Help choosing a pup

[dfgre6y5t]

@louy51 You only want to walk an hour a day???

 

[louy51]

@dfgre6y5t Is that unreasonable? I thought an hour-long walk or run would be pretty standard! We also have a large block of land for playing and exploring.

 

[cgesange]

@louy51 That's plenty for my dogs. We also have a large fenced yard with toys and a designated digging area. My dogs are on the larger side - my Pyrenees/cattle dog mix is 60 lbs and my lab/mastiff mix is 75 lbs.

 

[worshipsinger]

@louy51 An hour a day is completely reasonable. But depending on energy levels it's good to have another 30ish minutes for free play or training. I've got 2 working GSD's who only get an hour a day walking outside of their training and play time.

 

[carterishere]

@worshipsinger Only an hour and a half of activity a day for a GSD?! Wow, I thought they almost universally needed to go go go with a ‘job’ near constantly.

My nearly 11 year old Yorkie mix gets nearly double the engaged activity time of that daily and wouldn’t tolerate much less on a regular basis.

 

[eront]

@carterishere Only if they're conditioned to that. Many people assume they need a lot more than they actually do, and ultimately condition the dog to need more because they don't teach an off switch.

 

[worshipsinger]

@eront Pretty much, I make sure they learn to self settle and chill so you can enjoy some peace and quiet. The other thing is you have to be careful about wearing them out with their joints so I typically avoid long walks unless I purposely set out for a hike. But that's why it's good to have training sessions which are mentally stimulating which tire them out just as much.

 

[carterishere]

@worshipsinger So are you actually engaging with them for more than an hour and a half daily? When the mental stimulation is accounted for?

 

[carterishere]

@eront Hm, I’d think they’re not living their best life though, as it goes against their innate nature. Why not just get a dog that actually naturally has lower activity requirements if that’s what your needs are?

 

[eront]

@carterishere It's not really against their nature, these dogs even when they live highly active lives still need to learn how to settle down. Otherwise, they drive everyone mad and they're usually deeply unhappy themselves.

 

[carterishere]

@eront Those are two different issues though. Inability to settle down when properly tired out is an entirely different issue than not having enough engagement or activity to begin with.

 

[eront]

@carterishere Honestly, the inability to settle thing I personally find more common with these breeds. You're not neglecting needs if the dog does an hour and half of activity a day and have taught the dog to relax.

Yes, these dogs need physical and mental exercise. No, you don't need to run yourself ragged for it. Weekend warrior is enough.

 

[worshipsinger]

@carterishere One of my dogs is IGP certified and the other on its way so it's worked so far lol

 

[carterishere]

@worshipsinger Care to share what that is?

 

[worshipsinger]

@carterishere It's an international sports title for GSDs for tracking obedience and protection work but my point is that you can definitely adequately stimulate larger dogs and working dogs without the need to walk them for 2-3 hours.

 

[halpme]

@worshipsinger I’m with you on your main point, just wanted to clarify that IGP, while initially developed for testing GSDs, is for all working breeds as well

 

[kjvbeliever87]

@carterishere It's puzzling to me how little exercise is recommended or considered fine according to many sources for various dog breeds. And here I'm walking my 5 kg mutt like 3 hours a day (okay, sometimes a little less, and the third hour can be an hour in the dog park), and she really seems to need that, 'cause she gets super restless at home otherwise? But maybe dogs just... eventually settle for less, if they don't get more?

 

[halpme]

@kjvbeliever87 You condition your dog to need more exercise. You’re essentially building an athlete when you exercise them more, many dogs need to be taught an off switch and don’t know how to settle on their own

 

[kjvbeliever87]

@halpme Those are not super athletic walks tho, 'cause I allow my pup to sniff a lot, which provides some mental stimulation I suppose. I do teach her tricks and try come up with some stimulation at home too, but honestly I prefer spending lots of time on walks to having to constantly "entertain" her at home. Sure it could be nice if she could calm down more, but she's also just 5 months old, so I don't know if it's too much to ask to try to make her calm down when she still is full of energy? (and anyway, I can't imagine walking her only 30 mins a day!)

 

[halpme]

@kjvbeliever87 You have to be extremely careful with over exercising a young dog. That much exercise for a dog that age can cause permanent damage to their joints. You are NOT a bad owner, please don’t take this as that! A good rule of thumb for the first year or so of a dogs life is 10 minutes of intentional exercise per month of age, so you should be doing about an hour of intentional exercise, then the rest should be free play and mental enrichment. You can do sniff games, training, snuffle mats, wobble toys, food frozen in a bowl, etc. for mental enrichment at home, I like to do about an hour of it spaced out throughout the day.

Do you have an idea of the breeds she is mixed with? It sounds like she might need more enforced naps! Puppies get overtired and act just like overtired toddlers, going a little haywire haha. Enforcing naps will help teach her an off switch, as well as rewarding calm, plus you can teach a place command to help.