Does having a dog make/keep you more active?

steph2strong · February 2016

I'm a big believer that dogs will match your lifestyle. I have friends who got dogs to make themselves more active and instead their dogs just got "walked" in the backyard and over-fed so they are now fat. I have a miniature schnauzer and from a young age went on long hikes with him because that's what I did before I got him. He is very active now and goes on 10 km runs with me and is still ready to go chase squirrels and rabbits when we finish the run. People are always amazed when they see me running with him because nobody expects a schnauzer to be an elite running dog... but he takes it very seriously and loves his runs. He has a little running vest I put on him for our runs and he sits by it every morning and doesn't like when I take it off him later, it's his uniform

Rocknut53 · February 2016

michellekirkman30 wrote: »

I have a Labrador and cross lab and Springer, currently have tendonitis hand so can't walk them as pull too much and have put loads of weight on. Looking for a collar\\lead that stop this halti doesn't deem to work. As desperately want to get back out there.But yes having a dog definitely helps activity levels in normal circumstances as long as have all weather gear waterproof clothing etc.

This worked wonders on my 75# lab. I've gone back to a collar and she's gone back to pulling even though she knows "heel". I put the easy walk harness on her occasionally to remind her how to behave.

http://www.petsmart.com/featured-shops/leashes-harnesses/petsafe-easy-walk-dog-harness-zid36-9378/cat-36-catid-800716;pgid=wIZUqHIQ5yFSRpuZ_BfxiWOZ0000Ep0CTtPw;sid=_8ne4W0Ui4_X4TvFU8Sd5V0eHMKCRyhoqNs_ZozX?var_id=36-9378&_t=pfm=category

AmazonMayan · February 2016

I have a 2 year old 90lb very lean, muscular german shepherd dog so yep we walk a lot. That's him in my profile picture. We walk him in the neighborhood and local parks and in this pic it was his first trail hike. He did pretty well on it and won't need much more training to go some more. The only issue we had was him trying to protect me from hikers that had walking sticks lol....even though we also had them. He was better by the end of 6 miles.

He's very protective and walks well with an easy walker harness we got at petsmart. Training is important. He only reacts to dogs advancing on me barking, growling and getting too close. Every great once in awhile he really doesn't like a person and will stop me by getting in front of me between me and the person. We are working on that too especially since it's almost always bad owners of chihuahuas and other such small dogs causing the problem by thinking it's "cute" their little dog is so ferocious and OFF leash and out of control. Anyway lol. I love all dogs I just wish someone could train the owners.

I will say that when your pup is young, it's not good for their bones to take them on really long walks. Thats something that can come later at 1 to 2 years old depending on the breed.

Please train your puppy well.

successgal1 · February 2016

It depends. If you're not going to TRULY change YOUR habits for the benefit of the DOG, then don't get one. A dog is not going to magically make you a more active person unless you're completely engaged in the health and mental wellness of the dog.

We have 5 dogs, on walk days they each get a 1.5 mile walk, 2 dogs at a time, the Golden with the Lab, the Aussie with the Malinois mix, and the jack russell chihauhau mix (yes he will run the entire 1.5 miles). That's a 4.5 mile walk and an hour and a half.

Are we doing this for our health? Sometimes, but I actually have more effective workouts for myself. But mostly its because the dogs are happier, healthier, more well behaved and mentally stable. They get this walk 3 times a week minimum. The rest of the time they get morning and evening activity with us, if we have to drop what we're doing and give it to them. They are a priority, if you 're not going to be able to put down your devices for this, please don't get a dog.

Also, we live on 1.25 acres, fenced. Having land that your dog may run around on all day, is NOT the same type of activity to them as a structured walk with the pack leader.

stm712015 · February 2016

michellekirkman30 wrote: »

I have a Labrador and cross lab and Springer, currently have tendonitis hand so can't walk them as pull too much and have put loads of weight on. Looking for a collar\\lead that stop this halti doesn't deem to work. As desperately want to get back out there.But yes having a dog definitely helps activity levels in normal circumstances as long as have all weather gear waterproof clothing etc.

