Reading the post on how many dogs everyone has I was interested in how you all exercise them, I have 5 and its hard work.

I only have the one ( so far) so its usually off to the woods for us - chasing sticks and birds and the occasional squirrel :)
what breeds do you have Sandie??
Lel

I take all 4 out together - three on one side, and Piglet on the other!
Edit: We lead walk through the village till we get to the fields, then they go offlead (2 mile circuit) till we get back to the road again.
:)

with my own three i have a field at the back of me so we all go out thru the garden in the morning. in the evening and at the weekends when i have more time i either take the dogs one at a time or have someone let the out one at a time so that i can put themn in the van we then go to the woods, toby stays on a lead and tess and jack when clear of the carpark are let of their leads, when we come across people as jack jumps up he is held by the collar until we pass. jack also comes to work with me so that i can go training with him after wards without upsetting 'my baby' too much, tess sometimes comes to work but not that often as she makes toomuch noise and causes too much trouble, one of the last times i took her she went missing she had got in to the neighbours garden and their cats wouldnt let her back out :D everytime she went to come to me they got closer to her hissing at her and lashing out, it wouldnt have been too bad but my boss has trouble with these neighbours anyway, luckily they were out so didnt know.
toby sleep s most of the day and ive never really done much training but as he sits when told and he doesnt go off the lead theres never really been much point

I have four dogs and three of which dont need a great deal of exercise ( my two bulldogs and my french bullboy ), my other dog, a staffie i walk daily at the park to give her a good run, the others i take to the park once a week and they get a daily walk round the block.

Hi Lel,
I have springers so they need alot of exercise, I also like to give them one to one if possible and this can take up a whole day if we take each to the woods etc.
Sandie.

I can imagine!!
Dont think I would be up to five !! ;)
Lel

Hi Sandie,
I have 5 also. I used to take them all out together, but the oldest dog, who is now 13 is not capable of a long walk, so now I walk him seperately. I still take the other 4 out together (there's a lot to be said for obedience training!:).

Sarah.

parents dogs get run over the feilds 3/4 times aweek and my grandparents dogs go over the vally 3 times aday on different lengh walks in 2s and 3s. Alss my youngest setter, moya comes joggin with me thats all on lead round the big block!!!

Rox

Only have 2 and I walk them together. They get some road on lead walking and then a good off lead session in woods and fields. I try to do some specific gundog/obedience each day individually even if it's only 5 mins. I think this exercises their brains and makes them think about what they do. When they are off lead I always do some stopping and recall work and some walking to heel.
Lorna

My Springer gets the occasional lead walk but mainly she's off lead in the woods racing around after squirrels. We have our own fields too so most days she's out and about with us or going crazy with her beloved Boomer ball, the only thing guaranteed to get her knackered within 10 minutes!!

Kath.

mine are taken up the commen in the car the car door is open and then they just run they also get an individual walk a day up the field at the top of the road

hi

its difficult to walk the dog now that its dark when i get back from work she has to make do with road walking as its a bit risky going in a field after dark ,at the weekend she has a good run ,dogs get use to the exercise they get the more you give the more they need,also its not a good idea to walk them everyday as they come to expect it and won't settle until they've been ,they have to be able to live without being walked every day in case there was a problem and you could'nt take them , if you get your dog into too much of a set routine then you make a rod for your own back.

:( I suppose it depends how much you want a fit, healthy dog. I know that since I've started a part-time job and miss out on some of the walks (thanks husband for filling the gap!) I'm not nearly as fit and don't feel half as well as I did. I'd hate to think the dogs were suffering the same way as I am.

My 2 currently get an hour, twice a day, running free over our country park, Honey chasing her ball on a rope most of the time as she needs that bit more exercise than Dylan. Not quite sure whats going to happen when we get our pup, will probably carry him until he has had his jabs, when he had them I will probably let him walk a bit, carry a bit.......

