Exersize poll

[Kelly123]

Ollie gets at least 2 hours a day. ! morning walk and 1 evening, with 1 of them always off lead.

[Kat's Dogs]

3-4 on weekdays, then 4+ on weekends. Well, it varies a lot I guess but that is a good average for us I think.

[Dexter9607]

Dex gets about 1.5 hours a day, sometimes more. We just moved to this area, so we're still finding places that are safe enough to let him off leash. I can't wait to buy a place with some frickin' land!!!!

[Maralynn]

1-2 hr usually, sometimes more, sometimes less. Most of it is off lead.

[MaggieDog]

Weekdays = about 1.5 hours between 4 walks, all on lead unfortunately, plus playtime in the house.

 

Weekends = anywhere between 1 hour to 3+, depending on what I have to do. We go for at least one hike/weekend where Z can run off lead now (Maggie's recall sucks so she stays onlead). Just got back from one a few mins ago actually.

[Anda]

Kat, you got A LOT of time!!! Lucky Dazzle!

 

Ouzo gets 1.5 to 2 hours a day during weekdays, between walks, 2 play sessions off leash at the dog run with each of us (Chris mid-day, me in the afternoon).

 

During weekends he gets between 2-3 hours if we go to a dog park and he gets LOTS of off leash time and running and swimming.

 

Then there's the daily indoor exercise, which consists of tennis balls and tugs, and plenty of mental stimulation.

[nancy]

I have no idea of the time. Then again, DH claims I walk so fast that a stroll with me is the Batan Death March.

 

On week-days, I walk Fergie the mile or so around the neighborhood, including the pond and field, before breakfast. Chuck does the route in reverse - unless he ends by coming up to check on the feral cats - after breakfast. Then, depending on the day and chores, one or both of us walk her the same route before or after lunch. And one or both of us do the same before dinner.

 

On the week-end, we have similar morning routines. But we might take one 3-4 mile walk in the afternoon - either here or in some forest.

 

We might also run a 5K in the neighborhood during the week. But we're kind of cutting back on taking her because the arthritis in the right front shoulder can act up on her - not that she's 12.

 

And, once the Christmas tree comes down tomorrow, we'll get back to tug, chase, and toss games in the house. Yes, I start Christmas on the first Sunday of Advent and refuse to end it until, not just the 12th day of Christmas, but Epiphany.

[Ruger's Dad]

I have said this before and I still believe it, walking is not much exercise for a fit Border Collie. I can go for a 4 mile hike and the little guy will still try to find a frisbee to play with. I may be tired but he isn't. Running is the only thing that will really wear them out. That is just for a short time though.

 

This summer we had a funny incident. I played frisbee with Ruger outside. When he came inside he was panting pretty good and plopped himself down by an AC duct. We could see his breath inside our house just like it was winter time. He was a good dog for the next little bit until he caught his breath again.

[Soda-pop]

They get three walks a day, each walk is at least 20 minutes, most coming in around 30-40 and I let Soda and LT off leash and make Soda run wind sprints after her frisbee for about 30-45 minutes. Except the last few days have been MISERABLE so no on has gotten a lot of exercise.

[juliepoudrier]

Wow, some of you spend a lot of time exercising! Mine get two walks a day to the "back 40," and I imagine those walks take no more than 20 minutes or so, although they do a lot of running and fetching of kicked pine cones. Twist and Lark do push the sheep off the feed bunks in the morning and away from the round bale feeder at night so I can mess with the hay without being messed with by sheep. If they get training time on a particular day, then they will get probably half an hour or so (often less) working on stock. Twist yesterday held sheep while we trimmed hooves--that lasted for several hours but was not really physical exercise, since she spent most of the time just holding them and not really having to move much (at least not after the initial sorting). They all have free access to the yard and spend a lot of time outside, especially on nice days, but they certainly don't get anywhere near hours of exercise, and yet they don't drive me crazy in the house either....

 

J.

