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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Bamboozleme · 01/05/2023 09:50

@SquirrellyTheSquirrel

thank you!

OP posts:
coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 01/05/2023 09:54

@SquirrellyTheSquirrel honestly, you're not an idiot! Before I started working with dogs I believed the whole "more exercise means a happier dog" myth too - it's very common.

Posts like OP's really don't help - perpetuating the myth that anyone who doesn't walk their dog three times a day come rain or shine must be unfit or lazy or a rubbish dog owner - it's just not true.

Yes, some breeds will always need a bit more input than others, particularly working strains, but very few dogs need hours of exercise on a daily basis - they may be capable of it, but that's a different thing entirely.

My beagle can go all day - and has done on a few occasions (such as when we're on holiday) but it's no more exhausting for him than a short, good quality sniffari.

Dogs should be fit and capable of decent amounts of exercise, but that really doesn't mean 12 mile hikes on a daily basis!

MXVIT · 01/05/2023 10:10

I don't see the point of this thread ?

Is this not just a humble brag about how active and sporty and healthy you are

What do you want people to say?

Well done you you little sportstar you're so right aren't people who aren't as sporty just awful !

SquirrellyTheSquirrel · 01/05/2023 10:26

I forgot the reason I came onto this thread and it was in response to the title-

OP, my sister has been a wheelchair user since she was a child and has very limited mobility in her arms and hands. She has a service dog, a golden retriever. Obviously, she’s not able to exercise the dog much apart from walking alongside her chair, but the dog is well stimulated mentally and trained for what she does.

So no, being unfit/unable for physical activity shouldn’t be a barrier to getting a dog. However, people should try to get a dog that suits their lifestyle. If you’re fairly sedentary and have a smaller living space, a Cavalier King Charles will suit better than a Malinois. That said, situations change and someone who was able to run four times a week May find themselves unable to do so for various reasons. Dogs adapt so you shouldn’t be surprised that people manage them with less exercise that you give yours.

tabulahrasa · 01/05/2023 12:17

Bamboozleme · 01/05/2023 09:50

I run 4x a week

Yeah... but on the days you don’t? It still doesn’t add up

unless your step count is out, I’ve had ones that were way wrong before

lljkk · 01/05/2023 12:32

Cinnamon Trust, Borrow my doggy, paid doggy care/walkers, park self on beach & let dog loose for 2 hours, mobility scooters.

I've seen plenty of dogs-being walked from cars in USA (walker driving, lead out the window). Also some F+F just don't walk their dogs as often as they should be walked (as in, almost never, and these are sometimes quite big dogs, but they didn't have behaviour problems that I could tell). Shocks me too.

Bamboozleme · 01/05/2023 13:36

tabulahrasa · 01/05/2023 12:17

Yeah... but on the days you don’t? It still doesn’t add up

unless your step count is out, I’ve had ones that were way wrong before

Detective!

so on days I don’t run…. Around 18k

two walks with the dogs
evening toddle

and I live in centre of town so walk everywhere. Shops, appointments, coffee shops, friends.

it adds up! 🛌!

OP posts:
Cherrysoup · 01/05/2023 13:57

I have mobility issues, my dogs do not. I walk slowly round the woods, they go at full speed and come back to me every few minutes. The fitness of the owner doesn’t necessarily affect the dog’s exercise. I find the OP vaguely offensive.

tabulahrasa · 01/05/2023 14:01

Detective 😂

nah, just use fitbits and was reading through assuming you walked for a long time, but you said no, or fast but you said no and was confused.

So wondered if your step count was right as I’ve spent a full day with someone before, been active with them and when they weren’t and they’d won our Fitbit challenge by about 5k steps and we realised one of outlets must be wrong.

Bamboozleme · 01/05/2023 14:30

It’s an Apple Watch but not new version. No idea really but generally pretty impressed with Apple

OP posts:
Bamboozleme · 01/05/2023 14:31

I didn’t say I didn’t walk for a long time

i said I didn’t go on fast “4 hour walks”

OP posts:
TurnipsMyArse · 01/05/2023 14:41

Poor lab. That’s far too much exercise. Those poor hips 💔

bamboonights · 01/05/2023 17:49

OP do you take water for the dog when you run? I live in a very highly populated dog ownership area. Since lockdown there are so many more runners dragging dogs along on waist leads - who are never carrying water. It really pisses me off. My dog likes a drink as she gets hot and bothered if she plays with another dog for a short time so I always take one. She is a heavier breed but they all have fur coats after all.

Reasonableadjustments · 01/05/2023 17:54

bamboonights · 01/05/2023 17:49

OP do you take water for the dog when you run? I live in a very highly populated dog ownership area. Since lockdown there are so many more runners dragging dogs along on waist leads - who are never carrying water. It really pisses me off. My dog likes a drink as she gets hot and bothered if she plays with another dog for a short time so I always take one. She is a heavier breed but they all have fur coats after all.

