Offlead overstimulating??

[Aria20]

We moved house 2 weeks ago and no longer have loads of safe offlead walks available without driving so due to being very busy these past few weeks my dog has had more onlead walks than off. Our new area is very safe and lots of nice parks and lakes to walk around and loads of other dogs to potentially meet but they are "onlead" areas.

She is a 16 months old spaniel and I used to do an hour off lead walk in the morning and then in the evening she'd had 45 mins either on or offlead depending on the weather and which route we took. She would usually sleep a couple of hours after the morning walk but then become attention seeking and "busy" and sometimes after the evening walk get zoomies so I'd give her a lamb braid or something to chill out.

Now she's been getting 3 x 30/45 min walks around the new area and parks/lake but slower sniffy walks and she seems much calmer and settles much better without needing constant interaction or chews etc. I took her to the park near our old house the other day so she could have an offlead run and she had great fun zooming around but got over excited when she saw her old dog friends and seemed more restless again once home...

Is this coincidence and she's just finally calming down at 16 months or were the offlead walks in the woods/parks actually overstimulating her? I thought I was doing the best thing for her giving her offlead time in safe places etc and she certainly seems to enjoy it but was it actually "too much" for her as in it tired her out immediately after the walk but then hyped her up later making her need more stimulation?!

Any advice from experienced owners?

Our spaniel goes bonkers off lead life is far to exciting
mental stimulation (sniffing:training etc) means she spends most of the day asleep with two 30min walks a day

both on lead walks I should add. Our trainer advised you can never tire a dog with exercise a lone you just end with a fitter dog

@Applespearsandoranges that's interesting thank you. I read so much stuff about how important it is for dogs to have a variety of offlead walks and offlead explores daily etc I thought I was doing the best thing for her and that she needed this every day and feeling guilty for her having more onlead walks now but perhaps it's not necessarily a bad thing for her!!

My beagle is much calmer after an on-lead sniffy walk.

Sniffing works their brains and helps to tire them out whereas off-lead exercise can just increase their adrenaline levels and hype them up.

Both have their place but as a dog-walker I always end walks with 5-10 minutes of on lead "calming" behaviour to help the dogs settle down again.

My dog's much, much happier with 2x30min sniffy walks on lead than when he was getting 2-3 hours off lead. This was recommended by our behaviourist and it has been a complete revelation to me. Although I did feel very neglectful at first!

@TheChestertons that's really reassuring but isn't it strange how much of the advice is hour+ offlead daily is essential bla bla bla!

@coffeecupsandfairylights that makes sense about increasing adrenaline and hyping up. She does love romping in undergrowth though so I guess I'll have to find a balance and keep it as low key as possible!

I'm of the same view, dogs don't need hours of exercise (on or off lead) a day. When we attend breed walks it is often discussed and it seems TerrorPup gets approx half the daily exercise of most of them, but we are also often the only ones not complaining about chewing/barking etc.

She's had half an hour today on lead (and it's a walk I could do in 15 on my own) and I doubt she'll go out again.

I try and make sure the last 10-15 minutes of walks are full of calming activities - so, you could do sniffing out treats in the grass, for example, or encourage them to go at their pace (on lead) sniffing about as much as they like etc.

I also give my beagle a chew or "sniffy snacks" after his walks (sniffy snacks are basically bits of kibble scattered in the grass) as chewing and sniffing are both calming activities.

He can go for hours a day but he's just as tired after a 45 minute sniffy walk as he is after 3-4 hours of walks (I'm a dog walker and sometimes he has to come to work with me all day). Most days he gets 45-60 minutes and that's it.

Thanks all for making me feel better and reassured that it's actually ok to some days be only onlead as I was feeling guilty and like she was missing out but then also surprised by her calmness lol!