What impact will only being walked every other day have?

[goldenpup]

Medium to large breed of dog that can only be walked every other day for 45m to an hour - would this be ok? If not what kind of impact could that have on the dog?

It would have free reign inside and into the garden throughout the day and would receive playtime of dog toys and ball etc inside sporadically through the day.

Someone would be home most of the time but not able to walk more, so not left alone much but not exercising as much as should.

Thoughts on whether or not to take dog on in this circumstance?

Depends what type of dog and how old.

If it's an older, or more sedate dog it would be fine. If it's a working type dog then it'll need physical exercise.

Exercise isn't the only thing a dog needs, your far better off giving a dog mental stimulation each day than a walk along the same street every day. Being at home all day is also great as you can interact. I scatter dried dog food around the garden so my dogs have to sniff around to find it, also games and training at home is great for mental stimulation.

An 18 Mo retriever needs a lot of exercise. A 45 min walk every other day won’t cut it.

Depends on the dog. One of mine DETESTS being walked 😂

That's still a puppy! No way. Unless you want a trashed house and mh issues with your ddog.

Dear God, that would be horribly cruel.

Mine mither me constantly to go out, and they get 2 good walks a day.

18 month working breed? Only if you want your house destroyed by a bored dog

I do also think it's about what we condition our dogs to expect, too. Mine get walked at random times, sometimes once, sometimes twice a day. Sometimes we go miles, sometimes it's a quick whizz around the block. They're both high-energy large breeds but they are very chilled at home (although the GSP does need more in the way of exercise in general). The only thing they really get edgy for is dinner because we always feed them at the same time. The dogs I know who are always walked at exactly the same time of day, exactly x many times a day, for exactly x many minutes a day are neurotic messes if their routine changes or they get slightly less than they have learned to expect - hence, I think, why this propagates the idea that no dog will ever cope with less.

Golden retriever cross about 18m old - being offered locally

Absolutely not!

I would like to encourage everyone feeling horrified at OP, to volunteer for the Cinnamon Trust. The dogs I walk for CT, they get a decent walk 4x/week (lurcher) and 2-3x/week (very energetic terrier). The need is such that I could walk dogs 2x/day every day and still most the CT local dogs wouldn't get a daily walk of any description.

I have golden retrievers, they need a lot of physical and mental exercise which cannot possibly be delivered with one walk every 48 hours, frankly even suggesting it is ridiculous- do not get this dog.

Totally depends on the dog. Our whippets couldn't care less if they go for a walk or not. Greyhounds are similar.
We do walk most days with them, but not all

If you can't afford a dog walker, you can't really afford a dog. Responsible pet ownership shouldn't be done on the cheap, and there are always unanticipated expenses.

Oh I just saw you said a golden retriever- no, that wouldn't work

No, that's nowhere near enough walks. If you're doing it to help someone rehouse a dog then the dog needs someone who has the capability it requires, get a cat they walk themselves!

Feel rather silly for even allowing this to cross my mind and I had expected responses along these lines.

Could work with some dogs, especially a rescue with issues or older dog who dislikes walking.

A puppy really not fair. I have a lab, he didn’t calm until he was 9. He’s 12 now and still likes a daily short walk, plus a potter around the garden.

18 months old - cute lockdown puppy that's grown up into more than its owners can handle perchance? So comes with its own behavioural problems through poor ownership already? I hope not.

This would be a terrible idea. Unless you have mobility problems which mean you can't take it for walks but have lots of time in which you can play with it and mentally stimulate it at home, I would really worry that not having time to walk it would actually mean the person at home is planning to work and thinks the dog can just entertain itself.

An elderly dog with access to a garden? Absolutely fine.

An 18mo golden retriever? Absolutely not. They would destroy your house and drive you to distraction out of sheer boredom.

not really at that stage, that breed along with the history of being rehomed.

I often think of MNers when I think about my cousin's dogs.

3 dogs.
Elderly small-medium thing.
Young husky.
Large mixed breed, maybe had some greyhound.

They were never walked at all.
Why not was a bit pathetic, but the thing is...
No they didn't tear up the house.
Or have mega-health or emotional/any behaviour problems.
Bit energetic when people visited, but find me a dog that doesn't get excited at visitors.
Seemed Perfectly adjusted.
They had a yard but not a big space outside.

Not cousin but friend ... had a choke collar that is supposed to be illegal in Uk. MNers wail about it if mentioned. Friend's dog was lovely, just very strong, bit willful and much easier to handle with the UK-illegal collar.

I reflect on those situations when I read MN dog advice with grains of salt.

Dogs vary. The two we have at the moment are not getting as many walks as they should (circumstances have changed/been difficult), but they do get lots of company and we have a decently big garden. Our previous two dogs would have gone nuts. These two don’t seem bothered at all. But an 18 month old dog is likely to be a live wire.

Gosh..I feel very guilty now.
We’ve had our 9 year old rescue dog since she was a pup. We don’t walk her daily, she’s at home with us most of the day (I’m a sahm, but obviously nip out to places) she has the run of the house and back and front garden. She does love her walks in the woods and at the beach though but it’s rare it’s daily in winter

If you'd said it was your mum's 10 year old golden retriever and she was going into a nursing home, I would have said to go for it.

But an 18 month old golden retriever isn't likely to cope with this arrangement, and it sounds like this dog will have other alternative homes open to it which will be more able to walk the dog.

You would, however, be a good option for an elderly dog that doesn't want much walking. Perhaps you could consider fostering for your local dog rehoming charity, specialising in elderly / palliative foster dogs.

Unfortunately an 18 month old retriever would need walking every day. Do a bit of research and you should find the ideal dog for you. Some breeds don’t need or want a huge amount of exercise or go for an older dog.

Definitely not, it would be a very irresponsible thing to do. Some large breeds dont need so much exercise, but for most breeds, this would be untenable.