How Often?

How often do you and your dog take walks together?

In the warmer months like Spring/Summer/Fall we take about 5-6 walks a week. They range anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

In the winter it's more like 2-3 walks and they are often shorter 15-30 minute walks because it's so cold out.

But I find that she really craves those walks. If it is sunny out she will sit and stare at her leash and harness on the hook as if to tell me "Come on Mom, what are you waiting for?"

And it helps with her behavior later on in the day. She is much more "balanced" when we've taken several good walks each week.

Re: How Often?

I'm a bad momma. I take them for a 10 minute walk, twice a day in the winter. Well, I do the morning walks, and DH does the evenings. We also let them run around in the yard for a bit in the winter.

In the summer, we take hour long walks. We go to the dog park. We walk over the bridge to visit my momma and her dog. I'm just such a big baby about the cold.

Re: How Often?

We'd like to start doing some long walks a few times a week. However, we're trying to get Dodger on a schedule right now for when I go back to work at the schools. I'm afraid that if I take him on these hour long journeys every day now, he's going to think it's normal and go in the house when "work at home" month is over.

Message edited 1/13/2012 2:28:52 PM.

Re: How Often?

I've got to say, I've been pretty good. Unless it's raining, Ozzie gets 4 walks a day (we don't have a yard so every time he goes out it's a 'walk'). He goes out for 10-15 minutes in the morning and at night. He has a 30 minute walk with a dog walker in the middle of the day, and a 30-45 minute walk with me after work - unless the weather is horrendous. He also goes to the park usually once a week (on weekends) to run around. He's okay if we miss a day or two of this routine, and is usually pretty calm on the weekends, but I think it's good for both of us and keeps him happy!

Re: How Often?

We usually take our dog on three 20-30 minute walks per day. During the warmer weather we take him on longer walks/hikes depending on our schedules. On days I have my dog walker come she walks my dog 1-2 miles depending on the weather. She will also bring him to the park to play if it is not too cold or rainy. My dog really needs to get outside and walk/play so I cannot imaging cutting his walk time.

Re: How Often?

So for those of you who walk every day without fail --- are the walks serving the purpose of bathroom time? Or are they purely exercise/enjoyment?

I thought I was doing good with several walks a week but obviously it is not compaired to what other people are doing.

However, in the nearly 2 years that we've had Charlie, she has yet to go #2 on a walk. She's shy about that kinda thing. She does pee but only goes #2 in the backyard, and she goes out in the backyard about 10+ times a day to do her business!

Re: How Often?

For us, it's to use the bathroom. When they are out in the backyard, that's when they are running around and playing and exercising. We're always playing in the house, too. DH yells at me all the time! "Don't get them riled!" Too late!

Re: How Often?

Walks serve both purposes. His morning and night time 'walks' are really ONLY bathroom breaks, and the longer walks are both. Park trips are both, too. When we have a house/yard (we are house hunting now) we plan on the following schedule: out in the back for morning and before bed, mid-day play/potty in the yard or on a short-ish walk, and long walk in the evening. Ozzie needs quite a bit of exercise so this works for us and keeps him happy and well-behaved, and gets me moving more often too

Re: How Often?

Usually 4 walks a day (before and after both breakfast and dinner). Two are short and two are long.
Then I also run home from work mid-day for back yard potty break/play time.
On weekends, he may get an extra walk mid-day--especially if a relative stops by to walk him.

It's for exercise and to satisfy the migration instinct. I've read that walks are the only way to satisfy the migration instinct. Running around a yard won't do it. We also try to vary the routes we take.

My dog was a stray before being rescued and the first 4-6 weeks, I thought we'd never satisfy how much he wanted to walk. It seemed like he'd want to walk the entire day. And for a little guy, he can also run really fast. Thankfully, he's calmed down and trusts that we'll walk him plenty so it's far less often that he resists coming in. I'm sure the cold weather helps that also, though!