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.

Twice daily, for a minimum of an hour but usually more. Most off lead. She’s a 5 year old border collie and would be a little shit otherwise. The only exceptions would be extreme weather conditions eg if it’s absolutely pouring rain or temperatures of 30 degrees plus and the ground is too hot.

My dog wees in the garden first thing before breakfast and she wees before bed but otherwise she seems to save it up for her 2 walks.

She has always been like this though, we never needed to toilet train at night as a puppy, we kept getting up and taking her outside in the night but she wouldn't wee so we gave up eventually and she was fine.

I love doggy daycare, it's fantastic for socialising with lots of different breeds. My dog used to go but we stopped it because of the cost, I would love to send her again though

I would take DD out then walk the dog together afterwards but the times we have done this she's been exhausted. I do have a pushchair I used to use for her but she would definitely fall asleep in it which would then make bedtime a nightmare 🤦🏻‍♀️

When my dog was younger he always went out twice a day mainly offlead about 45-60 mins each walk ( patterdale x ) . He’s now nearly 14 with multiple health problems so he only goes out once a day if the weather is not too bad . When we do go out it’s either a NT place onlead or our local heath / village green offlead for 30-40 minutes . I don’t walk in the rain because he doesn’t like it and can no longer wear coats as he has a skin / hair problem .

An hour-90 mins a day most days, occasionally a whiz round the block if we’ve got something else going on or if the weather is horrendous (he’s not a dog who likes wind/rain).

He usually comes with me while a do a hobby once or twice a week which is 8hrs or more outside in fields which he loves but wipes him out for days afterwards.

He’s a little scruffy whippet/terrier lurcher.

I obviously don't think that or I wouldn't continue doing it

I walk her 35-40 minutes in the morning and an hour in the afternoon time wise it's been dependent on when it is light, I wouldn't take my daughter out in the dark at winter, it's muddy in the farm land and the ground is uneven and it's been cold (we do not have street lamps) so it's been falling between 2-3pm and like I said it lasts an hour, sometimes I take her in our field after to play.

Twice a day? What a palaver.
We've been dog owners for 15 years and have only ever done one walk a day.
We had a mini daschund and now a border terrier and they have had 45 mins once a day. But now our BT is 9, she is often happy with only 15 minutes a day - and that works for us as we're trying to preserve her joints for as long as possible. She's also happy sacking off the walk altogether and instead driving to Screw Fix to get whatever we need for our latest DIY project.
It's honestly comical to me, OP, that you're trying to call out all of the bad dog owners for only walking their dogs once a day!

@takemeawayagain

Also, I didn't know a lot about dogs, I grew up with them but I didn't realise there were working breeds and show breeds.

I just decided I wanted to get a Labrador and I found a lady nearby whose dog had had some puppies (kennel club registered). Fast forward 3 years and I had a baby, I couldn't have known what life would be like after that but I've tried my best to keep things consistent for my dog.

The more I think about these kinds of posts, the more ridiculous I think these comments are.

Are you really criticising me for ONLY walking my dog twice a day for 40 and 60 minutes off lead in the open countryside?? What would you have me do exactly? Limit my life more to the detriment of myself and my daughter? Or would you suggest I give her away? Do you really think she'd be better off?

Yes my daughter does get excellent exercise, she is only just 3 but can walk without complaint for up to 2 hours. That's because I have consistently taken her out with my dog every afternoon since she was newborn. More than a lot of people I know do.

I was led to believe overwalking labs is a bad thing? Ours is 10 and has had 1x30-60 min walk a day his whole life.

Ours has half an hour a day on lead at the moment and then as much time running around the (fairly large) garden as he likes all day. But I’m home, and we just have a small dog. He has a longer off lead walk once a week or so, but quite often will let my DH know that he’s had enough half way round!

As long as your dog is happy and healthy, don’t be hard on yourself. My neighbour, who is lovely but obsessed/very committed to doing the right thing always, walks his golden retriever twice a day for around 30minutes each time. If the fields aren’t too wet and muddy, some of that off lead. So I don’t think you’re far off personally.

We have a working black lab. DH takes her to work (crop walking). In the Winter, it's only a couple of hours a day. In the Spring, it's at least 10 hours a day.

She's always keen for a walk though!

Twice a day, 1hr in the morning and anything from 1-3 hrs in the afternoon depending on how much time I have. They have access to an outdoor run and paddock all day too otherwise there'd need to be a midday walk too.

The Borzoi and Greyhound would probably be fine with just the morning walk, they're couch spuds, but the Deerhound can and has walked for days across the countryside without wanting to stop. She has endless stamina and would walk forever if permitted.

Ours gets a trip up the road and round the first park then back first thing (15-20 minutes - Ray just to wee as he won’t go in the garden since we had a fox)
Then, an hour in the middle of the day (longer on weekends).
30 minutes in the evening (we have added this because the vet said he’s just tipped over weight and she said his claws weren’t worn down so wasn’t being walked enough - I think this is because he’s walked off leash through fields not pavements). He’s a working cocker spaniel.

Do you really think that's what I'm doing? 🫠

In my mind I was thinking, why the heck am I making things so difficult for myself when everyone else is walking there's once a day!?

So I wanted people to be honest about what they're doing with their dogs because when I got mine I was under the impression most people did 2 walks a day

That's a big walk first thing

After we had my DD we started having to get up at 6:30 to walk my dog but in the last years that's become 6am due to my DD taking much longer to get dressed or brush her teeth

I think you'll just need to rejig things I suppose

Yes sorry I was overly harsh with my comments.
A goal of mine is honestly to be a lazier dog owner. I regret the times I've made my dog walk in heat and rain and snow. She doesn't like it, and neither did her predecessor.
In those conditions now, I'd instead let her potter around the garden under her own steam.
Think of builders dogs - happy as Larry sitting in a van staring into space all day (*very much breed dependent though).

Surely if it's more of a pottering type walk and sniffing rather than a lot of running that would be ok?

17 year old dog, sometimes twice a day if he is keen, always once and it's a slow sniffy walk.
In his youth though I could walk home for hours and he'd always be ready to go ☺️

Yes we have never had an issue with destructive behaviour, my daughter plays with my dog now and gives her a lot of attention. We have a special football which DD can kick and the dog can fetch/catch and play with without it being destroyed.

We really do walk ours twice a day come rain or shine. He is a creature of routine and he definitely expects it. Walks and food are the highlights of his day. Also he is most reluctant to pee or poo in the garden. I would be worried about accidents and about him not settling if we cut down his walks.

I do wonder about exactly what some people mean when they say they 'walk the dog' or that the dog get hours of exercise, especially for active or working breeds.

I could walk my springer for 4 hours every day, which would sound impressive - but if we were talking about an on lead walk then overall she'd be frustrated, understimulated and underexercised no matter how many hours I walked her for. Same goes for taking her to an empty field and relentlessly throwing a ball for an hour - pretty useless for a working spaniel in terms of enrichment. Likewise for taking a spaniel for a '10 mile run' - on a lead, pounding pavement - it's not what they need. Yet I know lots of people who do this with labs and spaniels and think they're providing a great experience.

Why not juggle your walks around, maybe try one walk a day for an hour and if it doesn't work, go back to how you're doing it now?

The more you exercise a dog, the more exercise it will need.

Yes you might be right about that

17!! Amazing, what type is he? My old boy got to 14.5 and our walks turned into sniffs.