How often do you really walk your dog?

[RedRobyn2021]

We have a small Labrador, a working lab type, she is 5yo and we live rurally. She's walked twice a day off lead about 35-40 minutes in the morning and then an hour in the afternoon (it would be less but I go with my 3yo daughter and it takes longer with her). Lots of ball, sniffing, chasing the occasional hare/deer/pheasant.

Mornings are a rush from the moment the alarm goes off at 6am as my DP has to be out to work for 7:50am. I do find it takes over our afternoons, I feel like I can't take DD to meet friends on afternoons because the dog has to be walked.

When I talk to friends or other people I know the general impression I get is that their dogs are only walked once a day (if they are lucky). Am I just making things harder for myself? I've taken DD out in all weathers (boiling sun, snow, rain, hail), even as a baby, to walk our dog.

sheep dont tend to run, so many dogs wouldnt chase them
a deer on the other hand, runs, but too fast for mine at least.

Can I ask you what brain exercises that your dog gets that mine doesn't on his walks?

“If you willingly et your dog chase wildlife, you've not trained your dog properly and if it confuses sheep with other animals be prepared that farmers will shoot your dog if it worries livestock.”

I’m very sure mine would also recall from livestock, they see them fairly often on the other side of fencing, but, when I walk somewhere there could be some loose they’re on lead anyway.

They didn’t get off lead anywhere till they had a decent recall from stuff they see on walks.

Unless you train it to leave other animals alone, you run the risk of it chasing anything including other dogs, livestock etc.
I do train my dog to leave other animals alone, esp sheep. Not that I would ever rely on that training - he will always be on lead in the presence of sheep. I do find that he is surprisingly amenable to that training. Just by putting him on lead when there are sheep nearby, having a ball in my hand and rewarding him for looking away from the sheep and towards me I have gradually lowered his interest in them.
Hard to do the same in relation to deer as the encounters are so rapid and unpredictable. The level of necessity for deer training does vary massively according to what type of dog you have. I'm guessing that if you have a large super-speedy greyhound or lurcher-type it is essential. Less so for my terrier, who I am sure thinks they are rabbits-closer-up rather than deer-further-away and would just think 'jesus fuck no!' if he ever managed to gain ground on them (which he can't).
Sitting to flush training sounds like a great exercise for gundog type breeds.

My dogs are trained not to go anywhere near sheep, I can walk through a field of sheep off lead and they will rigorously stick to the edges and not even look at them.

In 30 years of dog walking I’ve never been close enough to a herd of deer for anything like a chase to happen but then again I’m walking in large open countryside, not Richmond Park. The deer disappear as soon as they hear footsteps in the distance.

I never said you didnt have a well exercised dog. OP asked everyone how long they walk for, people answered; that is not "wanting the world to know about it", its answering the question asked.

I did say to her, as did others, that the mental stimulation is just as important.

Might be worth saying that depending on where they live and walk, different MNers on this thread may have differing mental images of encounters with deer. If I were in Richmond Park or similar and there were herds of deer milling around like herds of sheep I would have my dog on the lead. If I meet deer on a walk it is in woodland, one or two shy animals already on the run away from us before we spot them, on their way deeper into the woods.

I'm in rural Essex and this particular deer hadn't got the memo that told them to run when they heard footsteps, not that they would have heard footsteps given we were in a muddy forest.
There's a world of difference between breeds.
I couldn't and wouldn't walk my dog through a field with livestock.
Bit different walking through a forest

I never said they did. But there are people on this thread saying "no one in my village does more than a walk round the block" and similar. That is the lowest common denominator im talking about. Ive also been very clear that what is appropriate exercise is BREED SPECIFIC

He gets plenty of enrichment whilst on his walks. That includes using retrieval dummies, training to a whistle, sniffy games.

Walks and 'brain training' aren't mutually exclusive. I like being outside, so does my dog. Not quite sure how that makes me a bad owner.

Being on one side of a fence and being familiar with a species gives you no real indication of what they'd do.

I walk on lead near deer regularly, on a park/private house which has them. One still went, as a teenager after 3 wild deer on a walk. Headed straight towards a main road about a mile away over the fields. No idea how far he would chase, and across private land where there could be barbed wire etc and I cannot access to find the dog.