H

I am lucky, I dont actually walk my lot anywhere!!! We live on a 5 acre plot of land and my 4 springers have free run of this all day every day. At weekends i spend hours playing fetch with them and usually for an hour or so each evening

Brinny

I've put on three pounds this last week since the dogs have been in kennels :( Definitely getting the dogs back tomorrow, come what may - we are all missing them a lot and I can't afford to put on any more weight :D They won't have had any off lead runs for over a week - they'll be like lunatics when I pick them up :D

Daisy

Normal walks with my lad, but i have seen some very innovative ways of exercising dogs, one guy has his spinone and lab chase him on his mountain bike through the common. One woman rides her horse through the common with her little collie following and when she thinks she's had enough she lets her get up on the saddle with her! This little dog jumps from the floor up, it's amazing, horse doesn't bat an eyelid!
:)

One of our local postman has his collie walk with him every morning. It's very well behaved and waits outside on the pavement while he walks up the path to the house :)

Daisy

Hi all:)

I walk my dog 2-3 times a day, 1. Because he loves it and 2.Dogs need excercise, thats what i thought anyway:D so my question is how come not everyone on CD walks their dog everyday? I thought that it was cruel not to? or am i the one doing it wrong? answers appreciated thank you:)

My dogs get 2 walks a day on a sort of rota basis between me and my son. We have a springer and cocker, both working so the rota varies with season. It works out as either a quick walk in the morning (30 - 40 mins) with longer in the evening, or longer in the morning (1hr +)with quick walk and training session in evening. We have plenty of open land, common, fields, woodland here to there is no shortage of variety for them. If I go out in the car I walk them together then put one back in the car at a time and do a bit of individual work on their own. Weekends and Thursdays are different currently as it's shooting season so springer is out both days (with short walk for poo before he goes!) and that gives me time to concentrate on the little madam who is only 18 months and has done a few odd days working here and there but doesn't work well together with other dog. That means I occasionally appear at the shoot at lunchtimes to meet my son and swap dogs, if I can scrounge lunch then all the better!

With regard to your post, I was surprised during foot and mouth how my dogs adapted to little or no walking. I exercised them in the local supermarket carpark very very early in the morning - it did wonders for their nails! My dogs will stay on the go all day long, on the very odd occasion we can't manage to spend time walking I find that simply taking them out does the trick, they don't seem to realise how long they have been gone, it's simply the going out that they look for. They then settle down quite quickly after they get back.

Mine go twice a day, no matter what. I even took them out (albeit slowly!) when I was on crutches with my foot in plaster. They are an active breed, designed for exercise. They need exercise, and they'll get it - if I want them to settle down in the house, they must be taken out to release their energy outside. Foot-and-mouth was a total nightmare - we did miles of roadwork, but unless they are trotting (that means me running!) it has no effect on either their nails or their energy levels.
:)

the dog will hardly suffer through missing a walk if they feel like exercising they will run round the garden perhaps you could join them jeangeanie!! LOL to rebuild your physique and stop your suffering!

Unfortunately we don't have enough land for them to run the way they need! When I win the lottery though.....

Ours go out for a good long walk at least once a day without fail, and usually two, although that being said, I appreciate that we are fortunate that our circumstances enable us to do that. However, I think that the quality of the exercise is more important than quantity though, ours wouldn't gain very much from mooching about a grassy area, even if you let them do it for hours, but take them somewhere where they can spend their time hunting out stuff and they are in seventh heaven and basically exercise themselves by working their socks off.

Lesley

Quite true Lesley. Mine won't just exercise themselves - they need to be taken out. The garden is for weeing and pooing - but there's nothing to mentally stimulate them there, and that's as important for their health as physical exercise.
:)

With us, it's generally a case of 2 men, 1 woman & 6 dogs go to walk a meadow!

We've found it's easier if the 3 of us go together, have 3 on leads & 3 off - over the golf course & fields, swapping over half way round. Mind you, Purdey only ever goes on a lead if we are going up to the village - she stays off all the time, and now we are doing the same with Thor more and more.

The Piddles and Loki get 1-2-1 in the golf club car park (can pretend its a show ring late in the evening when the golfers have gone home & before they start in the morning), and the others get 1-2-1 up to the village every so often as well - so, it could be worse!!

Margot

Mine are quite lazy, though there again so am I. I'm really lucky though as we have a water park 5 minutes drive so they get to go twice a week for a swim and they love it. The only problem is that I can't get my old girl out of the water even now when it's getting cold. I also have a park across the road from where I live, but I also admit that as it's dark when I get home now they don't get as much exercise but we play in the back garden and they are retrieve mad which keeps them happy, just have an aching arm for the rest of the night!!

Jean genie I think people will thinik we have a mutual fan club as you mirroir my expereinces in just about everything, lol! My lot will only go in the garden for a quick pee, even though the back door is open all the time except in the most horendous weather.

