Walking Your Dogs.

[ranirottie]

ok,I justgave in and gave mine a short walk. Well,I had a short walk and they whizzed round like loonies. It was worth it coz they are all fast asleep now . x

[zico's mum]

Oh lord I'm going to be unpopular I walk mine 5 times a day BUT I have a tiny garden and a park directly opposite me one side and open fields the other.I also work full time.They are walked 6.00 am to 7.20,then a quick run round the park 7.40 to 8.00.A 30 minute walk at lunchtime,anything from an hour to 2 after work and 30 minutes before bed.I've been doing this for 20 years now - obviously not with Daisy and Duncan and I just love it.Last year I was suffering badly from heel pain and found it very painful to walk the above distances but found I could sit on a bench in the park while they ran around amusing themselves.

 

Oh and I live alone so have no other commitments at all,I know that makes a huge difference for many folks.

Edited August 23, 2007 by zico's mum

[Alison]

No matter how how much effort you make, when you love your dogs as much as all of us here obviously do, you'll always feel as though you could do better.

 

Sol gets a minimum of 7 miles off lead exercise per day plus loads of on-lead walks at weekends, I take him swimming in his favourite places, chuck toys and play games with him to his heart's content, he's never left alone, comes to work with me (comes everywhere with me actually), enjoys a full social life which includes both dogs and people, sleeps in my bed if he wants to, gets plenty of emotional stimulation, I do everything I can to try and ensure that he leads a varied life - hell's teeth, I even stripped naked in public for him the other week - and guess what? I always feel guilty and that I'm somehow not doing enough for him. I've just acquired a new car and if Sol doesn't like it, it's going straight back to the garage and I'll keep searching until I find one which meets with his approval.

 

This was a dog who was on death row just over a year ago and in real terms would be perfectly happy just to have a roof over his head and a full belly. As far as never being left on his own goes, I look at his face sometimes and get the impression that he's thinking "why can't you just b*gger off and leave me on my own sometimes for a change?" He's so placid and easily pleased that I'm certain he'd be content with no more than a blanket on the floor and a short walk up the road and back on his lead every day. I'm lucky that he is such an equable soul because reading back though this makes me realise that my ridiculously overindulgent behaviour would turn most dogs into monsters.

 

Don't beat yourself up! If your pets are warm, dry, well-fed and loved, that's all they need or want.

 

Will someone please remind me that I've said all this when I'm having my next bout of angst over not making The Ginga "happy enough"? (i.e. tomorrow and the next day....and the next)

 

.

[Maria]

Don't beat yourself up

My 2 get walked for about an hour and a half with me in the morning, and about an hour at night wit Chris. Boysie would go out for longer, but Smudge would love to be a fireside dog! If it's thundering they don't go out, as it's too stressful for Boysie, but otherwise he does love his routine.

At weekends they only get one, longer walk a day. We have occasionally missed a walk, and it doesn't do any harm. As Alison says, it's so easy to feel you could do even better than you do, when actually you do so much more than a lot of people

[dylansmommy]

hello

dont worry about an odd day ,it wasnt your fault . but i know where you are coming from .im the same ,mind you i have to say i have been late in the past to give them a run .ours have three runs aday 30minutes morning 40 minutes in the afternoon same on the night , it makes me mad when people have dogs and dont walk them ,very upsetting . they have long two hours run special placeweekends days out beach walks when we can get to the coast .

[Fiona711]

I don't have a set routine for walking my dogs , some of you seem to walk an awful lot

 

I think if i tried to get Akira and Storm to walk for a couple of hours they would huff for days . Apart from that i am on my own and would not trust anyone else to walk my 2 so i dont take them out at set times and i dont walk them every day for a couple of reasons , one that has all ready been mentioned in this thread is if i am ill they might not get out for a couple of days , another reason is if it is too hot then i dont walk them as i don't see the point in making them uncomfortable . A short walk at night keeps them happy in hot weather but again i dont do it every night so that if i am ill or something else happens they dont miss out .

 

I do think it depends on the dogs to be honest , Taz would happily walk for miles before he was ill , with Akira having HD and Storm being a lazy lump i know when they have had enough , Storm still lies down and refuses to move and Akira hangs her head and drags her feet . They enjoy short walks and i know it is important for them to get out and about especially from a socialization point of view but i want them to enjoy their walks not exhaust them .

 

I have a huge garden and the dogs are happy out there running about playing for short bursts of about 5 or 10 minutes but then they lie down and have a snooze so i dont stress about it , i take my cue from them and they are happy doggies , if they needed to be walked more then obviously i would do it but we are all happy with the way things are so i dont feel the need to change our routine or none routine

 

I do sometimes miss the longer walks that i used to take Taz on , but there would be no point in trying to make these 2 walk for miles when i know it would not be comfortable for them and i don't think badly of people who miss out a few days as everyones circumstances are different , like everything else we do what suits our dogs and our lifestyle .

 

Fiona xx

[celeste]

I think it really depends on the dog, when I had Louie and Celeste they got about 3-4 hrs walking per day, but Spud and Daisy aren't as energetic, partly because they play with each other a lot so they only get two one hr walks a day and occasionaly they get a quick whizz round the field if I'm really busy, but they are able to amuse themselves, at the moment they are getting no walks at all as Spud has hurt his cruciate so is on box rest for the week

[JACKYSIAN]

They were fine...although the evening walk was manic!! Cooper was like a coiled spring!!!

