How often should I walk my dog?

I'm new and I have a question, I can't find the answer on the web. How
often should I walk my dog? We recently moved to a condo, she had a
yard prior to that. We walk now 3 times a day for about 20 minutes
each. She is a 19 month old Lab/Rotweiller mix. My condo is big and I
play and chase her (she would catch me too easily, so I have to do the
chasing) a couple of times a day. We play until she is ready to quit,
so the running thing is not something we do on walks. Am I walking
enough? Too much?

t...

Hi Sally,

At 60 min/day you've got a lucky dog that's certainly not being walked
too little. As for the "too much" concern, I doubt you can overwalk a

shore...

If that's the only exercise he's getting, it's not enough.

t...

Ah usenet, where the shortest path to feeling right is to point out
something that's wrong (and if it's not wrong, simply remove enough
context from the quoted material to spin it as you wish!).

shore...

Well, how's this: how do you know that 60 minutes of walking
is "certainly" enough exercise for a young adult dog? You
were quite absolute about that.

t...

I'm absolutely certain that I read the entire original post Melinda
(not so sure you did), and the dog's exercise was not limited to that
60 minutes of walking. There was that bit you trimmed out about the
indoor play that continued until the dog was done with it.

Now I'm sure there are fanatical nuts who'll never say anything is
enough, but in the pace of life of the scores of labs out there happy
and healthy in a variety of homes, a dog getting out and being walked
60min a day AND being played with indoors until they're done with it
is a pretty lucky dog.

But I suspect you'll still find fault with that statement. And I'm
okay with that. But you sure are rather in your face about it. But
that's part of the fun of usenet too.

Best Regards,

Best Regards,

large dog like that, especially at the mature age of 19mo. It'll keep
you healthy too. :-)

One dog owner to another, I'd say keep doing what you're doin, and
just be mindful of any signs from the dog to guide you if it's too
much.

Best Regards,

Toni...

If this is the only exercise she is getting I would say not nearly enough. A
sedate walk of 20 minutes duration is next to nothing for a dog of this age
and breed/s.

Paula...

She said she also plays chase around the house, so I wonder what the
total exercise is. If the dog is getting lots of exercise and getting
out lots of energy in the play and chase sessions, that could work out
fine. If not, a lab mix is likely to get restless and out of shape
with only the walks.

To the original poster, I would say that whether a certain amount of
exercise is enough or not depends on the dog. Some dogs are happy
with little exercise and some are not. The particular breeds of this

shore...

You could say the same for people, but it's not just about
whether or not the dog (or person) is happy, there's also

Toni...

One more reason to give much more attention to specialty winners than to the
"#1 All Breeds" types.

Honestly- some of what is put up in all breed venues would be laughed out of
a national specialty. Some of the judges, although approved for a particular
breed, are so insecure about putting up the "wrong dog" that they
automatically go with the one who was on the cover of Kennel Review, or who
has the better known handler.
I'd take a class winner out of our national over a BIS in an all breed venue
any day.

the question of whether or not he's healthy. Even just
turning one of those walks into a jog a few times a week
would make a difference.

Paula...

I guess I've just never been around dogs who are happy with less
exercise than they need. My dogs go stir crazy if they don't get

shore...

That begs the question: how do you know how much they need?

Paula...

It does beg the question, I guess, but my dogs get physically antsy
when they need to run around more and not just overweight. I'm just
trying to say that if you know your dog, you should be able to tell
whether it is really happy walking around or if it is looking for some
good runs and that this is aside from whether their calories are in
balance. I could feed less and perhaps if they got enough less that
would turn them lethargic, but they seem to need physical outlets and
not be just lying around the house contentedly even if they aren't to
the point of getting fat. I don't know how to say that to make more
sense, but my dogs aren't fat but they still aren't happy unless they
get enough exercise and they are pretty good at letting me know what
is or is not enough.

shore...

I think exercise is one of those things like eating, where
what seems to be satisfying might not be quite the right
amount. There's a continuum from slobbedy -> really fit,
and I think a dog can be pretty happy down towards the wrong
end of the scale. Not every dog needs to be crazy fit, but
I think it's important for them to be reasonably fit, both
in terms of quality of life today and quality of life as
they age. By the nature of what we do I spend an awful lot
of time looking at dog ass and you really do see too many
dogs with, dare I say it, lax asses.

chris jung...

