How often do you walk your dog?

[Kayak]

I'm just wondering how often everyone walks their dogs? On days you don't walk, how do you stimulate them? Are walks something you see as hugely important or are they something you can put off until another day?

I was just chatting to my neighbour who doesn't walk her dogs and it got me wondering how important walks are in other peoples' schedules!

 

[JoanneF]

Twice a day normally but in really bad weather we do scent games around the house and trick training.

 

[JudyN]

Twice a day, or I'd have to put up with continual whining. He normally gets to choose where to go and in the morning, sometimes he'll walk 100 yards, do a poo, and head for home again. More often he'll want to walk for miles!

 

[Sezzy]

Definitely once a day, some days twice. She gets lots of exercise at home in between, always playing ball in the garden. I also play hide and seek a lot with her indoors if it’s raining, either with hiding her toys or myself.

 

[Josie]

Always twice a day but the length of the walk can vary (one big one + one short one or two medium walks)

I honestly don't understand people who do not walk their dogs (unless there is a health reason or the dog gets too stressed etc). First of all I think its b****y lazy and second of all I couldn't stand to see them bored and following me around all day. I feel so happy hearing Dennis snoring and dreaming after he's had a nice walk

My two big hates are leaving dogs for long periods at a time and people who do not walk their dogs. Sorry @Kayak your threads seem to bring it out of me!

 

[Nanny71]

Always twice a day. Unless it is a really nice day and we will do three.
I have recently had a long hospital stay followed by two months restricted exercise.
Luckily I have had really good dog friends who walked my dog when I couldn't so I had to find lots of games to play with him in the house.
Am now back to being able to walk him and we are back to our twice a day walks.
He still likes the games so we are playing them as well

 

[Nanny71]

Always twice a day but the length of the walk can vary (one big one + one short one or two medium walks)

I honestly don't understand people who do not walk their dogs (unless there is a health reason or the dog gets too stressed etc). First of all I think its b****y lazy and second of all I couldn't stand to see them bored and following me around all day. I feel so happy hearing Dennis snoring and dreaming after he's had a nice walk

My two big hates are leaving dogs for long periods at a time and people who do not walk their dogs. Sorry @Kayak your threads seem to bring it out of me!

Your hates are the same as mine. My husband had to find friends who would have Dudley when he came to visit me in hospital. My dog walking friends have been fantastic. I have only know them since I had Dudley which is only two years yet they rallied round, walked him. Babysat him and even brought food round for my husband while I was in hospital.

 

[Nanny71]

I forgot to mention that one of my lovely dog friends got a picture of Dudley printed and framed so I could have it in hospital with me. She told me that the printer in town not only printed it, but framed it and refused payment when she told him it was for a friend in hospital who missed her dog. There are really nice people about and we don't hear enough about them

 

[Violet Turner]

2-3 times a day for 2 hours each time...
@Nanny71 lovely story

 

[Josie]

I forgot to mention that one of my lovely dog friends got a picture of Dudley printed and framed so I could have it in hospital with me. She told me that the printer in town not only printed it, but framed it and refused payment when she told him it was for a friend in hospital who missed her dog. There are really nice people about and we don't hear enough about them

Thats a lovely story and so nice to hear that there are lots of brilliant, kind people in the world

 

[Mayblossom]

2-3 times a day for 2 hours each time...
@Nanny71 lovely story

Goodness where do you find the energy to walk for 4 to 6 hours a day I’d be on my knees after that but then I am getting on in years
Mine go out twice a day every day , they have 30 mins in the morning and if I’m feeling energetic a bit longer in the afternoon, all off lead so they can run to their hearts content

 

[Kayak]

I've always been in a situation where I never needed to go away from home to exercise my dogs, except for when I briefly lived in a town.

