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.

2 labs here. They are older, but when they were that age, they had 3 walks per day - first was about 30 minutes in the park with some dummies/balls. Second was either a run - about 5 km , so about 50 mins or so, with some stops for sniffs, jumps in ponds etc; 3rd walk was a mix of on/ off lead for about an hour.
i had a dog walker 3 days a week when working and that replaced the run.

It took a lot of my day.

That said, the more they exercise, the more they want exercise, so I made a rod for my own back.

My parents dog had 15 minutes on lead in the morning and evening and an hour in the afternoon. Also a lab, very happy dog,

Do you think this has served them well?

Sometimes we have fun anyway and other times she will say she really doesn't want to go and I tell her we need to

My girl gets 3 walks a day of 30, 15 and 60 mins on work days and about 90, 20 and 45 on days off. Only skips walks if it's the wrong kind of rain. She's a 12 year old greyhound (retired from kennels late and has FOMO).

Once day. Gun dog breed. She probably runs about 8 miles in that time, plus swimming.

We go out twice per day, also have a large breed working dog. The length of the walks very, but add up to a total of 1.5-2 hours

She sometimes refuses to go for an evening walk if there are fireworks/ thunder/ heavy rain as she is terrified of these, so during firework season/when thunder or storms are forecast we do a single, longer walk in the morning

When there is very hot weather in summer, we do 2 short trips out very early and very late in the day

We have a small terrier, we take her out for 30 mins in the morning and 50 mins at night. We've started walking her at 7:30, whoever puts our son to bed, the other takes the dog out. Works at the moment, we were walking her as a family earlier in the evening but it was too rushed after work getting everyone fed and the dog walked before his bedtime

We have a 2 year old lab. Hes walked twice a day, an hour mixed lead/off lead in the morning and an hour/90 mins off lead in the afternoon. Training usually on walks too. Hes very high energy and needs it.
Our last lab was totally different. He hated getting up in the morning and had about an hour/90 mins at lunchtime then refused to go out again. Always the same from puppy to 13 years old. Dogs let you know if they're content usually.

An hour in the morning and 2 hours afternoon. I have labs too, they'd go absolutely bananas without their walks.

During the week- An hour- hour and a half first thing.
In summer another 30-60 min walk in the evening (if not too hot) or a potter round the stables with me

Weekends are usually one long walk, beach/woods/day out somewhere.

2x labs, aged 3 and 4. They are very chilled dogs and happily snooze or cuddle for the rest of the day!

A Shiba Inu, so he needs a decent amount of exercise and mental stimulation, otherwise he is the actual devil in dog form.

Our dogs have sadly passed away but they were walked for 40 mins to an hour 3 times a day. 5:30am, 2pm and 8pm. Before and after work and before bed. Could set an alarm clock but the way they knew it was walk time and the wagging of the tails on the sofa. God I miss those fur babies 🥺

2 spaniels. We walk for about 45 minutes in the morning and then about 30 minutes after work. Then probably a 2 hour walk over the weekend.

I was very careful not to get them used to too much exercise! But the older one loves having the ball thrown in the garden and they mooch for hours outside.

My cockerpoo has at least two walks a day. The 2 walks are a minimum of 45 mins each though usually a bit longer.

1 year old golden retriever - an hour per day unless obviously tired or awful weather. Either a slow sniffy walk around our area/local park or a big off lead run 2/3 times per week at the beach, forest or dog park.

Little floofy poodle cross thing, surprisingly high energy.
One walk in the morning of up to an hour, with plenty of ball chasing / playing.
Another walk in the afternoon, similar length, off lead in woodland or parkland.
Also 2-3 short walks round the block of up to 15 mins for a pee because he refuses to pee in the garden 😩
The dog walker comes twice a week so I do 12 out of his 14 walks per week.
Very occasionally (like today) we’ll just have the one longer walk. He tolerates this but would prefer to be out all day.

Ex-racing greyhound, age 5.
morning: 1x 10 mins, to his favoured pee bush
1 x 20 mins, sniffari at least as much sniffing as walking.

evening: 1 x 25 mins, almost an actual walk.

last thing: as early morning walk.

Most days ours gets 1.5 to 2 hours of walking over 2 to 3 walks. Occasionally he gets more, if the weather is torrential rain or very hot he will get less. I use various puzzle bowls etc to work his brain too.

My2 year old Labrador sized rescue gets an hour minimum in the morning and 45 minutes to an hour late afternoon but at least 3 times a week DH takes her off for a 4-5 miler and she has the dog walker twice a week when she has group walks off lead.
If it’s raining she’s less keen and she can go outside in the garden anytime.
So plenty of exercise imo 😊

Make sure youre comparing like with like here ( i know you have asked peoples breeds)

Id say what your doing is the bare minimum a working lab needs.

My gsd gets 2 x 1 hour off lead a day plus play with toys in home plus some training everyday. 2 days a week he also has dog walker at lunch time. Plus we do mantrailing, obedience class and flyball every week. The mental stimulation is as important, if not more important than the walks

18 month old dog. A breed that no one has ever heard of! BfdB. Term times I walk her 1-2 hours in the morning around 4 times a week. The other days, 1 hour walk and 1 day with dog sitter. Occasionally she will get a short pavement walk in the evening but not always.

Holidays often a shorter walk in the day. Around 1 hour.

3 short walks a day or 1 short and 1 longer one.
8 Year old Golden Retriever

6 year old black lab.

If we run, we're out for half an hour, if we walk it's an hour, once a day.

He is fit as a fiddle and a perfect weight.

Should add I also have a miniature dachshund and she gets the same.

11 month old golden retriever. Walked for 45 minutes in the evening but goes to daycare 7.30am to 5.30am whilst I’m at work
Walked 2 shorter or one long walk at the weekends

Show cocker aged 7. He gets two half hour to 40 min walks on lead or one trip to the park to chase a ball.