How much exercise does your cockapoo get?

[FlyingHighandDry]

Can you settle help settle an argument between me and DH?

DH walks our cockapoo (11 months) every morning.
They do approx. 4km but this is steep terrain through woods and DDog is off lead the majority of the time so walks much further than this.

He gets another slow sniffy walk when I or DC get home from work.

DH is adamant DDog should then have another long hill walk in the evening.

I think he gets just as much benefit from another slow sniffy half hour walk.

DDog has someone at home with him most days. He’s never left alone for too long.

Would welcome your thoughts!

Train the dog you want. Don’t train a marathon runner if you don’t want one. If your DH wants to do a walk in the evening then fine- but your dog doesn’t need it. What you don’t want to do is create a super fit dog and then in the winter when the weather is shocking have a dog climbing the walls.

This.

My cockapoo type does actually run the occasion marathon, but mostly 10-20mile runs. But that because I also run them.
Most people wouldn’t cope with the dog I’ve got but I wanted a dog to run distance with me so I trained a dog to run distance with me.

Is your dog destructive or restless? That’s the main thing.

Thanks both.
He’s restless in the evenings and I see it as he needs to sleep and chill as he literally doesn’t sleep much during the day and is overtired (like a child gets!)
DH sees it as him needing another walk to tire him out but he definitely doesn’t get enough rest in my opinion!

It does sound more like overstimulation than needing another walk.
we live in the city so those types of walks aren’t an option. Mine gets 45mins in park in the morning mostly off lead. A couple of toilet breaks and another 30min in tbe park in the afternoon. These are mostly strolls as since o trained her to be off lead she doesn’t run around anymore and stays close to me.

40m-1hr a day. Just park off lead. Occasionally I do a longer walk with a friend and he had a couple of walks with the dog walker, Fridays he goes to football training for a couple of hours. But he’s also happy if he just get a quick 30 mins if we are busy. He’s very settled and happy with that.

Mine's a 12 month old cocker. I'd give brainwork and settle training over more walks. Mors exercise makes them fitter and need more exercise. Brainwork makes them sleep.

All the cockapoos I walk get around 60-90 minutes a day, a mixture of on and off lead.

You train the dog you want. Pre-kids my cockapoo would do 10km runs with me, and had done half marathons too. Post kids, she’s been reduced down to an hour of walking a day

14 month old cocker here, agree with the above, dont give your dog loads or they will need loads. It does sound like he's overstimulated if he's not sleeping much in the day, does the hill walk have to be in the morning or could you swap over? Sniffy walk in the morning, big hill exercise after work? Just thinking ours loves a sniffy walk but she will sleep after, whereas if we do what you describe early in the day she struggles to come back down from the adrenaline, but if we do it later on she's fine. Might be worth a go.

But yeah, dont get into the habit of giving them loads - he's 11 months, he's going to have loads of energy after all. Lots of people fall into this trap, where they do loads to wear out their puppy because pup is restless, only to then end up with an adult dog who is used to loads and is a pain if they dont get it! Have a look at brain games etc and if you dont have an antler already, definitely get one - keeps ours occupied and if you met her when we were out you'd think there's no way that dog is ever calm!

I dont really like the " the more you exercise your dog the fitter they are" phase as if that is a bad thing.

I want my dogs to be fit and healthy so I do exercise my dogs a lot however withing the walk is a lot of brain work, scenting, trailing etc. It doesnt have to be one or the other.

So I am happy that my dogs are fit and relaxed from brain work.

OP I would be working on getting more calm in the day when your are working and he is not alone rather than cutting bacl on walks. If you OH wants to take him let them go and have fun. Both can get fitter and healthier

If you are walking 4 km even at a slow pace that is only going to take you an hour so your dog is not getting excessive exercise if this happens twice a day.

I dont really like the " the more you exercise your dog the fitter they are" phase as if that is a bad thing.

It's not that it's a bad thing, more that lots of owners misguidedly think dogs need loads of exercise to be happy and tired when that's not the case at all.

For a lot of dogs, the more they get, the more they need and it just creates a vicious cycle. That doesn't mean the dogs aren't fit and healthy.

It varies - weekdays it’s usually 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at lunchtime and about 45-60 minutes in the evenings. Weekends can be more, and if he’s at the dog walker or the drop in day care it’s more - conversely it’s less if the weather is appalling or we have other commitments (although he’s out every day). The actual walks can be slow with lots and lots of sniffing - the spaniel gene is strong in ChenPup.