Back when I lived in Pittsburgh, our neighbor had a big handsome Golden same
age & height as Pablo. At the time Pablo was a lean mean 65 lbs, Max the
Golden was 105 lbs. Even if you take in account the differences in bone
structure & body type between a collie and a golden (Pablo, a medium bone &
lanky boy and Max with huge bone & a big frame), Max was one tubby dog. I
thought a good weight for him was probably 75, maybe 80 lbs. Anyway, the
main reason he was so fat was that his owner figured out that a fat dog was
easier to manage than a lean one. She saw that lean dogs want to go and do
stuff, they can be bouncy and annoying. Fat dogs, OTOH, hang around and are
better for petting (more like a pillow). One can take a fat dog for a nice
slow amble around the neighborhood. A lean dog wouldn't be satisfied with
that. So it was a conscious decision on her part to put weight on Max.
When the vet said Max was too fat and was in risk for health problems, she
dithered on how much he could lose and stay "mellow" (IOW sluggish). She
switched his food to diet, stopped free feeding and cut out all the extra
snacks. Eating was Max's main entertainment, however, and he protested by
getting into the garbage, being annoying (that persistant golden nose
nudge-nudge-nudge) and chewing. So she went back to free feeding (this
time diet food) and giving him snacks to keep him quiet. His weight briefly
dipped down to 100 but was soon back to 105.

Chris and her smoothies (who are skinny, active and want to do stuff -
what's the deal with that?),
Pablo and Lucy

their energy out. I tend to assume dogs that are fat are more a
result of feeding too much. I've known lots of dogs that would eat
just about as much as you'd feed 'em, but no dogs that were happy
without exercise. But I can see where it could be the other way
around. Certainly if the dog gets fat enough, from too much food or
too little moving around or, more likely, both, it's not going to want
to do more than lie around even if that's not healthy or what is
normal for the breed. One of the first things the rescue person I got
Molly from said when we went to an adoption day to touch base was that
Molly was looking really good weight-wise. That was when it was still
too hot to jog with her, if I liked jogging in the first place. But
she loves to run around the back yard chasing and wrestling and I
don't feed according to the back of the bag when it's not good for the
dog. So I guess I would revise my question to ask if the dog is happy
and if the dog is at a healthy weight so that it doesn't need to move
more whether it wants to or not.

This morning I took Emmett up to the national forest for a
walk, and being a holiday weekend there were people camping
all over the place. Lots of 'em had dogs, too - big,
lard-assed overweight dogs, hanging out around their
campsites. What I didn't see was anybody else out walking

Suja...

It must be the warm weather bringing people out of the woodworks, but I'm
seeing an awful lot of seriously fat dogs these days. Most common culprits
are Labs; I honestly don't remember the last time I saw one that was in
decent shape. What is it with people that they think that a 6 year old dog

Paula...

Labs are a breed that I would think would be in big danger of being
overweight than many others. They are greedy guts who will eat as
much of anything you give them or they can find on their own as they
can stuff in their stomachs, so if they don't get enough exercise,
they're bound to be tubs of lard in no time. My daughter's friend has
a GR that is hugely overweight. They take it for walks fairly often,
but they free feed and fill the bowl when it gets empty. I asked why
at one point and the answer was that they didn't want the dog to be
hungry. I think a lot of people think dogs only eat what they need or
when they are truly hungry even though they accept that humans eat
when they are bored or because it's there or tastes good.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Heh.

When I take any of my Labs out among the great unwashed masses, I
always get asked why I'm starving my dogs, or why don't I ever feed
them, etc. "They look so skinny!" "I can see his ribs!" Etc.

Suja...

Small wonder too. The last time the great unwashed masses saw a Lab who is
in good shape is probably like never. The only fit Lab I have known is now
fat.

Really. It's all I can do not to pistol-whip 'em.

shore...

I think a lot of people also tie together food and
affection, and try to show love to their dog by giving it
food.

But anyway, while I think it's pretty clear that the dog
that started this thread gets more walks by far than the
average pet dog, I also think the activity level should be
ramped up somewhat, for both the dog's physical and mental
health.

is old, and labs are supposed to look like walruses? And then there's the
Min Pin that looks like a tootsie roll on toothpicks.

Amy Dahl...

One thing that may be unique about Labs is that they are shown in grossly
overweight condition. I trained a show Labrador not long ago--a wonderful

pfoley...

