What do you reckon would be more beneficial and tire a dog out more? 20 minutes of hard and fast running,also playing with other dogs  or  1hour of slow and steady walking?

Sometimes my dogs take off like lighting as soon as we hit the park and just go full on straight away and i wonder if i should go for the full walk as they seem to be exhausted so soon.Then other times they'll take their time to smell the roses and we could meander around for an hour or more. They seem to act the same after either type walk when we get home.

:)

what sort of age group are we talking?

and What breed?

oops sorry :o I've got adult Border terriers,youngest is 1 year,oldest 5 years.

I'm talking Adult dogs in general,i wouldnt have thought the breed would have come into it.

20 minutes hard & fast or 1 hour slow and steady. Which would tire them out more? I just cant come to a conclusion??

I think it does entirely depend on the breed. My borzois are happy, and tired, with a half hour walk involving a few flat out runs round a field, bearing in mind they put absolutely everything they have into running. I've also got border collies, they go for the same walk as the zois, run the same amount of time and are still wild. They need far longer, even if they are chasing a ball endlessly. It also depends on what the purpose of the exercise is, if it's socialisation and exercise then the longer walk definitely. If it's purely a quick walk before having to leave them then the shorter, faster walk. When I was showing my borzois I would also do about 2 or 3 hours roadwork a day, just at a steady pace to harden their muscles, free running to build muscles up and then roadwork to tone them.

So to sum up, I would try and combine the two walks, for socialisation and mental stimulation the longer walk is best but with some flat out running and playing included :)

I agree with the canny scot :)
If we didnt know we could advise activity innapropriate for your Borders!
Mental stimulation is thought to be more tiring (is for me anyway ;) ) so your 20 min mooching walk could be made more tiring for them by simply changing to a walk theyve never done. (this works for my 'desperate-to-see-whats-round-the next corner-Siberian')
   I play 'go seek' and hide strips of dried fish for him to hunt out.(Borders are 'ratchers' they'd like this too?)
Swimming is great for low weight bearing activity to tire out (and we're doing lots of that in this heat!!)
And you see this is probably where Breed does come into it...My Sibe can run and run and not tire, he's often more tired from a mootch about slow chilled walk if there's cover and he can ratch about, dig at burrows and be mentally stimulated...
if that makes sense???
HTH :D

borders are bred & designed to follow the hounds at a horses pace all day, so there you go.....thyey should have stamina so go for long walks with lots of activity!

Well I was thinking it would matter, not knowing what breed you had.  I mean, you wouldn't exercise bulldogs and border collies the same, fast or slow. My breed wouldn't tire out after 20 minutes hard and fast even if you included 1 hour slow and steady.

Agree with Missie, the breed does matter. I have borders and yes they will run forever given the chance. However a misconception is the BC has to be running around all day to tire it out. Wrong, mental exercise of some sort tires them out a lot quicker. I feel this applies to most breeds, mental exercise combined with some physical exercise.
In terms of what's more beneficial to your dog, from the dogs view I guess the playing with the other dogs. Your dogs going to choose playing with other dogs over walking along on a lead. Wouldn't you?
Have to admit I've never thought about what I can do with my dogs that will tire them out, more what will they and I enjoy, so whether it's walking, swimming, agility etc.

Though her breed was Border terriers?

M57's forgot her specs anna..... ;)

with BTs id imagine Fast& short would be more tiring than slow& long, but i agree with others about mental being THE most tiring.

why do you wantto tire them out?

>why do you want to tire them out?<

It was more a hypothetical question Michelle. :)
My OH and i were debating about it,he thinks 20 minutes of hard running would be more beneficial,whereas me,i just cant make up my mind.

>Your dogs going to choose playing with other dogs over walking along on a lead.<

They are never on the lead,i walk at whatever pace they choose.

Anna, Huskygal,
I realise the poster was talking about Border Terriers. :) Don't worry I haven't quite lost the plot just yet (getting closer every day :) )
I was just giving an example with my own breed, however I think mental exercise applies to most breeds and also doing what makes your dog happy, not what will conveniently tire them out.

..and also replying as to why it mattered what breed we were talking about ;)

just to make things more confusing....;)

every walk is different though and the pace of that walk will vary according to the time of day and the weather. i've got a terrier and for sure he wears himself out very happily in the cool of the evenings when the rabbits have come out to play. he'll spend 45 minutes or more ferretting (or should that be rabbiting?) around in the depths of the field hedges and won't actually cover a great distance.

in the morning, though, after 20 minutes of haring around like an eejit he paces himself but wants to cover a far greater distance.

but without a doubt, the sort of walk that always results in total zonko on getting home is one where he's met up with other doggy mates and had a thoroughly good play.

so i doubt there's any one single way to guarantee a more than averagely tired doggy!