How much exercise does the dog need?
A very popular and yet most misunderstood question.
I already said it before and will keep saying it: dogs do not need hours of exercise to “tire them out.”
You do not need to “play fetch” with them for an hour every day.
You do not even need to arrange “play dates” for your dog to be with other representatives of its species.
Dogs do need to be a part of your life, though, and it has to be sincere. They need to feel included, important, and functional.
What does it mean in a language of “how much exercise”?
You want to target your dog’s major drives that need satisfying: prey, possession, pack, and food.
This means
- Tug games for possession
- Ball games for prey
- Hide-and-seek for pack
- Learning new skills for food or any of the above
Enroll your dog in obedience class. Pick and play one game per walk. Never wonder whether you gave your dog enough exercise. Oh, and thank me later 🙂