Have you tried the hands free leashes? A lot of runners use them, but they're fine for walking your dogs too.
http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Paw-Premium-Lightweight-Reflective/dp/B00UZXPM00/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1456591899&sr=1-5&keywords=hands+free+leash

quiltlovinlisa · February 2016

Our beast from the pound doesn't play well with other dogs, so I don't take her out. Pity because I would love to walk her, it's just so much work.

sault_girl · February 2016

quiltlovinlisa wrote: »

Our beast from the pound doesn't play well with other dogs, so I don't take her out. Pity because I would love to walk her, it's just so much work.

That's kind of a poor excuse

Dogs are a lot of work, reactive dogs are especially a lot of work (I know... I have one dog-reactive dog and one people-reactive dog) but that doesn't mean they don't need to go out walking.

courtneylykins5 · February 2016

My dogs are lazy. They are great company, but honestly they prefer the couch potato life. So it's me that has to entice them to be more active. Lucky for them their health is important to me.

CollieFit · February 2016

sault_girl wrote: »

quiltlovinlisa wrote: »

Our beast from the pound doesn't play well with other dogs, so I don't take her out. Pity because I would love to walk her, it's just so much work.

That's kind of a poor excuse

Dogs are a lot of work, reactive dogs are especially a lot of work (I know... I have one dog-reactive dog and one people-reactive dog) but that doesn't mean they don't need to go out walking.

Agreed. Our little one is dog reactive. We've consulted with a behavioural trainer and it's something we keep working on, but if he didn't get exercised / walked he'd be a lot worse.

PS both our dogs are "from the pound" / rescues too.

sault_girl · February 2016

CollieFit wrote: »

PS both our dogs are "from the pound" / rescues too.

Mine too.

kshama2001 · February 2016

quiltlovinlisa wrote: »

Our beast from the pound doesn't play well with other dogs, so I don't take her out. Pity because I would love to walk her, it's just so much work.

I doubt your beast is more work than my 75 pound husky was when we first rescued him. He was not socialized to other dogs, small prey aggressive, and we walked him along a golf course with tons of birds. My goodness, could he pull!

But with a lot of patience and practice, he became a great walker and stopped pulling. My ex brought him to dog park where he learned to play nice with other dogs.

vixtris · February 2016

Depends on the dog. I have a small dog and he gets enough exercise just running around the house, so I don't need to take him for walks, but he does enjoy coming along anyways.

CollieFit · February 2016

I'm astonished there are people who in all honesty say that their dogs don't need to be walked.

quiltlovinlisa · February 2016

sault_girl wrote: »

quiltlovinlisa wrote: »

Our beast from the pound doesn't play well with other dogs, so I don't take her out. Pity because I would love to walk her, it's just so much work.

That's kind of a poor excuse

Dogs are a lot of work, reactive dogs are especially a lot of work (I know... I have one dog-reactive dog and one people-reactive dog) but that doesn't mean they don't need to go out walking.

She's loved, she's exercised multiple times daily with intense rope throwing in the backyard (her favorite activity!) and I've worked with her intensely enough that I can control her when she sees another dog and doesn't instantly try to attack them. We've made a lot of progress in the past two years however since I'm the only one that really can control her outside on a leash (I'm alpha, although my teen daughters are close seconds), we usually resort to rope throwing.

When hiking alone we let her run and it's wonderful, but it's not something I can do daily.

ETA: I've worked with her using a gentle leader nose leash and a chest harness that hooks from the front (not at the same time.) and the gentle leader gives the most control but she overheat easily (she's part setter, part lab and has an incredibly thick coat) and can't pant effectively with the nose harness during the summer and it's above 90.

She was also adopted at least 4 and was not spayed. The procedure needed to be done before we could have her in our home and was more intense because, unbeknownst to us, she was pregnant, so her recoveyr took the entire two week trial the pound allowed. We didn't realize how bad her canine socialization was until we'd had her for a month and that point we'd committed to her care.

size102b · February 2016

Teddy 11 months cavapoo he has to walk or hell chew the house up

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

If anyone wants to post pics of their dogs, feel free. I'm sure it's on topic

thankyou4thevenom · February 2016

Yes because it's not about my lazy self. It doesn't matter how much I don't want to go outside my fur baby deserves it. I'm keeping him active, happy and healthy. So it's all about him.