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Original poster

Enough exercise for a collie?

59 replies

Sparkle79 · 04/09/2022 14:06

Is 3 walks a day (morning, lunch, evening) 30 minutes per walk or thereabouts, on-lead but at dogs pace with lots of sniffing... enough physical exercise for a 2 year old border collie?

OP posts:
Original poster
Sparkle79 · 04/09/2022 14:08

(With free access to the garden through the day aswell)

OP posts:
Steakandquinoa · 04/09/2022 14:09

Does she never get a free run?

Malie · 04/09/2022 14:10

They are built to do about 200 miles a day. Why I wouldn’t have one as a pet. They are a working dog

Mywelshmammy · 04/09/2022 14:14

They need 7 hours running around every day according to a breeder I know. She gets irritated that people have them as domestic pets and then wonder why they turn nasty. Unfortunately for the dogs it’s where we are now with many working breeds.

Lynca · 04/09/2022 14:15

An hour and a half per day with no opportunity to properly stretch their legs and run around? No, in my opinion that is not enough.

forumsempronii · 04/09/2022 14:15

Nope.

Collies dont need massives of exercise but you need to be looking at 90 mins or 2 hours of off lead walking for a happy contented collie.

TBH why have a collie if you do not want to be with them and exercise them?

There are other dogs that would be happy with 3 x 30 min on lead walks. Collies may get used to it but it is not the perfect fit for a collie at all.

They do need to have loads of brain stimulation that may be included in the walk or as an add on to that.

magicstar1 · 04/09/2022 14:18

Nowhere near enough. My 7 year old GSD gets 30 minutes sniffy walk in the morning and about 90 minutes in the dog park….free to run….every day. Plus other trips out etc.
A collie would need a lot more.

Butterdishtea · 04/09/2022 14:19

No.

fatgirlslimmer · 04/09/2022 14:21

I don't think 30 minutes walking on a lead 3 x a day is enough. He needs mental stimulation, hunting, digging, scentwork etc.

Sniffing on a walk is not the same, do you scatter feed, use a lick mat and stuff toys etc?

Ilikewinter · 04/09/2022 14:22

Ours is 15 months old and has about 45min lead walk in the morning and an hour, mainly off lead walk in the woods in the afternoon , thats during the week, at the weekend we mix it up and he comes where ever we go......contary to popular belief he hasnt yet turned nasty or had a mental breakdown....in fact hes having his afternoon snooze at the minute .

Original poster
Sparkle79 · 04/09/2022 14:24

Steakandquinoa · 04/09/2022 14:09

Does she never get a free run?

Yes, access to the garden all day

OP posts:
Decafflatteplease · 04/09/2022 14:25

We used to have a collie when I was growing up and it needed masses of exercise!

From memory probably around 3-4 hours a day, lots off lead we lived in the country. Plus lots of games in the house etc. It was a massive undertaking and I wouldn't get one now but as a child my parents had lots of free time for the dog which I wouldn't have now.

Original poster
Sparkle79 · 04/09/2022 14:27

fatgirlslimmer · 04/09/2022 14:21

I don't think 30 minutes walking on a lead 3 x a day is enough. He needs mental stimulation, hunting, digging, scentwork etc.

Sniffing on a walk is not the same, do you scatter feed, use a lick mat and stuff toys etc?

Yes good amount of mental stimulation, tricks, games, scent work etc

I'm asking just about physical exercise here.

OP posts:
abovedecknotbelow · 04/09/2022 14:30

How big is the garden, and why can't they go off lead on walks?

Ilikewinter · 04/09/2022 14:30

I think it depends on your dog, like I said ours has 2 walks a day but one is in the woods off lead- he also has access to the garden but I think free running is different.
Hes absolutely tanks it around the fields at speeds he could never do in the garden and it gives us the opportunity to practice recall and 'find it' etc.

Are you able to have ddog off lead at all?

Theendofnature · 04/09/2022 14:33

The garden?? How is that possibly be the same as being able to gallop flat out on a stretch of beach, common or in the woods

Why can't the dog be off lead? Crucial for that breed.

forumsempronii · 04/09/2022 14:36

Sparkle79 · 04/09/2022 14:27

Yes good amount of mental stimulation, tricks, games, scent work etc

I'm asking just about physical exercise here.

