All dogs need walking, don’t they?

[BruFord]

I only have experience of our current small breed dog so I have limited knowledge of how much exercise dogs need. But all of them need walking, don’t they? A quick online search tells me that they do, to a greater or lesser extent.

I’m wondering after a conversation with a friend who has two Lab mixes. Apparently, she doesn’t walk them, they run around in her large garden. They keep escaping though and my guess is that they’re bored and need more exercise.

We’ve always walked our small dog, he tires more easily now he’s older, but definitely still needs it. I find it bizarre not to walk a dog or use a dog walker if you can’t do it. Surely that’s the norm?

Beginning to wonder if I over walk my dog.

Nope. Sounds perfect! I don't think size really matters to be honest!

Agree - you just adapt the walk accordingly.

I’ll have to go against the grain here and say not ALL dogs. I have two Lhasa Apsos who absolutely loved their walks. That was until the older one turned about 8 and decided he was a weather snob. We went through the same routines, he would be all excited about getting his lead on, but then I’d open the door and he would just sit down. It started with rain, then if excessively windy and snow is certainly off the cards. No problem I thought, I’ll just walk the younger one. But nope, he wouldn’t go without the older one, I’d get him to the top of the street at best and then he would be pulling to go back.

They’re 10 and 7 now and nothing has changed. I thought it was just a phase and once winter passed he would change but the same thing happened when winter came again. It’s a shame as it was part of our routine too, but I’m not going to drag him down the street sat on his backside, it just wouldn’t be fair. Thank goodness for this nice weather so that walks have resumed!

Yes totally. Unless you live on a farm and/or don’t work it’s selfish to have a dog that needs a lot of exercise.

That’s very sad for those poor dogs, I have 2 labs who are taken out each day for good walks around the countryside with plenty of time off the lead to explore and sniff, to the beach a few times a week and they also come out to the farm to see to the horses with me. They need stimulation which doesn’t have to be hours of walking but to sniff different smells is so important.

I'd even go so far as to say daily walks aren't enough, breed depending.

We have malamutes, so we got ourselves a dog scooter and taught them to pull in a controlled way, my ex had a beagle, we did scent work, my friend got a JRT, we did pole and tunnel work.

Walking is like the bare minimum but some dogs really need a lot extra.

It sounds as though they are bored, as you say, and need more exercise and also mental stimulation. My Labs have always had an hour and a half a day walking plus some ongoing training for their enjoyment and mine.

I still think all dogs need walking.

Whether all dogs want walking is a different matter, and what distances and terrains they're capable of is also variable depending on the dogs age, size and health.

At 8 a lot of dogs start developing mild arthritis and the weather can exacerbate stiffness and in some cases pain.

However the need for some cardiovascular exercise doesn't change. Their health depends on it.

It's up to us as owners to determine an underlying cause, by appropriate outerwear, consult a vet, pay for medication, or find other ways to make that daily walk and exercise possible.

By neglecting to walk them for what, 6 months a year when it is wet and cold and frosty, they're not getting the cardio benefits, they aren't stretching their ligaments, they are at risk of muscular atrophy which exacerbates pain when walking resumes, it causes instability and can lead to poorer health outcomes.

Yes, people who don’t walk their dogs are idle, and don’t deserve to have them. We have some imbecile neighbours who let their dogs into the garden all hours to bark. No consideration for the neighbours, and never seen them taken for a walk.

Just to clarify that the dogs are generally very well looked after and don’t have behavioral problems, except for escaping which I suspect is due to boredom.

She honestly doesn’t see the need for the walks as she has a large garden and WFH, there’s no ill intentions. Personally, I think they need a walk as well.

@Pearlstillsinging I think that’s her take on it. I assume that they need to experience new environments as well though, new smells, etc. and that’s why they’re escaping. I know that my dog gets bored with our garden, which is smaller, but he’s a small dog.

Escaping isn’t necessarily anything to do with boredom - lots of dogs just see the opportunity and take it, no matter how well exercised they are.

If they’re healthy, have plenty of company and don’t struggle with their behaviour I would say they’re doing pretty well, really.

@faerylights So you don’t think they need walks? I just assumed that they’d need them for exercise and stimulation as everyone else I know does walk their dog (s) unless they’re walking farm dogs.

If they have company, a garden to run around in, a friend to play with and aren’t struggling physically or behaviourally then I would say no.