He was still young and typical teenage dog....luckily he didn't go too far (i have trackers on them) but he was still off towards a dual carriageway. Back on the lead for a long time after that until we had our stop whilst nailed.

@SparrowFeet you sound like you have gundogs too. Walk based breed specific enrichment through training like you and I do is far more mentally enriching than a Kong.

After a gundog session with trainer mine usually has run about 500m but he's mentally chartered and sleeps about 4 hours as soon as we are home! It's the thinking and decision making that tires them out.

Sounds like a difficult juggle.

And once your Dd starts school and wants play dates etc it will get worse. My Dc was an only and I made friends very central to our lives, had friends to play at least once a week after school and they went to friends… though you will be able to walk your dog energetically while your Dd is out.

Any teens who would love to take a dog out? BorrowMyDoggy?

sheep dont tend to run, so many dogs wouldnt chase them

😂 whaaatttt? Have you never seen a sheep in real life?! They most certainty do run!

As an aside, I'm curious to know when did breed start to be broken down into 'show' and 'working' breeds?

We have a Weimaraner whose breed hasn't yet been broken down.
The Wiem who was in the Crufts final looks the same as the every day version.
But I can see a time when people might like the look of the breed and their personable qualities but might not want to live with their working instincts (sad really because it's just one of their most interesting qualities).
I see it all the time re Labs and spaniels, people being asked to clarify wether they have a working or a show type.

of course i have
they lumber perhaps but there is no speed like a deer

i walk through fields of sheep

A total of about 2 5 hours a day but that could be one walk or split between a few plus a training session in either obedience or scent work. He is a German shepherd

They've been separated for many years, a century or so for spaniels (I have spanner, not labs)

Working lines are bred for speed, intelligence and working ability/drive. Less so for looks though they need to be sound and have athletic conformation etc so are health tested before breeding. You're looking for field trial champs in the bloodline (FTCH) red type.

They're buzzier, more driven and can make awful pets if not worked/stimulated through a "job" like agility etc. Much lighter in build and have different faces.

Show types are bred for looks to conform to the KC "standard" which over the decades has diverted from the original working type to have longer ears, a domed head, a different coat (longer, silkier) and because the working instinct is less important they tend to be more easy going as that's important for showing. You'll see Ch or ShCh (champion or show champion) in their red type.

Working spaniels are often crosses like sprockets as traditionally separation of cocker and springer was done only by size. It's only more recently they're separate breeds but sprockers are common on shooting field and farms.

Even Clumber spaniels are split out into show and working types: working ones are lighter in build for the shooting field.

Often the two don't mix though I've got a show x working cocker (accidental litter!) and he's a gem. Best of both worlds with him. That said, the Crufts champion Gordon Setter is a fully working dog with FTCH as well as show champion red type so in other breeds it's not been so divergent.

@SparrowFeet if you brain train on walks then you're not the kind of person I'm talking about are you? 🙈

Fair point @fieldsofbutterflies . Probably being over sensitive!!

Your dog has a predisposition to arthritis. It is vital to keep them exercising a number of times daily.

Our old family lab gets three walks a day, long morning and evening,c. an hour and lunchtime ramble ,c. 20 mins.

We do this across the family so across five adults and one older teen so it's not a burden on one person.

@RedRobyn2021

We lost our terrier at 19 and ridgeback at 12 whilst he underwent surgery 🥺

I have a small retriever. She gets walked twice a day but on our schedule not hers. Usually first thing M-F then either lunchtime or after work. The weekends are looser.

Its obviously about knowing your own dog.
If my dog wasn't happy with his walks, if we were walking him too much/too little he would show that with his behaviour.

I've learnt that I have to stop comparing my dog to others.
As long as your dog is a healthy weight and not misbehaving in the home you will have a happy dog.

We feed Rafa with a slow feeding bowl, do you? If not are you being unkind to your dog?

It's all starting to sound like the BF v BF threads that we see on MN all the time 😂

Sorry meant to say Breastfeeding v bottle feeding