Show quote history

but 3 x 30 mins onlead sniffy walk is not physical exercise to a collie.....

Their heart rate will not be raised their breathing rate will not be increased it is just a stroll if that not a physical workout at all

mountainsunsets · 04/09/2022 14:38

I actually think it's fine.

All loads of exercise does is create a really fit dog who needs lots of exercise. 90 minutes of exercise a day is plenty as long as the dog also has plenty of mental stimulation.

BUT I would say that some of that 90 minutes needs to be off the lead - if not everyday, then at least a few times a week. Collies are bred to run and herd and I don't think it's fair to restrict them to a life on a lead.

nannybeach · 04/09/2022 14:41

3rd border collie here,she's now 7,they get an average of an hour a day, hard running off lead. Sometimes, its more, sometimes less. She does have cruciate ligament problem,so if she's limping,it would be round the block the next day. We have a second dog for her to interact with,and have had dog flaps and large gardens over 20 years. She will bring you a football in the garden if she wants to play. Grandkids 11,and 12 often here to play ball with her. She trundles out in the garden with us if we're working out there. We live quite near the beach,and that's her favourite,and a swim.

forumsempronii · 04/09/2022 14:48

mountainsunsets · 04/09/2022 14:38

I actually think it's fine.

All loads of exercise does is create a really fit dog who needs lots of exercise. 90 minutes of exercise a day is plenty as long as the dog also has plenty of mental stimulation.

BUT I would say that some of that 90 minutes needs to be off the lead - if not everyday, then at least a few times a week. Collies are bred to run and herd and I don't think it's fair to restrict them to a life on a lead.

Seriously it is not fine.

3 x 30 mins sessions is not correct exercise for a collie. Even off lead you will have a dog that bolts of for 30 manic minutes then home than a few hours later charge off for another highly charged 30 mins and repeat It will drive a collie crazy.

They need longer sessions of exercise 90 together would be better. Keeping a collie unfit so they do not bother for exercise is not the way to go. Collies are dogs that like to be active why stop that basic need.

Get a greyhound if you want 30 mins stroll around the block

Poppitt58 · 04/09/2022 14:52

When ours was 2 she wouldn’t have handled it. On the odd occasion she couldn’t go off the lead, she’d do things like chew the door frames and de-stuff her bed. The length of walk didn’t need to be ridiculous - an hour was generally fine, but she needed to get off the lead and run at least once a day.

She still needs to go off the lead daily, but now she’s older she no longer eats everything in protest, on the odd occasion we’ve had no choice! eg- on holiday, during awful weather etc

mountainsunsets · 04/09/2022 14:56

forumsempronii · 04/09/2022 14:48

Seriously it is not fine.

3 x 30 mins sessions is not correct exercise for a collie. Even off lead you will have a dog that bolts of for 30 manic minutes then home than a few hours later charge off for another highly charged 30 mins and repeat It will drive a collie crazy.

They need longer sessions of exercise 90 together would be better. Keeping a collie unfit so they do not bother for exercise is not the way to go. Collies are dogs that like to be active why stop that basic need.

Get a greyhound if you want 30 mins stroll around the block

Show quote history

I'm just going on my own experience, as we all are.

I live in an area full of collies and as a dog walker, I walk plenty of them. They range in ages from 18 months to twelve and none of them get hours and hours of exercise each day.

They do get off-lead time, which I think is really important, but 90 minutes of exercise split across the day with brain games and training on top is fine for them. None of them struggle on that amount or seem restless, anxious or destructive as a result.

2bazookas · 04/09/2022 14:56

I've had 6 collies and not one of them would be satisfied with such limited excercise. They are hugely energetic dogs. I can't count how many times I walked 5 or 6 miles while the off-lead collie bounded back and forth covering maybe twice that distance. We arrive home, I have a cup of tea, dog gobbles a bonio and says "That was fun; I'm ready. Lets go again, right now".

Newuser82 · 04/09/2022 14:57

As a quick answer I'd say no, not enough. But, how does the dog seem? Is it quite settled at other times or is it hyper? Do you have any behavioural issues? I think all dogs should have time off lead. I think it's really important.

middleofthelittle · 04/09/2022 14:58

Nope needs off lead twice a day. On lead they cannot sprint, sniff nor play