But add brain work to the walks and you have a happy and contented relaxed dog. Cut out high energy ball chasing and aimless chasing, interact with your dog out and about on walks and your have hit all your dogs needs. No need to sacrifice a walk as it may be too stimulating.

two walks a say of 4 km is really not excessive exercise at all.

I feel many dogs these days do not get enough exercise.

An antler is not a substitute for a good walk as it so often suggested. An antler is an addition to a good amount of exercise.

I have collies, wcs and labs they all get a good amount of exercise and good brain work they are very fit happy and relaxed. They are calm at home due to the type of exercise they get - good long walks and brain work added in.

If for any reason they do not get a lot of exercise they are still calm they do not demand exercise because they are getting all they require

This is where a crate is useful - nice place for a young dog to chill when the house is busy. I would pop mine in especially when my kids had friends over snd were running around the house - our pups would run with them and get way overexcited - they were calmer after a bit of play then a rest, then could join in again

But add brain work to the walks and you have a happy and contented relaxed dog. Cut out high energy ball chasing and aimless chasing, interact with your dog out and about on walks and your have hit all your dogs needs. No need to sacrifice a walk as it may be too stimulating.

It depends entirely on the dog though. They're all different and have differs requirements.

It's 100% the case that some dogs find lots of walks too stimulating and their behaviour deteriorates as a result. For them, an antler is absolutely an appropriate replacement - it may not be for your dogs but that doesn't make it true for all dogs.

A dog that is hyper and energetic doesn't necessarily need more exercise, that's the point people are trying to make. They often need more sleep and to be taught how to rest and relax.

As an addition, many dogs find simply being outside very exciting and over-stimulating, or even scary if they're prone to reactivity.

The last thing those dogs need is even more walks.

Behaviourist who saw our DDog advised us not to 'train an athlete'. Emphasised the importance of opportunity for sniffing whilst out, the mental stimulation of training / learning and the need for 18-22 hours sleep per day. He strongly believed that over exercising dogs contributes to the huge increase in joint problems seen in middle aged / elderly dogs in recent years

I don't think your dog needs more than that. I have a 2yr old cockapoo and he'd be thrilled with the long woods walk plus a slower one but he doesn't get or need that much every single day.

It's so nice to see behaviourists focussing on the need for sleep and rest!

18-22 hours sleep a day??

Just wanted to clarify that my antler suggestion wasnt 'instead of' a walk - just for some low key brain stimulation in the home as OP mentioned pup seemed restless.

You are being pretty extreme if you think a 40 min walk - Just a walk is going to over stimulate most dogs. Some dogs, a few dogs yes ,but most dogs a 40 min walk is a chilled calming experience where they can sniff and relax.

20 min ball throwing
20 min chasing other dogs
20 min in a full on overaroused situation eg market or busy area
A dog in day care all day
Dog on a lead constantly
I agree will over stimulate a dog

but as the op described a 4 km walk in woods would not overstimulate 98% of all dogs.

The Op dog sounds like it is getting more wound up during the day at home than out on the walk hence the need to encourage calm and relaxation during the day.

First thing I do with many of my clients is discuss how the exercise is delivered and I do often encourage ditching the walk but in this instance 2x4 km walks a day is a pretty low exercise requirement.

I see people taking the no exercise and sniffy walks to the extreme and put the dog on the lead and walk aroiund the block for 20 mins saying well he was sniffing so should be tired!

What do you think the cockerpoo is doing on the walk in the woods? He is sniffing and exploring and using his brain the whole time.

Massive report coming out on enrichment and constant stimulation for dogs which has had very interesting results and will blow the minds of many dog trainers!

Dogs do not need constant entertainment, enrichment and chew toys. They need good realtime downtime which is achieved by the correct mix of exercise and natural acitivites which are usually covered on the correct type of dog walk.

Incorrect exercise will overstimulate a dog I agree but the OP was not discussing that.

An antler is NEVER a replacement for a walk it may be an additional activity but never a replacement.

No wonder this country is full of obese unfit dogs!

If you have behaviourists saying that dogs sleep for 22 hours a day then I’m not surprised they’re obese - unless they’re then spending a good chunk of their waking 120 mins exercising.

18-22 hours sleep a day for an adult dog!!!!!!!!!!

That is just incorrect.

A puppy needs about 16 -18 hours sleep a day at 8 weeks

You would have a ridiculously stressed dog if it only had 2 hours awake time a day.

Adult dogs tend to sleep about 14 - 16 hours absolute max a day.