I have a water bottle with a carabiner and collapsible bowls for my dog. I don't let him be walked without those going with in the same way as poo bags.

Bamboozleme · 01/05/2023 18:20

I never run with my dog

OP posts:
Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 13:18

I’m with you op

I also don’t get how people can own dogs and live in flats (obviously not garden flats)

ToBeOrNotToBee · 18/05/2023 14:00

Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 13:18

I’m with you op

I also don’t get how people can own dogs and live in flats (obviously not garden flats)

2 medium sized dogs in a 1 bedroom, 3rd floor flat.

The dogs get walked.

WiddlinDiddlin · 18/05/2023 14:02

Physically... unless you are working a dog hard most of the day, no one is providing a dog the exercise they actually can take, or are built for.

Providing tons of physical exercise can result in a situation where you have a superfit canine athlete who... needs tons more exercise. It also doesn't necessarily meet the dogs mental exercise/enrichment needs.

So a dog who for example, goes out for a 5 mile run every day, plus a 2 hour brisk on lead walk around the same footpath, same direction etc etc... Is probably getting less mental stimulation than the dog who goes for two 45 minute pootles around the fields, off lead, interacting and playing ball, stopping for a little training session, home to do some puzzle toys and trick training and the relax in front of the fire with a massive dried deer leg chew.

For some dogs a twice daily walk could actually be hell on wheels - if they're anxious or overwhelmed by the outside environment, perhaps the owner lives on a busy road and the dog finds traffic horrific, then the walks may be doing more harm than good.

I walk my dogs from my wheelchair and we're now down to 3 dogs so they get 20 minutes twice a day, individually, as I don't feel that taking multiple dogs out is sensible, safe or actually meeting their needs.

This is for a pavement walk, we vary the route, the time, the direction, and we stop and play in various places or do a spot of training, whatever we feel like that day. I might hide treats in clumps of grass and then the dogs find them, I might hide a toy on dog A's walk, and then on dog B's walk we track dog A's scent to the toy and 'find' it...

My partner takes each dog out for a run over fields I can't access, several times a week (most days for the young uns, twice a week for Mr Oldiewonk McBlindypants), and thats around 40 minutes of running, pootling, sniffing, exploring the stream and the woods.

Then at home each gets a fun puzzle solving free shaping session most days, plus working on anything we're specifically working on top of that. We do 'free work' in the yard (another enrichment and confidence building activity), and they have lots of food dispensing toys and revolting dried animal parts through the week.

This less rigid routine means if something happens - if I am ill or in hospital, if the weather is vile or whatever, they are not expecting to stick to a routine. SO alterations to the daily plan do not cause distress.

They're all fit and healthy and the youngest is 5, oldest turning 15 this year, so I don't think the lack of multiple-hour romps three times a day or going jogging has done them any harm!

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 18/05/2023 14:26

Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 13:18

I’m with you op

I also don’t get how people can own dogs and live in flats (obviously not garden flats)

Quite easily - you just take them out for the toilet.

DanceMonster · 18/05/2023 14:42

Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 13:18

I’m with you op

I also don’t get how people can own dogs and live in flats (obviously not garden flats)

Why? We used to live in a flat (abroad, in a city where everyone lives in flats with their pets) when our dog was younger. We took him out lots. It was fine.

bridgetreilly · 18/05/2023 14:48

My dog is smaller and older so he doesn’t need two long walks a day! He also loves to run ahead, then run back, so he goes a lot further than I do, especially when the children come and run with him. We sometimes go to a large field where he can be off lead and run to his hearts content.

Wenfy · 18/05/2023 14:51

This is why we didn’t get a dog. I’m fit enough - go for 3-4 10-15 walks a day but dogs need a lot more. Honestly I think even what you’re doing isn’t enough for some larger breeds. Dogs like that really need the safety of a pate open space

Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 14:57

ToBeOrNotToBee · 18/05/2023 14:00

2 medium sized dogs in a 1 bedroom, 3rd floor flat.

The dogs get walked.

I doubt doubt you walk them

but… you must be constantly in and out taking them out to the toilet?! And if they’re not on a walk… what do they do? When not walking mine is either sleeping, occasionally playing with her puzzles etc I set up or… roaming the garden for hours on end!

Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 14:58

Wenfy · 18/05/2023 14:51

This is why we didn’t get a dog. I’m fit enough - go for 3-4 10-15 walks a day but dogs need a lot more. Honestly I think even what you’re doing isn’t enough for some larger breeds. Dogs like that really need the safety of a pate open space

10 to 15 minute walks? Blink and you miss it in the mind of an active dog

Fruitful82 · 18/05/2023 15:01

battersea dog home

* Many of our dogs will need to live in a home with a garden to give them the best possible quality of life.*

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