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?

Dogs need their physical and mental needs met and there's a variety of ways to do this not just walks. A minority of dogs may find going out on walks very stressful and therefore it's not in their benefit to do this or at least not daily so have the chance to recover rather than anxiety building up.

That said i believe it's often more due to owners benefit/laziness so those are less likely to be providing alternative stimulation . There's a lot of pups that grow and become difficult to manage on lead, little dogs that people think will just exercise themselves in a garden which can then create a dog that's poorly socialised to the outside world and struggles.

I've had a reactive dog that I'd still walk just at quieter times or in low dog density areas and hire a secure field. My dogs much preferred getting out and checking out the local peemail the garden was a bit boring.

Some owners walks are so routine based that they don't actually see its is no longer suiting the dog, visiting places they finds stressful or not noticing their dog trailing behind which suggests their uncomfortable and overdoing it.

When they get older or arthritic it's better to break up a long walk into multiple short walks and can make use of a dog stroller so both dog & owner can still enjoy the mental stimulation of walks but they save their energy to explore the more interesting part of the trip.

@ScattyHattie Yes, we’re considering a stroller for our 12-year-old as he tires more easily nowadays. He loves going out, but getting him there and back can be challenging, especially in warm weather. I think he’d be fine for his minions to push him home in a stroller though, he’d probably do a royal wave. 🤣

OP @BruFord you seem to be agreeing with the majority of posters here so what are you going to do about it? Are you going to speak to your friend? I’m afraid I would be pretty blunt with her about this as well.

@Mumofteentwins I already have, but she’s not interested. Says running around the garden is enough. 🤷

The small yappy dogs my neighbour has are walked regularly but they’re yappy as it’s in their character and also they’re in a corner house.

Go for it they all deserve to feel like royalty at that age!

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Agree

I think for me the question is why do you have the dog? Dogs are super intelligent pack animals, they need to stretch their minds and their bodies daily. Sure they’re “fine” in the garden but are they fulfilled? Are they exploring smells and textures and places, meeting and playing with other dogs, swimming and digging and being.. dogs! My dog gets a 5k at least 3x a week and then days when we do shorter ones too, he swims and gets time to just free roam on the beach/in the forest. I’ve wanted a house dog for years (we have working collies also) but we haven’t got one because we didn’t have the capacity to give them a full happy dog life - now we do, we have him. He’s not an accessory or a human he’s a dog, and he needs social, mental and emotional care x