Dog walking

Is that ok for a dogs joints to walk that much? I guess sled dogs etc are built for it. That has to be like 10-12 miles per day!!

Why wouldn't it be?

I just thought it could be hard on some breeds hip joints. 10-12 miles a day is a lot. I am not quoting anything just was thinking out loud. I'm sure I'm wrong lol!!!

Who here has dogs? Do you log your "dog walking" calories burnt? I love the fact that I can do something I really enjoy (apart from lately, when it's rained and rained and rained), and it's good for me too.

I think I you

Flustered! :blushing: Oh, and happily married

That's ok. I can still love you LOL

I have a 4 year old pitbull. I definitely log all of my calories burned with him. We walk between a mixture of hills, flat roads and trails. We go out on walks an average of 4 times a day at an average of 70 minutes per walk. I definitely get a great workout!

Wow so you walk over 4 hours a day? Where do you find the time?

Yes ma'am. I work from home with a very flexible job ( ie I can take my phone with me) so a walk every 4 to 5 hours is totally possible. It wears him out and keeps me in shape!

Is that ok for a dogs joints to walk that much? I guess sled dogs etc are built for it. That has to be like 10-12 miles per day!!

There seems to be no issue at this point. We have been doing so for the past 4 years and he has a clean bill of health from his vet. He was seen in fact just a few weeks ago for a full examination and he is quite healthy. When he reaches an older age, we will of course adjust accordingly if need be but for now as he has no issues we will continue until that time.

I always thought it could be hard on their hips, especially bigger dogs. My dog is a mixed breed and seems like she can go forever but I keep it under 4 miles and that's a few times a week. The other days are just a mile or so.

Hip dysplasia is a potential future concern as it is known to occur in his breed. We definitely know this may be an issue in the future and will stay on top of it with the vet. But for now, that is not an issue so no immediate worries at this point.

My dog likes to sniff, too, but I definitely log it. I'm just getting started with exercise, so I'm building up stamina. I use mapwalk.com to figure out the distance and multiply the mileage times 30 minutes to get the right minutes at 2 miles per hour. Figuring it out and logging it encourages me to extend the length of our jaunts.

See below

For all of the people saying it is too cold...unless it is 0 degrees out it shouldn't be an excuse. It is a great way to get out in the winter months. As long as the dogs are running around they should be fine, just pay attention to them. Every weekend I have them out snowshoeing with me. I even took them out 2 weeks ago when it was -15 windchill. They didn't seem to mind at all. They were both panting when we got back to the car

Yes, today it is 0 here, or -32 farenheit.

Which is it?

0 C is 32 F.
0F is -28503 C

I always get them mixed up....it's -32 celcius, which according to an online temperature conversion site is -25.6 farenheit. So apparently they are close together in numbers... but it's damn cold for us all!

And that site onlineconversion.com also says 0 degree Fahrenheit = -17.7777778 degree Celsius

Yes, absolutely!

I walk them for an hour-hour and a half every day. Granted, I live in SoCal so the weather is always quite pleasant and allows me this luxury.

I walk both my Labs almost every day - we walk if it's more than 20 F, or less than 80 F or so (the older lab doesn't tolerate heat/humidity). And yes, I log the walks. I use Runkeeper to track them. We usually stop at a field for a retrieving session midwalk.

This winter has really sucked for walks though, as we've been under 20 F many days, and we've had a lot of snow; then some the snow melted and then it froze, and then it snowed on top of the frozen stuff. So now it's really difficult to walk on for my 12-year-old dog. And sometimes for me - nearly turned an ankle once or twice (snowshoes help a little when the snow is deeper).

I also train my younger Lab in competition agility, and I log the exercise from training classes and competing in trials. Hey, it's like running sprints! Great exercise for me and him.

We have the most spoiled dog on our block. She is a Boston terrier and she demands 7 walks a day. We live in the Pacific Northwest and can walk 365 days a year...the rain doesn't stop us. My husband and I fight for the privilege of escorting her and getting to claim the calories. DH tries for 3 miles a day. I average 6. I use a Fitbit since I found the exercise log at MFP didn't work too well in tracking a doggy pace. Definitely a walking machine with fur. The level of harassment when she thinks it is time for another perambulation is such that saying "no" is not an option.

So your dog walks 9 miles a day?

Yes. I walk with a group and we do 4 miles in just over an hour most days. We do at least 6 miles on Saturday and skip Sunday. Then DH and I each do 3 walks of 20 to 45 minutes with her. We are both retired.

Love this, G-Gramma! And if the rain stopped us, we'd never leave the house. :laugh:

We walk 2 x day, but I never log. I just consider it part of daily activity.

I walk my dog several times a day (in summer time, not in january!) before work, after work, after dinner, before bed.

I don't log my regular walks around the block, they are only 10 - 20 minutes each, depending on how interesting the smells along the way are.

I do log longer leisure walks. I will sometimes walk for 2-3 hours on a nice day through a nice part of the city or the park, sometimes even jog with my dog for a bit. This I will usually log.

Whether you want to log also depends on your fitness level. For someone like me, who walks to work/school every day, a 20 minute walk is nothing. I don't get much out of it. But a 3 hour walk is more than normal, so I would count it.