Why have a dog if you cant be arsed to walk it?

[FreyaFromTheFens]

I have 2 large breed dogs that need a lot of exercise, running off lead for a couple of hours a day minimum. We go twice a day every day no excuse.

I very rarely meet other dog walkers in bad weather and on facebook in the dog groups i'm in so many people were asking for advise on keeping dogs sane as they wouldn't be getting walks due to the bad weather!

Dogs thrive on being outside and need to run, sniff and interact with other dogs. I understand there are exceptions to this, elderly/sick or nervous dogs but generally they need to get out in all weathers.

Just put a fucking coat on and walk them, it's only rain and then the dog will settle. Hiding dry dog food in a toy is no substitute! 🙄

I know i'm not being unreasonable but want to know why you are if you don't walk in the rain?

My first dog absolutely would not go out in the rain, even if it was just drizzling, she was a very lazy small dog and it really didn't matter to her if she went on a walk or not, that said when i got my second dog i've had to take her exercise needs alot more seriously as she is a bigger more energetic dog. However several circumstances have changed things, i got the dog when i was with a DP and that broke down so now i have sole responsibility of the dog with a job (luckily wfh majority of time) but with 2 children and a busy schedule (no time for lunch break walks) and my dog is very anxious and reactive and i have to avoid walking her with my youngest child as her anxiety/reactivity is so bad when my DC is with us (i genuinely don't understand why)
Anyway my point is i massively struggle to find the time to walk my dog daily due to all these reasons, she needs a good off lead run to fully calm her down for the day but again this is hard as i have to avoid all other dogs as she is reactive and some days i can only walk her after youngest is asleep late at night in the dark therefore she can't be off lead and sometimes if the weather is terrible i really just don't want to go.

I do my best though and i do agree with your post however sometimes there's more to it than you might think.

A relatively remote forest nr me is used by many dog owners, some will park up, let the dog out, sit in the car on their phone, then 20mins later call fido back and drive off.
The paths nr the car park are literally covered in dog shit.

Dogs just don't want one walk a day, they like being out and about all the time.

I do a bit of dog walking & and am amazed at how many owners, usually ones who got a dog during lockdown, have zero idea about what a dog needs.

On the rain bit, one dog i take out, apparently hated the rain, a few walks and ball throws later and she couldn't care less.

I completely agree with you. Although I used to have a greyhound who hated heavy rain, and would have point blank refused to go out in the rain we've been having lately. She would even toilet inside, rather than go out in torrential rain. The difference is she wouldn't go stir crazy about it. She'd just sleep until the rain eased up. Even if that was a few days!

Don’t mind a wet walk, apart from the other day when it hammered it down. Don’t think dog enjoyed it either.

One of my Tibetans is in full coat, no chance of an long walk in the rain!
Yep, he gets dragged around the block with a raincoat on... he hates being wet and hates the hairdryer! So why subject him to that misery?

I cant get my older dog out in the rain for love or money! Even dog treats! She will hold it until it's dry. I take my other one out in rain or shine. I also never take my dogs into a busy city centre. No idea why people do this.

My dog puts her tail between her legs and head down (even if wearing a raincoat) and will not do her business. I take her out whenever there's a break in the weather - there usually is at one point! But she hates the rain.
She is fine though - doesn't go stir crazy or anything!

Some dogs need a lot of exercise, others don't. You can predict it to a certain extent with the breed of dog you get, but not completely.

The problem is people getting dogs without doing their research.

One dog-walking friend, for example, got a working line spaniel and was then shocked by how high energy the dog is (first time dog owner). He has stepped up and the dog is happy and well looked after, but it is a bit of a compromise, I think the dog would ideally have more work. He doesn't notice minor details like rain...

DDog, on the other hand, doesn't like getting wet. A circuit of the park is ok with a light drizzle, but anything heavier and she prefers to toilet in the garden and then snooze on the sofa.

My old boy used to love his walks.

Out in all weathers.

We now have a very delicate flower whippet🙄😁

The only time our Teddy hasn't gone out if its really bad stormy weather with really high winds as well as rain. Instead we did scenting games indoors and just let him out in the garden to relieve himself. If he doesn't want to go, then we'll go with that. He has a rain coat and doesn't mind going out in normal rain.

I'm sitting at my desk with a still damp skirt (and knickers!) after walking my dog at lunchtime! She comes with me to work and I would have loved to not take her to the park but she needs a break from the office as much as I do so off we went - I had brought wellies and a waterproof but hadn't expected the downpour we actually got

You actually don't need to walk dogs every day. I have a cocker spaniel and it's very unusual we don't go out, as it's just easier and we all enjoy it, but I've seen very good dog trainers advising down time. One I follow on instagram gives her spaniel one day 'off' a week, and they do sniffy games, trick training etc instead. It's a good skill for them to have in case of injury etc, our girl needed two weeks off walks recently due to a paw injury so it was a good thing really that she's not used to two walks a day, every day for hours! She also really doesn't need to interact with other dogs, there's nothing worse than an unwanted dog running up to us because the owner thinks it's good to let them play together.