Walks might be a nice addition to what they’ve got but I think they honestly have a better life than dogs who get walked twice a day but are left home alone the rest of the time with no company or stimulation.

Would I walk them if they were my dogs? Yes, but they don’t sound neglected or badly cared for to me. It’s too easy to focus on walks as an essential without looking at the bigger picture imo.

And I say all that as a dog walker who relies on people walking their dogs to pay their bills 🤣

@faerylights Fair enough. Yes, I’d also walk them, but they’re definitely not badly treated.

My last dog was a lab. They absolutely need walking. For exercise and mental stimulation.

And yes, all dogs need walked.

Dogs are like toddlers. Would you keep a toddler in the house / garden all day every day and never take them to activities (swimming, classes, the park, nursery etc etc)?

You really think they'd be stimulated and happy enough being at home every single day with no experience of the outside world ever?

Of course - with constant canine and human company, a big garden play in etc.

Dogs aren’t toddlers so it’s silly to compare the two.

I got my dog 10 years ago as a neonate from what would probably be classed as a puppy farm.I learned she had been rejected when a friend of the breeders who also knew me and knew I often rescued and rehomed animals, contacted me to help. I told scumbag breeder that I would give the pup back once weaned but I lived with a friend of a time who wanted to keep her. She had decided she was mine however and was chipped to me and came with me when I moved into my own place. I posted on here at the time.

Point I was getting to is, breeder had a HUGE timber wolf/malamute cross, his daughter (obviously part wolf but he'd bred with a husky so that combination), said husky (also owned and kept by breeder) and has since kept one of my dog's littermates and bred her too. Lord knows how many dogs are in that tiny two-up-two-down terraced house and she's not walked any of them. The only time they got a 'walk' is when they escaped, or when some of the local kids would take them out. It's very, very sad but I imagine a similar scnario occurs all over the world/country

Mine, now 10 years old, is often a 'walk refuser' now! But she has at least one walk a day, I run too so she still runs with me a lot, and has plenty of stimulation (large garden but I play with her, I don't just leave her to entertain herself).

Kind of agree but also disagree... We have three working breed dogs (all different) that need a lot of exercise. And me and DH both work full time. It is HARD work. You have to be prepared to make pretty big sacrifices and spend a lot of money but as long as you don't ever want a lie in, don't want any money and definitely no social life (only semi joking 😬), then it can be done.

We get up at 6am every day to take them for a big walk before work, we then pay for a dog walker to come in at lunchtime every day to take them out for an hour and we then walk them again after work / in the evening. It is pretty relentless but no more so than having kids I suppose.

I agree that a lot of people get working breed dogs (spaniels, collies etc) and just don't even care that they need massive amounts of exercise and stimulation.

You really do not have a clue. And I imagine you're one of the dog owners who thinks that their dog "doesn't need" walks.

Fucking cats get more exercise and stimulation than these dogs who don't get walked.

I'm thinking the same.

@Jimmyneutronsforeheadi can assure you my dogs are not neglected. I’ve invested a small fortune in coats, I’ve even tried those ridiculous shoes for his paws. He just will not go. He digs his nails in and you then, effectively, end up dragging him. I’m afraid I’m not going to drag my dog. He’s been to the vet and he’s fit as a fiddle. He gallops like a gazelle through our local field…but only in favourable weather. I work from home and the back door is always open - youngest will go out, he won’t. It’s just the way he is, along with other dogs on this thread which are the same. Some just don’t want to walk. Oh, and it’s not 6 months. It’s whenever it rains, or snows, or blows a gale. Dull winter days he’s fine.

On the contrary - I’m a professional dog walker who walks their own dog pretty much every single day.

I just think people focus too much on walks when there are lots of other ways to provide a dog with enrichment, stimulation, exercise and company.

A dog with almost 24/7 human and canine company, and a big, secure garden but no walks is no worse off than a dog who is walked twice a day but alone for 8 hours while its’ owners work 🤷‍♀️

How do you propose a dog who is in their house / garden all day every day is getting sufficient exercise?

Humans can manage it (treadmills, peloton, exercise videos etc) but a dog? Short of playing in the garden and running after a tennis ball, there is no way they can get sufficient exercise. And certainly not 2 Labradors.

FWIW we have 3 dogs and a big garden and there is no way on this planet that running around in the garden together would even be enough exercise for them for one day. Never mind every day.

Don't get me wrong, eventually they'd accept the fact that that was their life and they weren't going to get to go on a walk ever again but how fucking sad.