 

I think if I just had Cooper and Tiz I'd get away with one walk a day (Staffy x's don't you love them!!) but Sidney and Cromwell (even at 13) absolutely require 2 a day off lead. If I had to do on lead I wouldn't be able to go to work!!!

[cycas]

Glad to hear that things weren't torn to shreds when you got home!

 

If I didn't walk mine twice a day I'd be treated to endless rooroorooooooing and reenactments of Mollydog's Greatest Races in the living room (with Squeaky Lion as the rabbit, and Az as All The Other Dogs). Also, an awful lot of things would be stolen due to increased Mollydog Nortiness, and I suspect that Az's nerves would get worse too: running is good stress relief for him.

 

I work from home, too, so I just can't have them rioting in the house (and they won't riot in the garden: they prefer to riot right in front of me where I can properly appreciate it). And they don't do balls. So for me, a couple of reasonable walks every day is the difference between having 2 nice well behaved dogs that politely snooze while I'm working, and a pair of destructive nuisances!

[one.eyed.dog]

Potty gets an hour in the morning half an hour of which is off lead with another dog tearing round like maniac's. She goes round the block with my Dad at lunchtime just for the toilet and a couple of hours off lead with my pals 2 dogs in the forest after work.

The odd day we just laze about with a couple of half hour off leads down at the river. I don't count round the block for the loo as a walk really.(Incase you thought I only took her out twice for half an hour)

[choccypaws]

Charlie gets walked in the mornings for an hour and a half through the fields and woods, then my OH takes him out again when he gets home from work for anotehr hour or so. Sometimes he gets three walks a day. He likes his routine, and seems to have an alarm clock in his brain, which says ' ok it's time for your walk'. then I get the big brown eye look until we go, come rain or shine, hail or snow - he's lucky I'm an all weather woman

 

If I had to go out without walking him first, he would be fine. i try not to, but sometimes events are urgent .

[sanrossscot]

I feel very guilty now

 

I have 3 collies, we have no set pattern of walks or set times. Some weeks they don't get much outside walking due to my & OH's shifts, just quick times out with toys and in the garden.

 

Having said that, they don't seem too bothered and don't wreck the house when we are out ('cept Glen who is having teenager - I don't like the wallpaper moment just now )

 

Note to self: Must try harder

[DanishPastry]

don't feel guilty, I've seen your dogs, and they looked very happy

 

I think you can easily create a rod for your own back if your dogs think they HAVE to have several hours of off lead exercise every single day.

 

Same for people who NEVER leaves their dog alone. In my opinion you are not doing your dog a favour, by not teaching them to stay home alone, at least for a few hours. It may be that you are at home all day, but one day there may be an unexpected emergency, and the last thing you need to worry about is if little Fido is gonna trash the place or commit emotional suicide while you are out.

Taking on an older dog with existing SA is maybe different, but I would still strive towards the dog learning to be left alone for at least a couple of hours.

[safneo]

I feel very guilty now

 

I have 3 collies, we have no set pattern of walks or set times. Some weeks they don't get much outside walking due to my & OH's shifts, just quick times out with toys and in the garden.

 

Having said that, they don't seem too bothered and don't wreck the house when we are out ('cept Glen who is having teenager - I don't like the wallpaper moment just now )

 

Note to self: Must try harder

 

You are not alone. I feel really guilty but am always absolutely exhausted recently.

 

Neo gets out about twice a week as he gets so stressed when he goes out. He needs the in between time to wind down.

He is also walked on lead most of the time due to his issues. He gets more offlead in the winter when the fairweather walkers, kids and kites disappear. Both mine get food in their buster cubes or sprinkled in the garden most days. And Neo has Saffy to play with in the garden (and the house).

 

Saffy gets a couple of 40 minute - 2 hours onlead walks a week and I usually take her out a the weekend for a good run but she goes beserk and ends up limping half the time from overdoing it! I can't walk her for too long on lead as she pulls my arms off and no matter what piece of equipment or how much training, she just doesnt 'get' that 'she pulls, we stand still until she stops'. She stops and waits, then kanagaroos on ahead again. I have recently emailed a trainer to see if she can help us with clicker training as my arms at about 2ft longer than they used to be. I have been trying to train her for about 3yrs now and with exception of training class where she was perfect (KC Silver) we dont seem to get anywhere.

 

We also play ball and tuggy in the garden and do training. I did used to have some weaves and a makeshift jump in the garden too but Neo gets too hyped up and I was worried about Saffy jumping because of her hips.

 

I was thinking earlier, if I take Saffy to hydro for her hips I might take Neo too?

Has anyone had a dog that is terrified of water and taken them swimming to a hydro pool?

I can't imagine him ever enjoying it.

[cheryl33]

We havent had a set routine for the last few months what with my dad's accident and stuff. Normally quick walk in the morning for a pee and a pooh, then he is at day care all day when I'm at work. Pick him up and go for a walk about 7ish when the sun is going. Then around 9/10pm for a walk round the block and then bed.

 

Weekends we go all over.