ETA - rain is nothing to do with it, we live in west of Scotland so if we didn't go out in the rain we'd never go out!

I don't have a dog as I work full time and hate going for a random walk
We do however,look after ds's/friends dogs
No 1 dog-will not put a paw over the threshold if it's raining-we get dirty looks for not making it stop (staffie)
He would have to be bursting for a wee before he runs out,does it and races back in
Dogs 2/3-happy enough to go for a short walk but no for too long (half Staffie,half whippet and a doberman)
Dog 4-what rain?(staffie)
We've got him at the moment,and weve just taken him out
2 hours later and he really didnt want to go back (he's asleep on the rug and dp will take him out again later)

I work with a lady who's dog hates going for a walk (sausage dog)
He'll put up with trotting round at the car boot on a Sunday but will refuse to leave the house any other time and if they pick him up and take him anyway,he just cries to be allowed home
He does spend all his time under the covers on her bed

YANBU. Some people are lazy. They can’t be arsed to walk so they kid themselves that their dogs don’t get the urge either. They get dogs for company but pay no attention to the physical needs of the dog. My dog did not miss a single walk. He was walked daily without fail - if I was ill, I paid a walker. Too many owners make excuses for not exercising their dogs daily. They say their dogs don’t mind / don’t like the rain / only need a tiny 5-10 minute walk. Well, if I never exercised, I probably wouldn’t be up to a 90 minute walk either. If I didn’t put on any sort of coat, I wouldn’t want a walk. The excitement they get from sniffing and scrabbling is their main joy! Even a little dog should get a daily walk.

My dog hates the rain... even to get her to go outside to the toilet in weather like this I need to put a leash on her or she will just stand at the door and won't go out. As soon as she's been to the toilet she is pulling to go back inside. If it starts to rain heavily when we're walking she stops walking and starts jumping up as she wants to be carried under my umbrella (she's a 4kg toy breed)... So I don't feel like I need to force her to walk outside when she's not happy to (but if she did want to then I wouldn't hesitate take her out in the rain!)

Mine hates rain. He won’t even set foot in the garden to have a wee until the rain stops (even if it takes hours), so I’d have no chance getting him to go for a walk in it. He just wouldn’t move!

Mine are perfectly happy with a 20min potter or a sniff around the garden when it’s horrible outside. They have huge double coats that take ages to dry, not a case of a quick rub down.

Another reason most people don’t need a working dog breed though. Maybe if more people picked breeds that fit their lifestyle they wouldn’t have a dog climbing the walls when it’s not walked for one day.

whilst I agree, not every dog will go out in miserable weather. Ours is 1 and we've bought her raincoats ect... but she point blank refuses to go out in the rain, if we manage to get her half way down the path, she tugs back to the door crying. She won't even go out for a wee in the garden if it's raining. She loves a walk but no matter how hard we've tried she just won't go out in the rain 🤦

I 100% agree with you and was out yesterday in horizontal rain absolutely soaked to my internal organs while my Deerhound merrily skipped about happy as Larry getting absolutely disgustingly muddy.

However my greyhound absolutely refused to go out the door. Literally put one paw out, saw how bad the rain was, and reversed back in to hide behind my husband. Husband had to follow him round the garden with an umbrella later so he could pee.

Not saying it's the case for all dog owners of course, there are a lot of fair weather dog owners out there who seem to think dogs aren't waterproof, but there are also a few fair weather dogs!

Just because you aren't seeing the same faces each day in your "several hour off lead walks" doesn't mean a thing.

We vary the route of our on lead walks every day because both us and dog will get bored with the same circular routes. Including in the pouring rain.

We can only do off lead where there are no other dogs, so we go to private parks. I see the same faces from time to time, but just assume most people put the effort into variation.

Also, no breed HAS to have umpteen hours of off lead sprinting per day - I hope you vary it up with brain work, on lead walks, sniffing walks etc not just pure cardio, it's dreadful for their bodies and their brains in the long term.

We walk in the awful weather but we shorten the walk to about 30mins - my dog turns round and walks me back when they've had enough.

I agree, we have a border collie and he is walked whatever the weather- we just stay out of the woods if it's too windy!
I understand some small or older dogs could get away with a very short walk or even no walk if they can go in the garden though, not every day but occasionally.

As said it's breed/personality dependent. I'd love walking through the seasons with my German Shepherd, but I'd have had to carry my King Charles (who didn't seem to grasp that she was a spaniel) and likewise my DD's Frenchie. Both got worse when they'd turned six.

Fair weather walkers!

Rain, hail, sleet and snow-

Same - my dog HATES it