How much exercise do dogs need?
In the previous entry titled "Walking your dogs", I wrote that walking is fun for dogs but also it is good for their health and ours.
Palette and I go for walk everyday if weather is good. Walking is one of the physical exercise she gets everyday. Technically, walking is physical exercise but now and then, I implement mental exercise game "Red light,Green light" Palette and I started playing since she was puppy.
How we play the game? Here is how I taught Palette the rules of the game.
As you have read in the previous entry titled "Why do dogs love to chase cars,bicycles,joggers", every time when we saw cars coming from front or behind, I called her to grassy area (side of the road ) and stayed still. Then, I gave her bits of treats every time we walked to side and stay still and car passed by.
For 6 years, we had been doing this and, she does pretty good when she sees the cars. Letting her recognize the presence of the cars and stay still on side of the car is something that does good for her safety and, to me, it is important to let her understand that she should not jump out in front of the cars.
For her, it is a fun game. Every time car passes by, she looks up to me with smile as if she were proud herself for her "red light,green light stay still on the side" game.
Sometimes, she notices the car before I notice and she pulls me to the side. When that happen,I give her extra petting and praise.
I also change walking pace;very slow step to brisk walk, brisk walk to jogging, jogging to very slow walk.. and stop. It is, in a way, mental exercise game because Palette has to pay attention to my walking pace and, if I start jogging, she cannot be sniffing around as her mind tells her to.
Palette is trained to sit when I stop walking. So, when walking pace comes to total stop, she would sit on the road.
Usually, when I speed up to jogging or brisk walk or very fast run toward our finish line a.k.a. our house, she give me huge grin and she starts enjoying running like wind with her tongue hanging out and I like that. When she is good to keep her pace same to mine, I tell her "Good" and she smiles back.
She likes to check on me now and then,and she loves to pass me when we are racing toward the house.
When Palette and I are not racing toward our house, she is walking on loose leash nicely. I feel like I am carrying an empty bag on my hand. I don't feel any tension from the leash.
Going for walk does not have to be doggy boot camp all the way. Walking should be fun and both of you should enjoy the walk.
What physical exercise do your dogs get?
With Palette, other than going for walk, we play Frisbee/fetch ball games, and also we play "find treats/toys game".
She loves Frisbee/fetch ball game. You can see her in action in the previous entry titled "Playing game of fetch Frisbee/ball".
Interactive plays like fetch ball/Frisbee,"Find it" game are great games to play with your dogs because those games would not only help your bond with your dogs stronger but also you can implement impulse control training during the game. Plus, since dogs are physically moving around, it is also good games as physical exercise.
You would hear often "Tired dogs are happy dogs.", and it is true. Giving many opportunities for them to let their pent up energy out through the physical exercise is good, and it sure would make your dogs tired physically.
However, physical exercise is not the only important part of the exercise.
Dogs need both physical exercise and mental exercise whether small dogs or big dogs.
Giving plenty of opportunities throughout the day to get them stimulated via mental exercise is important as well. Good mental exercise can also help them tired out mentally.
As written in the previous entry titled "Mental exercise for your dogs", there are plenty of things you can do with your dogs as mental exercise; interactive plays such as fetch ball game, interactive toys such as buster cubes treat dispensing toy, socialization practice;meeting new people, new dogs, new sound,new environment etc, clicker training (in a way, clicker training is problem solving game for dogs) and more.
Dogs that do not get enough exercise can build up the pent up energy and they tend to find their own things to do,which normally we human do not feel appreciated; barking,chewing,destructive behavior etc..
This brings to the question ..
How much exercise do dogs need?
I think that dogs need exercise but just like anything else, more is not necessary be better.
I was reading a dog book I got from Japan the other day,and one segment was talking about how much exercise dogs would need.
According to the Japanese book, dogs today do not get as much exercise as the ancestors used to be, because they do not have to go hunting for food anymore. Therefore, exercise amount they get in today's environment is greatly reduced.
Also dogs cannot do tracking,herding,hunting etc; the activities they were bread to do as much as they please.
Therefore, running/walking can be a good outlet for pent up energy and it has great effects on them mentally,as well as physically.