Because of where I live and the fact I have no garden atm, Kay gets about 7 walks a day, always across the fields (I am literally surrounded by fields and only one main road which is out of sight and out of mind after five mins walking!). When I lived with my mum, we had a field joining our back garden which the dogs would be exercised in. We had quite a few so taking them for an actual walk would involve putting them in the car and driving to a quiet, unpopulated wood ten minutes away so they could run amok. Their main walks were the group runs in the field behind the house which would happen twice a day 6 days a week. All the dogs, whatever stragglers we had staying with us that week and a ball. Happy days

I briefly lived in the town centre with Kay and her walks were a lot different during that time as she would never relax out in such a highly populated place. She went from free in a field to tense by my side. She's the reason I moved to where I am now as I had never been able to make her comfortable enough to run around a park and get the exercise she needed without being stressed to hell after it.

I've had all types of dogs, some that need the exercise and some that don't. If Kay doesn't get a good 1.5 hours of actual exercise most days then she becomes anxious with the energy and problems pop up! All the terriers I had were content with staying in all day or being out all day and never pined for their walks, neither did the other Dobe my
Mum had. Kay's the most high energy dog I've had so far. She doesn't kick up a fuss if she doesn't get her exercise, but she becomes very anxious.

All the problems I had with Kay for her first two years were mainly due to her not getting enough actual exercise and researching her pedigree helped me set up the right routine for her. All of my dogs have worked best with different handling styles and routines, I know the needs depend greatly on the individual dog. I see my neighbours dogs daily and know they aren't wanting for anything except another treat, but it's interesting to see where everyone is on this topic.

In all honesty some days I can't be bothered and some days Kay can't be bothered. I'll pick up her lead sometimes and she'll just ignore me. I can usually tell when she's not feeling a walk because she won't react to me putting my boots on. She gets training indoors every day, both me and my OH to give her loves and games, all the bones in the world and a kong chew and weird puzzle treat game that she has to bat about to get treats from.

A walk is just a stress reliever and energy burner in my opinion, for the dog and me! Kay has fun outside but the walk isn't really for fun, it's so she can get the exercise she needs which keeps her mental state in good order. A game of tug, wrestle or quick training sesh are the type of things I do to entertain her, and toys are her other entertainment. Walks are fun for dogs but a lot of stuff is fun, and when I skip a walk that little worry in my head is about slacking off in the exercise department, not that she'll be bored without a walk.

I think my walks might be a bit different to normal walks though, so maybe that's why I see them as things necessary to keep a stress free dog, instead of things necessary to keep the dog entertained.

 

[Nanny71]

Goodness where do you find the energy to walk for 4 to 6 hours a day I’d be on my knees after that but then I am getting on in years
Mine go out twice a day every day , they have 30 mins in the morning and if I’m feeling energetic a bit longer in the afternoon, all off lead so they can run to their hearts content

I am 72 and did walk him a good four hours a day. Still being in recovery from open heart surgery we are only managing two and a half to three hours a day. Mornings is mostly off lead as we have a lovely dog walking area were we are. The dogs run around and we walk round the field. Six times round is a mile/

 

[Nanny71]

I've always been in a situation where I never needed to go away from home to exercise my dogs, except for when I briefly lived in a town.

Because of where I live and the fact I have no garden atm, Kay gets about 7 walks a day, always across the fields (I am literally surrounded by fields and only one main road which is out of sight and out of mind after five mins walking!). When I lived with my mum, we had a field joining our back garden which the dogs would be exercised in. We had quite a few so taking them for an actual walk would involve putting them in the car and driving to a quiet, unpopulated wood ten minutes away so they could run amok. Their main walks were the group runs in the field behind the house which would happen twice a day 6 days a week. All the dogs, whatever stragglers we had staying with us that week and a ball. Happy days

I briefly lived in the town centre with Kay and her walks were a lot different during that time as she would never relax out in such a highly populated place. She went from free in a field to tense by my side. She's the reason I moved to where I am now as I had never been able to make her comfortable enough to run around a park and get the exercise she needed without being stressed to hell after it.

