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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

For how long do you walk your dog?

26 replies

giddly · 10/09/2013 20:25

We are currently looking for a rescue dog and put in a preliminary inquiry for a medium sized young dog with relatively few details available at the time. They responded to say that she was not the dog for us (quite rightly once they gave more information) but part of the feedback was that our estimate of how much exercise we could offer daily - 45 mins twice a day almost all off lead - was insufficient for a young, active medium sized dog. This is our minimum - we could offer more at weekends etc. I know very few people who exercise their (often quite big) dogs for this long on a daily basis. Are we grossly underestimating how much excercise a dog needs? We were recommended to thinkg of something smaller / a lot older.

OP posts:

Floralnomad · 10/09/2013 20:31

Its rubbish to suggest that small dogs need less exercise than big dogs ,its often the reverse . I have a Patterdale x ,I would say he is small to medium size( 12.5 kg / quite leggy) he gets about 1.5/2 hours exercise a day mostly off lead split into 3 walks . He will happily do more or less and his behaviour indoors is the same irrespective , infact as long as he has been outside the front door he is happy .

Floralnomad · 10/09/2013 20:32

Forgot to say he is 3 yrs 4 months .

OnaPromise · 10/09/2013 20:36

Get a greyhound? That'd be plenty for them.

OnaPromise · 10/09/2013 20:37

Sorry you said medium sized. You do get quite small ones though. Or a grey/whippet cross.

loveulotslikejellytots · 10/09/2013 20:37

We have a rescue dog. He has 45 mins AM, free access to the garden most of the day and an hour in the evenings. Some days it's more/less. If I've woken up late he'll have 20 mins am, a 20 minute walk when I pop back at lunch and a longer pm walk.

We can't let him off the lead, he's not very sociable. So he only gets 2 off the lead walks a week when DH can take him up the woods.

Maybe ask them for some more in depth feedback about why you aren't suitable.

fanoftheinvisibleman · 10/09/2013 20:38

I have a 7.5 kg Border Terrier and like Floral walk for 1.5 - 2 hours minimum. I think the type of dog and its excercise needs matter more than size.

daftyburd · 10/09/2013 20:38

I think some breeds need less exercise than others and that size has less to do with it. I have a 4.6 kg Boston Terrier who needs an hour or two run down the beach/park followed by half hour to an hour walk in the evening. On the days we cant manage that we suffer as he bounces off the walls.
Friend has a greyhound who needs much, much less walking than my tiny mutt.

FoundAChopinLizt · 10/09/2013 20:38

1hr off lead with a good swim weekdays, sometimes an extra lead walk half hour in evening. Weekends longer walk with more swimming. 2 year old golden lab.

loveulotslikejellytots · 10/09/2013 20:39

Sorry i forgot to say that he's a 7 year old, full of beans, staffie!

CMOTDibbler · 10/09/2013 20:40

My lurcher has 15 min off lead twice a day on weekdays. Thats plenty for him, though he is happy to walk on a lead much longer - but its not really exercise for him on a lead, just a change of scenery. If its raining he will scuttle out in the garden for toileting (under duress, and sometimes after waiting for a coat to go on) and then stay firmly asleep.

Capitola · 10/09/2013 20:42

About an hour off the lead weekdays, plus about 20 mins on the lead. a good 2 hours off the lead on Sat & Sun, plus run of big garden - in and out as he chooses.

He is a miniature schnauzer, but a big one.

MrsPnut · 10/09/2013 20:42

We have a medium labrador / collie cross and she has 2 hours a day during the week split into 1/2 hr before work, 1/2 hr at lunchtime (dog walker) 1/2 hr at tea time and 1/2 hr before bed.
At weekends she gets perhaps only 3 walks but one of those will be over an hour and she gets off lead at every walk.
She's quite old though (about 7 or 8) and some days she's more bonkers than others.

LesserSpottedNeckSnake · 10/09/2013 20:46

I have a springer/cocker cross and a cocker/miniature poodle cross puppy. We are out for a minimum of an hour a day, split over two walks, and more usually an hour and a half. The pup trots along next to me sniffing things and the spaniel runs and runs and runs, diving through hedges, swimming in ponds, chases squirrels, chases his ball.....you get the picture. The spaniel would take as much exercise as I can throw at him, but as long as he gets out twice a day with at least a 30 minute off lead run, he's content.

onedogandababy · 10/09/2013 20:54

I have a nearly 5 yr old Springer, she gets 2 walks a day, morning & afternoon for at least an hour each time. Most of it off lead. She spends the rest of the day 'resting' on the sofa, and seems perfectly content.

She would always be bang up for more though. One of the reasons we went for a Springer

flowery · 10/09/2013 20:55

We have a springer, he's out about 45 minutes twice a day during the week, more at weekends and much more once a week when he goes to doggy day care. It's plenty for him. He is well behaved, content and slim.

We also play with him/train him probably about 30 minutes a day.

When he's out he's running full pelt most of the time, and covers probably 6 times as much ground as DH walking in a straight line.

moosemama · 10/09/2013 21:34

I have 2 Lurchers. The eldest is almost 8 and has about an hour and a half in the morning and usually an hour in the afternoon, sometimes longer.