Running/walking keeps their body fit, and it is heart healthy exercise, and it is good for blood circulation. Also,walking/running can boost immune system etc..
The book says, required exercise amount is greatly different from one breed to the other. The example they had in the section was Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever.
According to the book, Labrador Retriever needs 13 km (8 miles), and Golden Retriever needs 3km (2 miles) to 5 km (3 miles). However, book points out that even in the same breed, we need to consider individual dog and each dog require different amount of exercise.
We need to consider age as well. Puppy would have more energy than 5 years old dogs. If you had 3 years old calm dog and 6 years old high energy dog, then, I would think that the 6 years old dog would need more exercise than calm 3 years old dog.
The book suggests that the good amount of exercise for each dog is the amount where dog gets tired and after a while when you get back home, they would like to take a nap after the exercise.
Since Palette tends to take a nap after coming back home from walk, I think I am giving her good amount of exercise so far.
As precaution, book also suggest followings.
** Do not start running right from the start without warming up
** When you add more physical exercise, do not add too much at once, but rather, gradually add the amount of exercise
** Do not take your dogs out for exercise when extreme weather (hot/cold)
Palette and I go for walk with 6 different routes. Some are shorter route, some are longer route, and we walk shortest one first and then next time, we go middle distance route, and next time, we go longer distance walk and once we hit the longest route, we go back to shortest distance route.. Changing distance each time is good idea.
Interesting thing the book pointed out is that, dogs tend not to run around much if there were not anybody to run with.
I agree with that. Palette tends to move more if I play with her or go for walk together than the time she is free to do thing she likes.
That means, just because your dogs are in the fenced yard does not mean they would get enough exercise on their own.
On and off, she does zoomie, or toss the toy/treats and herd them,woof at the toy/treats but amount of exercise she gets physically seems to increase when I get involved in the activity.
So, get moving and choose the form of exercise that fits to your dogs and, have fun with your dogs through physical/mental exercise.
As last note, I came across trainpetdog website where you can see how much exercise your dogs' breed would need in average. I thought it interesting and you can look up the chart by clicking here.
Palette and I go for walk everyday if weather is good. Walking is one of the physical exercise she gets everyday. Technically, walking is physical exercise but now and then, I implement mental exercise game "Red light,Green light" Palette and I started playing since she was puppy.
How we play the game? Here is how I taught Palette the rules of the game.
As you have read in the previous entry titled "Why do dogs love to chase cars,bicycles,joggers", every time when we saw cars coming from front or behind, I called her to grassy area (side of the road ) and stayed still. Then, I gave her bits of treats every time we walked to side and stay still and car passed by.
For 6 years, we had been doing this and, she does pretty good when she sees the cars. Letting her recognize the presence of the cars and stay still on side of the car is something that does good for her safety and, to me, it is important to let her understand that she should not jump out in front of the cars.
For her, it is a fun game. Every time car passes by, she looks up to me with smile as if she were proud herself for her "red light,green light stay still on the side" game.
Sometimes, she notices the car before I notice and she pulls me to the side. When that happen,I give her extra petting and praise.
I also change walking pace;very slow step to brisk walk, brisk walk to jogging, jogging to very slow walk.. and stop. It is, in a way, mental exercise game because Palette has to pay attention to my walking pace and, if I start jogging, she cannot be sniffing around as her mind tells her to.
Palette is trained to sit when I stop walking. So, when walking pace comes to total stop, she would sit on the road.
Usually, when I speed up to jogging or brisk walk or very fast run toward our finish line a.k.a. our house, she give me huge grin and she starts enjoying running like wind with her tongue hanging out and I like that. When she is good to keep her pace same to mine, I tell her "Good" and she smiles back.
She likes to check on me now and then,and she loves to pass me when we are racing toward the house.
When Palette and I are not racing toward our house, she is walking on loose leash nicely. I feel like I am carrying an empty bag on my hand. I don't feel any tension from the leash.
Going for walk does not have to be doggy boot camp all the way. Walking should be fun and both of you should enjoy the walk.
What physical exercise do your dogs get?