==================================================
I agree with you totally; that is exactly what they did to me on this group,
they removed just enough context from what I wrote and put their own
negative spin on it. There are about three or four of them here that do
that.
Regarding walking your dog for 60 minutes a day,. I would think 60 minutes
would be very adequate for your dog, plus you play with his as well. He
gets a lot of your attention. With my dog, (a Rott) I have to watch out for
the heat, because she does not do well in the heat, so if the weather is
hot, I have to walk her very early in the morning when it is cool.

dog, by the way--who had just spent some time with a professional handler
getting trained and prepped for shows. She was obese when she came to me.
It was a concern for field work. I don't know how to quantify the strain on
her heart and her ability to maintain body temperature with hard running or
swimming, but didn't feel it was safe to do any but very close work until I
had her slimmed down. The owner told me that the show handler had put,
IIRC, 15 lbs on her, on purpose, to get her into ring condition.

Paula...

Okay, now that's one of those things that just makes me crazy! The
breed was developed to be a *retriever* out running around as far as
the birds might fly or fall and the conformation judges are saying
they need to be too fat to do that job in order to win at shows? It's
crazy to say that in order to be deemed a fine exemplar of the breed,
it will hurt to have an athletic build when it is an athletic breed.

Rocky...

Well, they probably need *some* weight when retrieving amongst
the ice bergs off the coast of Labrador. In Amy's bayou
country, *that* much insulation isn't probably required.

Amy Dahl...

I'm somewhat at a loss as to what ideal condition should be for a Lab.
We are used to seeing them "sleek," with a layer of fat under the
skin that smooths the outline and softens the muscle definition a
bit. They are still tucked-up and have a clear waist as viewed from
above.

The guidelines that have been published in recent years suggest that
dogs are healthier and live longer if they are thinner than that. I
don't
know how to find out if that layer of fat we are used to seeing on Labs
helps them resist cold, is unhealthy, is mainly cosmetic, or what.

Dogs that carry extra fat beyond that layer under the skin, even 3-5
pounds of it, show a pronounced lack of stamina.

shore...

It's not so much that the extra fat has a metabolic effect
but that it's tiring to haul the extra weight around. The
same is true of humans - in particular bicycle racers try to
avoid picking up any extra fat *or* muscle in their upper
body. A member of the US xc ski team says that among his
training plans for this year is to spend *less* time in the
gym, to avoid developing heavy muscles that he has to carry
up hills but that don't help him get there.

Extra weight requires extra work to carry it. Obviously you
can go too far in the other direction (fat stores energy)
but honestly, very few people or dogs do.

Amy Dahl

Still, them show dogs are more than ice berg fat.

Amy Dahl...

It will also hurt to have jaws long enough and strong enough to carry
a duck and breathe at the same time. My little show Lab that I liked so
much was nice, smart, and talented, but had to work ridiculously hard
just to carry a duck.

Labs aren't meant to run the way the pointing breeds do (or hounds or
Dalmatians either). They get their exercise more in short bursts, with
rests in between, unless they are used as flushing dogs. Still, my feeling
from working with a lot of them is that a show-type Lab in hard working
condition is still sacrificing stamina because of that extra weight and
heavy bone in the legs.

Amy Dahl

Mary Beth...

Couldn't agree more with ya'll.
Ppl are constatnly asking me if Ceilidh aka Boo is sick? She's a feild bred
lab, and in top condition, swimming is the reason for most of that, as I
can't *walk* my dogs as much as I'd like.
Tho neighbor hood children are moe than happy to 'volunteeer'. Heh...they
all love my dogs. I won't let them 'walk' them for me unless they are of a
certain age/weight themselves, and it all depends on which dog they take
out. Rudy is very easy, he'd walk fine on an old lady with a walker. Heh.
Boo needs a bit stronger hand, and Zack is in between or even stronger than
Boo, depending on what he sees. Tho he's never pulled away from anyone ever.
There are only 3 'children' I trust anyway, in their teens and next door
neighbors. The rest can walk with me. :)

Anyway, look at Westminster! Look at the labs that win BOB! They are tubs o
lard, and if that's what the conformation ppl are looking for, then by all
means give me a feild bred lab any day!! (Tho, I do know they can gain just
as much wieght depending on the owners.)
I can leave my open food bags out and NONE of my dogs have ever gone near
them, they know what they get from me and are perfectly happy! :)

Rocky...

I've heard of Labs who spend half the year in conformation and
half in agility - they can't mix it up because conformation
requires a weight that would be dangerous in agility. All that
yo-yo dieting can't be good, either.

Amy Dahl...

