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?

Your cousin and your friend should have had their dogs rescued from them by RSPCA imho. Zero walks= neglect. And a fucking choke collar?! they’re illegal for good reason and yes any living creature is easier to control when they’re being choked…fucking hell…if the dog is big and hard to control get a harness and get some dog training classes…don’t permanently damage its windpipe and traumatise it with medieval torture devices like a choke collar!

Dogs generally adjust to what life you provide for them, but that doesn't mean you give them the bare minimum just because you can 🤷🏻‍♀️

Absolutely not!! It's not fair on the pup at all and your house would be destroyed within a week.

My 14 year old dog would have cabin fever if he didn't go out twice a day. I'd hate to be cooped up home. Why don't you walk the dog daily ?

Oh my gosh no
definitely not that breed and age either
I have a small/medium sized very lazy dog who starts to misbehave out of boredom if he gets less than an hour a day. Rarely ofc you can skip a walk eg when we had covid we missed a day or two, but longer and he’d get overweight and unhappy and would find his own entertainment.

the other question is why would someone be giving away a perfectly good 18months old golden? They wouldn’t. Certainly not to a home that clearly isn’t best suited to it. So this dog likely already has behavioural issues that you probably aren’t equipped to tackle with the time you have available

@userxx She’s often sleeping most of the day whilst at home, the walks and runs we do with her are long and she tends to cuddle up to us and sleep/be chilled for the next day or two.

Do NOT get a dog of ANY kind if you can only walk it every other day.

@userxx I feel bad now as she’s a v happy dog and I didn’t see it as being essential, her favourite thing is to play in the garden with the tennis ball. I’ll take her every day now..she’ll be exhausted as often is after one of her big walks/runs/plays in the sea

@toastfiend I think your GWP is broken

or is my GSP X GWP just a crazy mix of her parents extremes?

Why couldn’t it be walked more though?

But no, I wouldn’t take on a dog knowing it’d only be getting not particularly long walks every second day, it might adjust, it might be bored and destructive, but either way it’s not fair to take on a dog never planning to exercise it properly. It’s a bit different when it’s an existing dog and something means it can’t get as much exercise, but not from the outset.

Haha, he is definitely broken! 😂 every other GWP we have met has been more like the GSP (who is fucking nuts). The GWP is just a big, slow bear. Monumentally stupid, utterly adorable, not remotely typical of his breed bar being utterly stubborn. We love him very much but, having grown up with GSPs and expecting a hairier version of them when we bought him, he took me by surprise!

A lot of hysteria here with very little information.

it is often recommended that reactive dogs are walked every other day to give them a chance to decompress.

but your average non-reactive GR definitely needs to be walked daily.

I don't think it's hysteria - just common sense.

Choosing to get a dog when you know you don't have the time to give it daily walks is wrong and extremely unfair.

But if you already have the dog and they turn out to benefit from days off walks for whatever reason (health, anxieties, reactivity) then that's a different ball game. In that scenario, you're not skipping walks out of laziness or due to lack of time, but because it's best for the dog.

The former scenario is just signing up to be a shit dog owner.

What do you mean by reactive/reactivity?

If a dog is fearful of other dog and reacts badly to them as a result, it can raise their adrenaline to the point where they're constantly stressed on walks (as they constantly expect or see other dogs).

Giving them a day off (especially after a stressful walk) gives them a chance to de-stress and relax.

Have a read up on the bucket theory for a more detailed explanation. - but the idea is that all dogs have an emotional bucket and if you never give them the chance to empty it, it overflows and they can't cope.

Or health issues. Golden retriever cross unlikely (not impossible though) to have been bred ethically or responsibly. If the Golden side (or the other) has not had standard pre-breeding health tests then you are signing up to serious vet bills, potentially. Hip and elbow dysplasia, cancers, all sorts. Obviously health tests are no guarantee but the cards are stacked against you if they've not been done. Just don't go there. And in my experience, GRs need a good hour-hour and a half of hard exercise a day once adults, otherwise they will make their own fun in your house. Things will get destroyed, and they will be unhappy.

Your cousin and your friend should have had their dogs rescued from them by RSPCA imho.

Might have been difficult. Cousin lives 4000 miles from Uk. Diplomatic incident or what. Poor dogs would have spent months in rabies quarantine.

And a fucking choke collar?!

That dog was so nice, great in the home, bomb proof. Outside I guess she wanted to run & run, though.

There is a local dog (this is in East Anglia), looks like a Samoyd, that I'm pretty sure never goes for walks, gets no time indoors. We see it outside in its enclosure (on a £3million rural property) at every time of day, every weather. I've mulled over making a call to a pet-welfare charity but my evidence would be exactly what I said, nothing certain known about its full life. Maybe it's a difficult dog that would be put down otherwise & that enclosure is the best life it can have. It has a nice enough looking large kennel to shelter in. Who am I to interfere. It looks lonely & bored, but not miserable or unwell.

Whereas ... my cousin's dogs were much loved family members, interacted with people often, had each other for fun. The husky was found tied up at a festival before my cousin got it. Not sure about the others. Sometimes there are grades of better/worse.

Don't feel bad, she's your dog and you know her better than anyone, you'll know her needs.

My dog has just had the one walk today as I think I'm coming down with a bug and he's fuming! The vet gave him six weeks to live in June but he's one determined spirited terrier who won't listen to anyone 😍

There is a local dog (this is in East Anglia), looks like a Samoyd, that I'm pretty sure never goes for walks

I was one accused of never walking my dog by a neighbour in the same block of flats.

In reality, he was getting three walks a day - two short trips around the block and one 2-3 hour walk, mostly off lead.

She just wasn't curtain twitching at the right moments.

I agree that I don't know enough to have a confident opinion, Elephant.

We cycle by this dog on a quiet rural road, up to 6x/day, all sorts of weather, any time of day/evening. It used to be very barky, is why we have noticed it usually in its outdoor enclosure, doing nothing, last 1-3 years... I'd feel better if I ever saw a human giving it a cuddle or saw it anywhere else on the property.

Absolutely not. A dog is not for you.

Definitely not I'm afraid.

I have two small dogs, one particularly lazy, and she comes to find me at lunchtime to say she's ready for her walk.

If we are having a slow to get moving day or it's rainy she gets very frustrated and will bark angrily at us and the door to tell us she wants to go out.

With an energetic young dog it would be very unfair. Glad you are listening to others opinions OP. Maybe a cat would be a better pet if you're looking for company?

No harm in asking though, don't feel bad. I have an 18 month old shih tzu, he's fine with short walks (45 minutes) but does need to go out every day, partly so he can have a poo, they have to move to get their bowels going!

You have had your answer op so I won’t go on but a young GR needs at least 90mins a day exercise of various activities. That’s the bare minimum. When mine was that age she would have gone crazy. They are an active, energetic, large, intelligent breed and they need a job. Most are not kept in ideal circumstances.
Also for what it’s worth I’d be dubious about this dog. Most waiting lists for GR pups are at least a year long, most longer. Well bred, health tested GR are hard to get and due to the popularity and temperament they are not often rehomed. The young ones I see up for rehoming usually have a heap of behaviour issues because the previous owners think they are getting a ready made Marley and me and have underestimated the level of commitment and training required for the breed.

goldenpup · 20/12/2022 22:20
Feel rather silly for even allowing this to cross my mind and I had expected responses along these lines.

Please don’t feel silly.