With Palette, other than going for walk, we play Frisbee/fetch ball games, and also we play "find treats/toys game".
She loves Frisbee/fetch ball game. You can see her in action in the previous entry titled "Playing game of fetch Frisbee/ball".
Interactive plays like fetch ball/Frisbee,"Find it" game are great games to play with your dogs because those games would not only help your bond with your dogs stronger but also you can implement impulse control training during the game. Plus, since dogs are physically moving around, it is also good games as physical exercise.
You would hear often "Tired dogs are happy dogs.", and it is true. Giving many opportunities for them to let their pent up energy out through the physical exercise is good, and it sure would make your dogs tired physically.
However, physical exercise is not the only important part of the exercise.
Dogs need both physical exercise and mental exercise whether small dogs or big dogs.
Giving plenty of opportunities throughout the day to get them stimulated via mental exercise is important as well. Good mental exercise can also help them tired out mentally.
As written in the previous entry titled "Mental exercise for your dogs", there are plenty of things you can do with your dogs as mental exercise; interactive plays such as fetch ball game, interactive toys such as buster cubes treat dispensing toy, socialization practice;meeting new people, new dogs, new sound,new environment etc, clicker training (in a way, clicker training is problem solving game for dogs) and more.
Dogs that do not get enough exercise can build up the pent up energy and they tend to find their own things to do,which normally we human do not feel appreciated; barking,chewing,destructive behavior etc..
This brings to the question ..
How much exercise do dogs need?
I think that dogs need exercise but just like anything else, more is not necessary be better.
I was reading a dog book I got from Japan the other day,and one segment was talking about how much exercise dogs would need.
According to the Japanese book, dogs today do not get as much exercise as the ancestors used to be, because they do not have to go hunting for food anymore. Therefore, exercise amount they get in today's environment is greatly reduced.
Also dogs cannot do tracking,herding,hunting etc; the activities they were bread to do as much as they please.
Therefore, running/walking can be a good outlet for pent up energy and it has great effects on them mentally,as well as physically.
Running/walking keeps their body fit, and it is heart healthy exercise, and it is good for blood circulation. Also,walking/running can boost immune system etc..
The book says, required exercise amount is greatly different from one breed to the other. The example they had in the section was Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever.
According to the book, Labrador Retriever needs 13 km (8 miles), and Golden Retriever needs 3km (2 miles) to 5 km (3 miles). However, book points out that even in the same breed, we need to consider individual dog and each dog require different amount of exercise.
We need to consider age as well. Puppy would have more energy than 5 years old dogs. If you had 3 years old calm dog and 6 years old high energy dog, then, I would think that the 6 years old dog would need more exercise than calm 3 years old dog.
The book suggests that the good amount of exercise for each dog is the amount where dog gets tired and after a while when you get back home, they would like to take a nap after the exercise.
Since Palette tends to take a nap after coming back home from walk, I think I am giving her good amount of exercise so far.
As precaution, book also suggest followings.
** Do not start running right from the start without warming up
** When you add more physical exercise, do not add too much at once, but rather, gradually add the amount of exercise
** Do not take your dogs out for exercise when extreme weather (hot/cold)
Palette and I go for walk with 6 different routes. Some are shorter route, some are longer route, and we walk shortest one first and then next time, we go middle distance route, and next time, we go longer distance walk and once we hit the longest route, we go back to shortest distance route.. Changing distance each time is good idea.
Interesting thing the book pointed out is that, dogs tend not to run around much if there were not anybody to run with.
I agree with that. Palette tends to move more if I play with her or go for walk together than the time she is free to do thing she likes.
That means, just because your dogs are in the fenced yard does not mean they would get enough exercise on their own.
On and off, she does zoomie, or toss the toy/treats and herd them,woof at the toy/treats but amount of exercise she gets physically seems to increase when I get involved in the activity.
So, get moving and choose the form of exercise that fits to your dogs and, have fun with your dogs through physical/mental exercise.
As last note, I came across trainpetdog website where you can see how much exercise your dogs' breed would need in average. I thought it interesting and you can look up the chart by clicking here.
Comments