I've had all types of dogs, some that need the exercise and some that don't. If Kay doesn't get a good 1.5 hours of actual exercise most days then she becomes anxious with the energy and problems pop up! All the terriers I had were content with staying in all day or being out all day and never pined for their walks, neither did the other Dobe my
Mum had. Kay's the most high energy dog I've had so far. She doesn't kick up a fuss if she doesn't get her exercise, but she becomes very anxious.

All the problems I had with Kay for her first two years were mainly due to her not getting enough actual exercise and researching her pedigree helped me set up the right routine for her. All of my dogs have worked best with different handling styles and routines, I know the needs depend greatly on the individual dog. I see my neighbours dogs daily and know they aren't wanting for anything except another treat, but it's interesting to see where everyone is on this topic.

In all honesty some days I can't be bothered and some days Kay can't be bothered. I'll pick up her lead sometimes and she'll just ignore me. I can usually tell when she's not feeling a walk because she won't react to me putting my boots on. She gets training indoors every day, both me and my OH to give her loves and games, all the bones in the world and a kong chew and weird puzzle treat game that she has to bat about to get treats from.

A walk is just a stress reliever and energy burner in my opinion, for the dog and me! Kay has fun outside but the walk isn't really for fun, it's so she can get the exercise she needs which keeps her mental state in good order. A game of tug, wrestle or quick training sesh are the type of things I do to entertain her, and toys are her other entertainment. Walks are fun for dogs but a lot of stuff is fun, and when I skip a walk that little worry in my head is about slacking off in the exercise department, not that she'll be bored without a walk.

I think my walks might be a bit different to normal walks though, so maybe that's why I see them as things necessary to keep a stress free dog, instead of things necessary to keep the dog entertained.

I thought I was lucky having a dog walking field near to me. We do the field in the morning for an hour or so. We tend to do a lunch time walk which is usually a lead walk. Afternoon or early evening we do a fairly long walk part on lead, part off. In the summer it is different and several of us go to different places to walk our dogs.

 

[Kayak]

Kay's 7ish walks a day are varied in length but always across the fields. I take the ball out with us for 3 of the walks and will walk about throwing the ball for half hour a time, and the rest of the walks are just so she can go to the toilet so the ball stays at home. The toilet breaks last about 10-15 mins. She's off lead for all her walks here, just wears one while we walk down to the main road, then the lead comes off and she sprints into the first field.

If I had a garden she'd only get two walks lasting an hour (ish) each and consisting of fetch while in the field and heel while on the road. She has fun on her walks but there are things I do intended just for fun and walks aren't one of them. For me walks are just about physical exercise for the dog. All her fun is had in ob training, scent training, games, attention and toys.

 

[Biker John]

Folly has two walks a day, both short on lead then arond 3/4 hr to 1 hr off lead. Except when its really wet, which she hates even with a waterproof coat on, in which case I relent and only take her out for a short one. And I will add when we don't have a proper walk I miss it.

 

[Violet Turner]

I walk Olive at around 5-7 a.m. and 5-7/7-9p.m. but it depends on the weather and also with her having puppies as she doesn't like leaving them.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Murphy gets 3 -4 walks a day one of which is off lead normally out in the fields or woods. We take him to a beach or different location about once a week ..
As for the weather it has to be really extreme before we stay home. We walk in rain, snow, wind, hail. On hot days Im out at 6am and after sundown in winter we take extra measures to make sure he is comfortable (shorter walks, paw protection etc).
I dont understand people who get a dog and then never walk it poor things.. Walking with Murphy isnt a chore its an outing for all of us, on the days we go to the beach or further afield we take a picnic breakfast with us and something nice for Murphy..

 

[thedogsbeforetime]

Not often. Maybe one walk a week, if that. Lately it hasn't even been that much.

 

[Josie]

Out of curiousity could you say why you only walk once a week if that @thedogsbeforetime ?