What distance are you all walking your dogs

[Crispsanddips25]

If I google, it just comes up with the standard one hour per day exercise. What distance per day are you all doing with your medium sized dogs?

Totally depends on the dog, breed, age etc

I have a quite big dog but we don’t walk very far although we do about an hour a day. He likes to go slow and sniff everything which is meant to be quite calming. He gets more exercise tearing round the garden but sniffing is meant to be more mentally stimulating.

I have a small to medium sized Romanian rescue who is roughly about 9. We do 2 miles plus two round the block walks on a weekday and around 4 miles plus two round the block walks on Saturday and Sunday. Plus if we go "for a walk" as a family on a Bank Holiday or whatever it's nearer 6 to 8 miles.

Distance isn’t remotely important. Mental stimulation is far more important. Walking slowly letting them sniff and explore is far far more beneficial than a brisk walk. The walk should be about the dogs wants and needs not yours.

Hi OP, I have an 18 month Labrador so bear that in mind 😄

On a work day he gets an hour walk before his breakfast, then after work he would normally get the same but the last couple of bouts of warmer weather he can manage about 30 minutes.

On the weekends we do longer walks maybe around 2 hours then he’ll be done for the day with maybe a small sniff walk before bed.

Obviously some days if he’s running around in a field all morning we won’t walk him at all. Just maybe another small sniffy/toilet walk before bed. We let him dictate though. Some days he is obviously more energetic so we do more and we can tell when he’s tired so just adjust.

Forgot to mention apart from the quick round the block walks these are all off lead walks and he gets to walk at his ownpace, sniff what he likes etc

This is partly why I’m asking.. all the answers are so vague. At the moment I’m kind of eyeballing it on his weight. He’s not super fast all the time as he often sniffs a lot, so I worry he’s not getting the distance in every day.

We have a medium sized 7 year old dog. Typically he gets about 90 minutes usually in the morning or early afternoon then a 20 minute round the block type walk in the evening. We typically walk about 5ish miles during the 90 minute walk. Ddog will walk in all weather except if it’s really hot.

Like PP have said sniff walks are so important. I make sure he has some sniff time a day it’s his favourite thing. I see it like them reading social media or getting all the neighbourhood gossip 😄

I think it depends on the breed? Some medium dogs, collies for example, will need far more than a clumber spaniel.

I do 10ish miles a day with my Goldies. Eldest (13) does 6 miles ish (walks with the others in the morning then has lunch off and DDs take her out in the PM). The 10 miles is over three walks (4ish miles in the morning, 2 at lunch and 4 in the evening). Don’t really do sniffy walks as I have so many they just want to play with each other and roll in crap.

Reading the weemails 😁

my 11yo dog walks just under 3 miles a day in the week. Then 5k parkrun (walk) on a Saturday. We used to do longer walks at weekends but she’s too old now I think. She collapsed on a walk due to a disc issue last year and I had to carry her home and she’s heavy…so now I live in fear of that happening again.

Mine vary quite a lot - between 5 and 10 miles most days in total. I’m out with mine for approx 3 hours (split into 2) and it’s 99% off lead. Depending on where we go it can be a slower walk if there’s lots of interesting sniffs or I’m doing more training, if it’s beach then it can be greater distance as he just runs there. He’s a Springer so would go all day though and I love walking so we are out a lot.

Labrador - 2 x 35-60 minute walks a day depending on who’s walking him.

Tell us about your dog - age, breed, general health, any specifics - obesity, broken leg etc. That will give a better idea. What suits one will not suit another. There's a 15 year old Jack Russell who lives at the end of our street of 60 houses (30 houses long for context) who plods to the green at the end of the road and plods back twice a day. Takes them about 20 minutes each way, she's very elderly and slow.

My own jack Russell is also 15, and does a few miles each day. He will do 3x 30-45 minute walks with us or on dog walker days, 2x 15 minute walks with us and 1hr with the dog walker with a couple of other dogs (so lots more running around). At weekends, he may be out with us for several hours alternating between mooching around and sitting watching the world go by on a picnic blanket at the beach or in the woods without necessarily "going for a walk".