[stockdogranch]

Mine get basically what Julie's do--lots of yard time, a run in the evening in the pasture, and work when needed or we can. Riddle and Tikkle also hold the calves off the feeder while I fill it, and I usually send them to gather the calves in the morning while I'm at the other end feeding the horse just so they can have some work time before I dash off to work. In the past two days, no one's has a whole lot, as we have had (just had to run out to check the rain guage, and DUMP it, as it was FULL ) 5.25" of RAIN, glorious rain, since somewhere around midnight Friday.

 

Anna, doing the happy I-won't-have-to-buy-more-hay-now dance

[kajarrel]

X

Edited January 7, 2008 by kajarrel

[toney]

Mine do pretty much what Julie and Anna's do. They'll move the sheep from their nighttime pen (in the pitch blackness before I go to work) then they'll go to their 10 x 10 kennels. If I get home before dark, my trial dog will get to work for 15-30 minutes, the baby, the two older dogs are inside at this point. Then I'll let everyone out while I feed and do chores, then my main dog will bring the sheep back up and all five go in and veg in their preferred place of vegging- which ranges from my garden tub (for the oldest dog) under the dining room table, in my son's room or in their crate. On days when I get home after dark, which is more often than not, they come out of their kennels, eat dinner, hang out for a while and go to sleep. They'll play with their toys, of course, but they are equally happy laying next to the couch or wherever, including the five month old.

[KrisK]

All the dogs get an evening walk of about 3 km. That walk is on leash. During the day, they spend a lot of time outside (although Zachary gets to be the couch potato more often) Jazz & Cricket usually get some off leash field/bush running if the weather is decent. They particularly love the fields in the winter! Cricket gets to hang out with DH in the outbuilding where she patrols for mice (that's great mind exercise!!) And, most evenings after their walk, I play ball & frisbee with the BCs for awhile. Their exercise changes depending on the season - more daylight usually means more exercise

 

ETA: Provided they get this exercise at least 6 days a week, they are fairly laid back dogs. Oh, and of course, summer means swimming which they love!

[painted_ponies]

Mine get three onleash walks a day. About five or ten minutes per walk. Yep. That's all.

 

Soon they'll have access to a larged fenced yard, but I'm still building it so right now they're restricted to leashes because my horse chases dogs.

 

Every Saturday they go run and play at my trainer Bob's farm and then they work sheep.

 

And they have each other to roughhouse with and chase through the house. But they don't do a lot of that anymore now that Faith's growing up.

 

In case you're wondering, they're perfectly easy to live with. Not hyper at all.

[Carson Crazies]

Mine do pretty much what Julie's, Anna's, and toney's do to a certain degree. Some yard time, some one on one time with me, and a whole lot of vegging. Weekends and sometimes during the week (when the sun is up longer) the stockdogs will get a few sessions on sheep, or sometimes Nick gets used for various chores. We'll take walks with Julie on her "back 40" when we can with her and her dogs. But for the most part it's a pretty relaxed thing, and they're fantastic at just chilling at home. June gets agility time too, but we're between sessions at the moment.

[flrpwr52]

We have a morning playtime that lasts about 45 minutes. Midday we go to the dog park for about 2 hours. After dinner we have another playtime for about 45 minutes.

 

If one of these sessions doesn't happen due to weather or other apointments they are fine not crazy in the house at all. They have good off switches.

[Shetlander]

They all have free access to the yard and spend a lot of time outside, especially on nice days, but they certainly don't get anywhere near hours of exercise, and yet they don't drive me crazy in the house either....

 

It's always a relief to read this sort of comment. When I hear about daily exercise of 2, 3 or more hours a day I always feel like something must be wrong with me and/or Quinn. During the week, he gets about 30 minutes or even less of hard exercise (full out running and in the case of Frisbee leaping) a day. He doesn't spend time outside without me. We might also go for walks on leash but while he enjoys them, they in no way tire him out. Could he run and train all day? Definitely, but he is also ok with much, much less. Most days he spends a lot of time with me. He goes to the office with me 2 or 3 days a week. He comes along with me in the car whenever possible. So maybe that helps him deal with so little exercise, though the BC's belonging to my friends don't get any more exercise than he does, now that I think of it. And all are very good dogs around the house. In fact, a coworker was just talking to me while he sat next to a dozing Quinn on a couch. He commented on Quinn's mellowness whose switch was very much set to off.