Most of that is off-lead and involves a lot of retrieving/chasing after balls.

On days where I really can't fit that in he would probably get a minimum of 45 minutes off lead twice a day, with some ball or frisbee games in the garden on top.

That said, I have had health problems over the past year and he's been happy to snooze the day away with me, with two half hour walks with dh morning and evening on days when I really wasn't up to taking him.

We also do a lot of clicker training. Short but fairly frequent sessions and I find these wear him out more than the exercise - but then thinking can be hard work when you're a Lurcher!

My other Lurcher is still a pup and unable to go down outside yet, as he hasn't finished his vaccinations. I'm told he's going to be a big boy, so I will be confining him to shorter walks until he is skeletally mature.

Original poster

giddly · 10/09/2013 21:35

Thanks. Doesn't sound like we're far off the mark. Meant to say the dog would also have unlimited access to a reasonable sized garden and play time on top of this. We seriously considered a lurcher (your's sound hilarious CMOT!) but are worried about recall issues - we live backing onto fields with livestock and understand this can be an issue for many sighthounds. We would still happily consider the right lurcher (got some great advice from Mistlethrush on lurcher types), but would probably want to ensure they were showing signs of at least being ammenable to recall - it would be such a shame if he or she couldn't take full advantage of the open spaces we live near.

OP posts:

mrslaughan · 10/09/2013 21:50

WE have a giant breed, he gets about 1 1/4 max a day - this is because of his bones, as he is still young, he should really only have max of an hour. Plus he does 2 x 25 min hydrotherapy swims a week.

What he does need is to be involved in family life - so he goes almost everywhere with us.....this gives him the stimulation he needs.

I would have thought for many breeds 2 x 45mins would have been enough - though it would rule out a lot of "working" breeds.

tooearlytobeup · 10/09/2013 22:45

I have a 2 yr old springer. We dont do set walk times as he has to fit in with the kids.

As an idea, yesterday I ran with him for just over an hour in the morning, half on lead half off. In the afternoon he walked on lead for about 35 minutes.

Today he was offlead in the morning for about 40 minutes playing with another dog while walking and chasing a ball. This afternoon he was chasing a ball and walking around for about an hour.

Tomorrow he will be out in the am offlead for about 40 minutes then we will run for an hour or so in the evening

Original poster

giddly · 10/09/2013 23:36

Yes we were avoiding "working" breeds - particularly collies ( of which there seem to be loads in rescue) as felt we wouldn't be able to provide them with enough exercise and stimulation.

OP posts:

TotallyBursar · 11/09/2013 00:09

I'm interested in what they asked you to provide? I may have asked you to add a midday spin and for certain dogs if you could tack on an extra 15mins per walk but as you said you aren't far off the avg for a pet dog.
Did they request a minimum time?

I don't do crazy amounts more than most on the dogs days off and we need our dogs to be really fit.
If we stopped what we do cold turkey then yes they would go stir crazy; I could wind it down and in about 3 weeks they would be totally happy with a mooch am and pm for an hour - it's companionship that's important to them, as mentioned the one on one training, affection and company. If I stopped engaging their brain, made them lie on their bed the rest of the time but ran them on a treadmill for 4 hours a day they would still lose the plot pretty quickly.
Do they think you are just going to ignore the dog unless you are walking it?

Original poster

giddly · 11/09/2013 00:56

TB - DH is at home all day and we would certainly be looking to involved the dog in all family activities - school run etc. I'm not really sure what they expect. At the moment we're looking at other rescues as not sure we'd ever now be accepted for adoption of a reasonably lively family dog (which is what we want) with his one.

OP posts:

BlackMogul · 11/09/2013 01:34

We have a Lhasa Apso. They are probably smaller than you want but are a good family dog and do not need huge amounts of exercise. We take ours off for a total of about 1- 11/2 hours a day and he is fine with that. We know when he needs a walk and similarly when he is not that bothered - tends to hang back and has been known to run home! we live in a very rural area. Is good on the lead but not a dog to fetch balls back. Bags of character though and a real personality. As we live in the country, and it is muddy, we keep him trimmed but Lhasas are great city dogs. Not sure if there are many rescue ones but the breed society may know if there are any .

bellasuewow · 12/09/2013 20:41

30-45 minutes each morning and about 20 minutes evening quite brisk. I have two jack Russell's and this seems to keep them happy they are 6 and 4 and seem to slob around the rest of the time

JulietBravoJuliet · 12/09/2013 21:18

We do 45 minutes in the morning after the school run, where she gets to play with her friends/chase a ball, a quick 15 minutes or so at lunch just so as she can have a wee (we have no garden), unless I'm off work in which case we can be out for a couple of hours. If no long walk at lunch, she gets another quick 15-20 minutes at school pick up time, then 30-45 minutes ball chasing on the park before ds goes to bed.

So 3-4 walks a day and a total of 1 hr 45 mins minimum to 3 hrs maximum. Sometimes more, depending on work, occasionally less if the weathers really shit (she hates the rain!) or if I'm working longer hours.

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