I pushed this dog's owner to get her show title in one continuous effort

and then take the weight off, rather than bouncing her back and forth
between showing and field work, with repeated weight gains and losses.
They say that's really bad for people, and she acted really hungry when
dieting.

Paula...

That makes me sad. It's bad enough that people go through the ups and
downs of yo-yo dieting. I can't imagine doing that to my dog. Here,
eat more and get fat so I can then put you on a diet and then fatten
you up and then put you on a diet... But I agree that it wouldn't be
good to have that much extra weight on a dog doing a lot of jumping
and what not. I have always thought that if I ever bought a purebred
dog (and I don't see that happening any time soon for me, but don't
diss other people for doing it for their own reasons) I would care a
lot about health and temperament but not so much about conformation.
Now I'm thinking that for some breeds, I might be against conformation

Rocky...

Get a dog with a big coat. My friend with the skinny Malinois
has a hard time competing against the other Belgian breeds (they
go head-to-head in the CKC).

titles!

shore...

In Siberians there's a big gap between working dogs and show
dogs. It's not so much the weight/fitness issue (I thought
the dog that won BOB at Westminster this year was actually
in very nice shape) but that the conformation being rewarded
in the show ring really isn't what you want in a sleddog.

A friend shows his "skinny" Malinois in conformation (he also
does agility and Schutzhund) - they're getting points, but very
slowly.

Amy Dahl...

Color me wrong. I thought the Lab was the only breed that was shown
overweight.

Robin Nuttall...

The lab is probably the most overt example in the U.S. They are truly
pig fat in the show ring. It's ugly and jarring. They're so fat that
their heads look like pinheads. I still remember the yellow lab that won
the breed at Westminster a few years ago who was not only truly obese,
but had NO bottom teeth behind his canines all the way to his molars.
Not a single premolar. And he won breed!

shore...

Okay, so most of us probably agree that those dogs are too
fat and that there are various other problems, but clearly
the judges are rewarding *something* and they're doing it in
a sufficiently systematic way that the same dogs tend to do
well. What is it that they see and that they value?

Amy Dahl...

I'm not involved with Labrador showing, but I have worked with some
show-bred and show-titled dogs, and read the standard (used to argue
vociferously that the Standard describes today's working dogs; now I just

"The underline is almost straight, with little or no tuck-up in
mature animals. Loins should be short, wide and strong."

You can see in todays' working Labradors that there is a smooth
underline. While there may be a hollow in the flank area, Labs are
not tucked-up in the same way many breeds are. They are also
muscular through the loins, so a fit working dog never looks skinny
in the waist when viewed from above.

But you can definitely get a straighter underline and more width
through the loin by fattening the dog up! I have assumed for a
long time that these sentences were the driving force behind fat
show Labs.

It is really weird how some things in a breed standard get emphasized
in the extreme, while other things are ignored. The Lab standard is
explicit about a short coat, and defines a "moderate stop" clearly as a
slight breaking of the plane between forehead and muzzle, defined by
the eyebrow rims. Incidentally, it is also explicit about missing molars
or premolars being serious faults.

And of course, the sentence:

"Labrador Retrievers shall be shown in working condition
well-muscled and without excess fat."

chris jung...

IIRC the American Cocker Spaniel has a line about how excessive coat is
undesireable. . .

OK I looked it up. Under coat in the Cocker Spaniel standard:

"Excessive coat or curly or cottony textured coat shall be severely
penalized."

This is what's winning in the ring:
http://www.asc-cockerspaniel.org/history/nationalbis.asp . I wonder what
excessive looks like.

Maybe it's not weird...it's an activity involving people, social dynamics,

trends, politics, etc.

Amy Dahl

But pretty much all breeds (with a somewhat exception for some
sighthounds) are shown very heavy for the show ring. Fat simulates bone.
Ergo, fatter seems like more substance and that means more wins.

Amy Dahl...

What about the smooth-coated, muscular breeds, like Boxers, Vizslas, etc.?
Aren't they shown looking "cut"?

Robin Nuttall...

Some are, and the German Shorthair who won Westminster year before last
was truly in spectacular working condition. But you won't see much in
the way of ribs. And if it's a "heavy" breed it will be fat. Many dobes
are shown far too fat for example.

I'm planning to do some showing in the not too distant future. Hope it
doesn't drive me crazy.

Robin Nuttall...

Labs? It will.

Amy Dahl

What truly saddens me are the fat puppies. Far too heavy for their ages.