I take them out every time I leave the house, unless it is an errand like doctors or dentist. they get at least one good walk, varying the location, as I have good choice of parks and recreation grounds etc, and also any trops for the paper etc.

My breed also need to go out to excersise, as once adult they don't do excersise for the sake of it.

A friend has Border collies and Shepherds and 7 Elkhound. Unless she takes the Elk out she will just lie around all day chewing a bone. The colies are up and down up and down her very large farden, and the Shepherds nearly as much. DThe Elkhound will do one circuit first thing in the morning to check what has visited in the night, and then that is it except for pee breaks.

Cam gets a minimum of two walks a day, usually three. We rarely just walk though ...I usually feel compelled to embarrass myself by training or playing games, which generally involves me talking in a high pitched squeaky voice in front of complete strangers. I can't wait until he's old enough to take running ...

JG, do you go running with your dallies?

Jo

I used to run with them Jo, but my knees are starting to resent it :( I still manage to run a mile or so with them, but my dream of running a marathon has had to be ditched. :(

I let the four who sleep in the house out to do a piddle first thing then when it`s light I take the 7 labs & mongrel out walking in the bottom field which is fenced in 2. The gsd goes in the back & waits & when I come back the 3male labs go in the back & I walk the 5girls & gsd back in the bottom field again. Then in the afternoons we just hang around the top part but in the summer they swim(I thro floating dummies & they retrieve them) instead of going to the bottom field. Thing is Bonnie gets upset if I don`t take her out with the others so I don`t take anything to throw on the walks anymore & I walk at her pace. I vary it tho depending on the weather & how I feel. They are lazy tho, if I don`t walk they won`t either & sometimes they walk so close to me it`s like they`re glued to me! :) Sometimes I bury their bones all round & they come across them & dig them up & carry them till we go back but left to themselves they`d just lay around the lawn & chew bones all day. :)

Christine, Spain.

Well when we can get Pudding used to the car we go and take all them to a place off road that they can run their little socks of ! Otherwise the two younger girls have this and the two oldies get lead walked around the village.

We go once a day but if they don't go out they snore their heads off is usually the main activity ! :)

Aww, shame JG. It's funny, but I don't think I've ever met a runner who didn't have problems with their knees. :(

Well Bradley (boxer) he attends Gymnastics on a tuesday and thursday. On saturday morning is bums and tums followed by yoga which he is a big fan of aids his inner spirit. When time permits a little circuit training (tones his thighs).

Mine (Paddy - Staffy) gets three walks a day totalling around 2hours. He has half an hour in the morning running about in a field, 20 mins in the afternoon and an hour at 7ish, with the dark nights now this is mainly roadwork for his nighttime walk. Very lucky where I live as we are surrounded by countryside and there is plenty of variety to go on different walks. At the moment he has an obsession with finding huge stones and then digging a massive hole and burying the stone in it!

Hehe Emma

I forgot to mention - Cam is currently studying for an 'A' Level in British postwar modern history, and does some voluntary work for the local homeless shelter each week. He's also a keen cook, and is a great proponent of the 'if it moves, eat it' diet. :D

Hi,

Sal goes out about 3 times a day it varies daily depending on my shifts at work. But the walks total about 1.5- 2 hours about an hour running free over 2 walks (kong chasing) and atacking low hanging branches. The rest road walks with the nights drawing in.

Karen

I take 2 adults to a safe area and let them run loose at 5am and then take 2 youngsters at 5.30am same again at night,throughout the day they run around our back yard.Too big to walk all together.

Living in the country I just walk my 3 a few hundred yards on the lead and either go right to fields and a wooded area(with pheasants and deer) or left, along the dual carriageway a bit (about 50 yards) down under said carriageway and into open fields (no deer, usually, but still pheasants, and sometimes a crane) Both ways have water that the dogs can either swim or paddle in depending on the water level.

I used to exercise my two on my bike, but since Diz was diagnosed and had her op. it is too vigorous for her, and now I have my sheltie pup so it would be too much for her. So we walk down to the playing fields, Diz walks round sniffing, while Cas does sendaways to the benches on the other side of the field, jumps them and comes back, Ember runs a little way waits and runs back with her. So they all get just the right amount for each one :-)
Gina

we have an off lead run on the beach and through the sand dunes in the morning usually meeting up with doggy pals along the way, then half an hour lead walk in the evening .Ive only got one dog cant wait to get number two .I cant imagine what the inside of my cars going to look like though theres enough sand in it to build a castle already.