The type of walk is also relevant too. 30 minute on lead brisk walk around the pavements of your local area is very different in terms of exercise and stimulation compared to say 30 minutes sat on the beach whilst your dog does its own thing off lead.

Tell us about your dog 😊

Ours gets an off the lead sniffy walk for half an hour twice a day and usually another hour’s sniffing , chasing sticks, rabbits, swimming walk etc. she hates walking round the block and usually digs her heels in and won’t go unless she’s getting in the car….car equals off lead walk.

she’s a cockerpoo, 5 years old. At weekends we might do a 2 hour walk.

I’ve got two older dogs that get maybe an hour a day. One younger, very active dog and we’re fostering a lab at the moment. They get 2x 1 hour walks or maybe an hour in an enclosed dog park

I don't know the distance I walk. We usually spend an hour or three wandering around the woods. But for every mile I do, my dogs must run at least three.

Thanks, I’m not really worried about the time he gets, it’s a bare minimum of an hour and a half, usually two, three a couple of times a week. It’s just that some days we don’t actually seem to be going that far in an hour!

I was interested in knowing roughly how far people are going with their different breeds.

He’s just turning two and seems more chilled overall recently. Mixed breed, 30kg. Not over or under weight I don’t think, but he’s still growing into his shape. Usually quiet countryside with the occasional pavement walk.

We have a small to medium dog, 9kg
He gets a sniffy meander at lunch with dog walker (in a group of 4) on my work says.
On my days off dog walks he always brings a ball but I try to only kick it for the first 5 mins or he gets fixated on it.
DH takes him on a long walk in the evening (3 or 4 miles ) which is much more of a route march and for DH's benefit. I have tried telling him a short walk would suffice but I know nothing. The dog leaps up when it's time to go so I know he's fine with both walks, but it will need moderating when he is older (he's 5).

My 7.5kg dog gets an hour and a half every day. Half an hour morning and an hour in the afternoon or evening.
I have to encourage him to run as he’s a natural moocher/sniffer so will do long waits and get him to run at full pelt back to me.

Distance and time are completely different. We have 2 border collies, one of 10, one 22 months. We have 200 foot back garden, they love ball and bubble games, yesterday was 2/3 thundering around the garden.@then the actual walk is off lead running, nearby woods or forest, average 90 minutes,it can be 2/3 hours if we climb the South Downs which are opposite, that's where we're going today, no the lambing has Finnished.
.

An hours walk would be approx 3-4 km I think 🤔

Food intake is way more important for weight management than walking.

Obviously walking is important, but it’s for fulfilment and fitness not weight.

People usually say a time because how far the dog goes will vary by that dog, if we go on an offlead walk my dogs are walking further than me, but also they walk a different amount from each other 😂 because one is more a stop and sniff and one will hate about more.

Me too! Hello. 👋 Labs make the best family dogs. ❤️

Mine is working line and very much displays those tendencies: focus, need to find/ carry things and love of sniffing things out.

Weekdays, he gets around an hour at lunchtime and an hour at teatime, both wholly or mainly off lead. Over the course of the week he’ll get a combination of swimming, vigorous games of fetch, scent work, training, racing around with his dog friends and slow sniffy meandering around. Weekends, it’s more of the same but slightly longer walks, perhaps one big walk rather than two. We try to make his walks as enriching for him as possible. As others have said, it’s more about the mental enrichment and meeting his needs, ie letting him be a dog and show his breed characteristics, than distance covered.

Aside from the walks mine gets other enrichment like playing with the kids after school, good natural chews and he loves tearing apart cardboard boxes. Then he sleeps for around 18-20 hours a day. He seems a happy fulfilled dog.

Currently under physio, so 3x 20 mins walks a day 😩
Before that! We used to do 30mins AM (1mile ish) and 60mins PM (2 miles ish) plus maybe 15 mins lunchtime
Thought he’d hate the new routine, but we’re doing slower shorter sniffy walks, and mostly it’s ok (although I miss walking and am getting fat!)
9yo Terror X, 14kilos
(thinking of getting a stroller so we can get back to longer walks?!)