Amy Dahl

Labs that come to board with us are often hugely overweight, although
plenty of other dogs are, too.

Amy Dahl

in the six or so miles we covered. There was a couple out

Suja...

Robin Nuttall...

You should meet Josie, a friend's lab who is just one big muscle. Yes,
you can see her ribs. She's a super dog with tons of attitude and drive,
doing birdwork, schutzhund (yep, shutzhund), obedience, and Rally.

Rocky...

I've a friend who runs nothing but labs in agility - her
youngest jumps 26" and would be on the Canadian world team if
landed immigrants as handlers were allowed (that's recently been
changed). So watch out for Zoom the black Lab. Dang FCI only
allows national registry dogs to compete (the CKC here), so no
Border Collies or JRTs - but we make up for it with in-shape
Labs and wired Paps.

I see plenty of in-shape Labs - it's oversized GRs that concern
me. Not fat necessarily, but just bigger than they should be.

That sounds about right. One of our regular walks is near the government
center, with a ton of apartments and townhouses just a stone's throw away.
On most of our walks, we may encounter a jogger or two, and it is a very
unusual day when we run into more than 2 dogs. On all our hikes in the
Shenandoahs to date, we have seen maybe 3 or 4 dogs total (including one guy
with his extremely fit, extremely well trained dog doing the whole AT).

riding some handsome, old-style quarter horses, but nobody
walking. Those were some happy fat dogs in the camping
areas, though.

dog make it unlikely that it will do well with minimum exercise, but
since not all its exercise comes from walks, that could be okay or
not, depending. Is the dog content or is it showing signs of excess
energy or boredom?

highanxiety2006...

Thanks to all who responded. My dog is sleek and she is not overweight.
I just took her in for a check up and the vet said she was at a good
weight, she WILL eat any and everything, but she doesn't get any and
everything.

I'm sorry - I think I didn't correctly state my concern.. I am not as
worried about the amount of excersize as I am the frequency of letting
her eliminate. I try and watch her, to see if she gives me clues if

Paula...

Once a day is definitely not enough. I can't think of any dog I've
had that was okay with twice a day either. Three times a day could
work as long as you are looking for signs in between that he needs to
go out for another potty break, but it seems to me to be pushing it.
My dogs (aged from 1 year to about 5 years and sized from 8 to 100
pounds) go out first thing in the morning, when I get home from work
(but I'm not gone 8 hours or they'd probably have to go out again
right before I left, sometimes they do anyway), once in the evening
and once right before bedtime. So they go out 4 times a day and
sometimes more often if they need to.

she is uncomfortable, but I have heard everything from walking ONCE a
day (I can't do that, I just keep imagining that my dog needs to
relieve herself) to more than what I am doing - three times. It seems
cruel to me to just let them out even twice a day to do this. I just
want to feel that I am letting her relieve herself enough. Sometimes,
she does ask to go out, and of course we do then. She doesn't SEEM
uncomfortable.. I'm just not used to having a puppy. I've had a cat
(still do) for 14 years, and it's been a learning experience, but a
joy.

As to the excersize, I get her running around until she wants to stop,
so I think she's okay with that. And she can run! It's pretty
hysterical to watch her. She loves play time.
Dakota has always been more of an indoor dog. When I had a large,
fenced in yard, she would go in the yard to use the bathroom, and the
next thing I knew, she was standing at the glass door, wanting in. She
seems to prefer inside to outside. Another thing - when we had the
yard, she would, at times, have "running spells", where she sped across
the yard and ran maybe a couple of times per week - Uh.. actually? She
runs more NOW since we have moved than she did when we had a yard,
because I play with her and work her up into a run. I worried about
having such a large dog without a yard, so I've made sure I wear her
out a couple of times a day. So.. it's not the excersize I am worried
about. She seems to be a very happy dog, I don't notice anything like
boredom. She knows if she wants to play, I'm always game.

It's just the elimination thing - I just can't believe it's okay to
take them out once or twice per day? I have no clue..help.

Toni...

Mine go out five times a day:
Upon my first waking up they go for a pee- 4AM.
After breakfast and before I go to work they do out again- 7AM.
Immediately after I get home they go out- 1PM.
They go out after eating their dinner- 6PM.
Last call before bed- 10PM.

How often do you go to the bathroom?
Is three times a day enough for *you*?

You need to find yourself a field where she can go offlead and play fetch,
or find a lake for swimming, or greatly increase both the length and the
speed of your walks.

Or all of the above.

Thanks so much,