog that needs long fast walks

CantFindTheBeat · 30/04/2023 14:32

Do you work, OP?

Cooknook · 30/04/2023 14:33

Because some people have dogs as pets without considering what's best for the dog and what they need to remain fit and active, and this includes walks etc. Me neighbour has a lab and goes for a short 15 minute slow walk a day. I only know this as she complains about how energetic and 'naughty' it is in the house and describes how she finds this shocking as a 15 min walk a day should be enough. I do feel sorry for dogs who don't get enough opportunity to run around.

MuffinToSeeHere · 30/04/2023 14:34

KateyCuckoo · 30/04/2023 14:30

Yes our dog doesn't need that much exercise. He loves a mooch about the woods and fields and we play with him a lot at home, both physically and mentally.

Agreed. Our pup loves a nice long walk but it doesn't tire him out like mental stimulation and brain games do. I don't think any dog needs several hours of walks a day everyday all you're doing if that's your routine is creating a mini dog athlete. People forget that runs are not the best way of exercising a dog. Dogs need time to stop sniff and use their brains not just run.

Most people even the unfit ones can be dog owners if they understand how to mentally tire out a dog.

Supernova23 · 30/04/2023 14:36

Sounds to me like one of those smug showing off posts.

Most dogs don't need three long walks a day. I have working line German Shepherds, which are without a doubt higher energy and intensity than a Labrador (I've had Labs). They get one decent walk a day and are very happy with this.

I work full time so would not have the time to do three long walks per day. I imagine this is the same for most people who work. It would certainly be a luxury to work full time hours and fit three long walks in, so presumably you don't .

Bk1000 · 30/04/2023 14:38

I’m a dog walker and often walk dogs for people who are too unfit to manage. I also offer a ‘dog-jog’ service for dogs that need a bit more exercise than they can get on walks. It still blows my mind that people get these high energy dogs when the clearly have no intention of giving them the exercise they need. At least people who come to me are willing to accept they need to pay for help to keep their dogs happy and healthy, I see plenty of dogs who spend their entire lives stuck in a garden or getting 10 minute lead walk down the same street every day of their lives. It just makes me so sad to think that they will never know the joy of bounding around through a forest and throwing themselves in a big puddle to cool down.

Supernova23 · 30/04/2023 14:39

25,000 steps is 12 miles. Sometimes you do "substantially more". You clearly don't work much if you have time do to that daily.

BringBackCoffeeCreams · 30/04/2023 14:40

My dog was an even lazier arse than I am. All she wanted to do was mooch around our garden and sleep in the sun. I'd call walkies and she'd be all excited and ready to go, but half way down the street she sit down and refuse to go any further.

Scarfweather · 30/04/2023 14:40

I don’t know anyone who exercises their dogs as much as this, even if they aren’t working.
As others have said, different breeds and adaptation to family lifestyle for most dogs.
My dogs love their walks, but would (and have!) created a sit down protest if I tried to give them this much exercise.

magicstar1 · 30/04/2023 14:41

I’m very unfit, and have a GSD. I take her for one walk a day, and DH does one. I’ll do a long sniffy walk in the morning, throw ball etc at lunch, and he’ll take her for a long walk or play at the dog park in the evening.
If he’s on lates, he take her for the morning and I go to the dog park in the evening.
It works well as she gets both slow sniffy walks, and runs / play.
She is an older rescue though, who was used to no exercise at all. I wouldn’t take on a young pup, or large energetic male.

junglejane66 · 30/04/2023 14:41

Too much exercise for a young dog isn't good either. A friend had a lab but ran it too far too young. It's joints were knackered at 5 years old, dead by 8 years old and in pain

megletthesecond · 30/04/2023 14:42

Where I live they just end up with stressed barky dogs and the owners are reported to the dog warden by your truly. I have to watch an idiot neighbour get pulled around the block by his drooling German shepherd every so often.

MissBPotter · 30/04/2023 14:45

Our dog loves to play fetch so some days he’s only out for 20 mins and it’s a fairly leisurely stroll for me me, but he’s exhausted as he’s been running here there and everywhere. Also wondering how you possibly have time for all that walking! I rarely get above £7k steps when working, unfortunately. I would like to do more, but also my area is quite boring so walking 12 miles around here would be dull.

RubiesandRose · 30/04/2023 14:46

How do I fare?

I work full-time, I employ a dog walker and walk my 8.5 year old dog on the days the dog walker doesn't come.

Like most responsible dog walkers we adapt to suit him. Not quite sure what you're trying to ask here op but it feels like what you're asking is how do people who aren't super fit like me cope with a dog? And the answer is fine and thanks for your concern!

CindersAgain · 30/04/2023 14:47

Drive to the park, let it off lead and throw a ball/let it run round with other dogs.

ohtowinthelottery · 30/04/2023 14:49

They take the dog to a park/beach/other open space, stand still and throw things for the dog to retrieve. Around here they rarely roam further than 20m from the car park!

Athena51 · 30/04/2023 14:50

Bamboozleme · 30/04/2023 14:26

I love walking and run 4x a week. Children sport-mad.
we have a lab
2 long (and fast!) walks a day plus and 20 min evening stroll

scrolling through my steps history and realised… on the days I run and do all the dog walks (I mainly do all the dog walks despite promises otherwise!) my step count is never below 25k. On days I won’t run, never below 18k.

Some days - substantially more!

how do you fare if you don’t enjoy walking and / or unfit and have a dog that needs and enjoys max walks?!

Subtext:
Me, my family and my dog are amazingly fit and active and amazing. Marvel at my lithe fitness!

How do you lazy fatties manage?

Hmm
Twopoodlesarebetterthanone · 30/04/2023 14:50

You can smell the superiority coming off this post from afar

TillyTollyTully · 30/04/2023 14:50

I'm not what I'd call unfit but I'm certainly not sports mad or a runner and I'd imagine that my daily step count is far below yours.

We have a springer spaniel from working lines. I walk her for an hour a day, through a 50 acre wood/public gardens - but at a fairly leisurely pace.

For me that is...it's not leisurely for her. She pretty much exercises herself. I stroll, she sprints, hurdles things, climbs up and down sheer faces, in and out of the undergrowth, swims, nose down tracking things. She's 100mph for the whole walk and she naps most of the afternoon.

I probably walk 2 miles, I reckon she covers 5 times that distance easily.

I would never recommend a springer spaniel for a very sedentary or inactive household obviously. But I imagine I could be a lot less fit than I am and still have a happy, well exercised dog.