[INU]

She's in daycare everyday while I work two jobs so she gets up to 8 hours of exercise! (with breaks in between)

When she's not in daycare, I give her average 2 hours of something - training, playing, socializing, walking etc.

[Guest SweetJordan]

Riley gets about two structured activities a day during the week, and three on weekends. I say structured because some of her exercise just happens on it's own. For example, when she gets up in the morning she runs around the house like a nut and will do her own sprints. I only wish I could wake up w/ that kind of energy. She will also play w/ my mom's dog(this happens daily) and sometimes a bit w/ my labby(he tries to play with the bitches but the poor guy often gets left out and barks at me to play). She also gets toys thrown to her in the house. It's fine if she initiates play(she's very submissive but I'll often have her sit or something to ask). If I tell her I'm busy she will either relax(she likes to watch the backyard[her doggie TV] or she will play by herself. Sometimes we will also play mental games(for example, I'll hid a toy and she'll find it).

As far as planned out structured activities go she gets a combination of running(biking in her case) and frisbee play. She will bike anywhere from 15 to 30 min. a session where she runs like a maniac which is fun because it's like having a motorized bike. The duration depends on how she feels, I know her well enough to know when we can go farther and when she needs a shorter session. Lately she's been running on power boast so she is getting more miles in a shorter time frame. Frisbee sessions last anywhere from 15 min to an hour. How long she plays frisbee generally depends on the weather. In hot weather she doesn't play as long as cooler in weather, and in very cold temps. doesn't play as long. Some days she has so much energy the temps. don't affect her much one way or the other. I've only had her for one summer but she got extra exercise in the summer playing w/ the garden hose which her and my lab love. She goes sheepherding when we can but of course that's not a daily thing. With that being said due to the high intensity nature of her workouts about one to two hours of structured activity seems to do the trick.

 

My labby walks between an hour and a half to two hours a day on average in part depending on temps. On weekends he generally gets longer walks than weekdays and during the warmer months he does agility as he's a backyard competitor. And he'll spend sometime during the week retrieving.

 

All in all that sounds like a lot but some of the activity is varied. For example one day Riley may hit her max. and another my lab might. My lab may be tired one day so needs less and Rye more and so fourth. So I ended up spending about three/three and half hours a day exercising the dogs(though everyone seems to spend sometime w/ Riley). And yes sometimes I feel as though all I do is exercise and fed the dogs. I'll like to get a treadmill to unload the burden some on days that I'm worn out(as I weight train too) or the weather is unusually crappy. It would also be a nice exercise tool before work.

 

I forgot to mention Rye does have a beautiful off switch, but she'll take as much exercise as I can give her on most days. Though she could get by w/ less exercise than I give her now and still be very easy to live with.

[Ninso]

I'm glad to see that most people's dogs get about the same amount of exercise as mine. Before adopting my BC about two months ago it seemed like people were saying, unless you have a sheep farm and/or plan to exercise the dog for about eight hours a day you should not get a BC. At the same time lots of people on the forums I have read seemed to have full time jobs and leave their dogs home during the day. Lok is home in his crate while I am at work about 9 hours a day on weekdays and we play at least an hour of frisbee in my large fenced yard when I get home. We don't go for walks very often because they just don't burn off any of his energy. When the weather gets nicer we will probably get out more. Weekends he gets 2-3 hours of frisbee. In the house he is incredibly laid back, content to just lay down and watch me do whatever I am doing or chew on something. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with him, but it sounds like there are lots of others like him.

[airbear]

I walk mine twice a day, probably 20 minutes per walk. Sometimes they play ball during the walk, other times, they are just moseying around the park. Monday - Thursday they go out with their dogwalker for about an hour into the trails or to the beach. We try to go to my friend's farm on Saturday, where Lou works for about 20 minutes total (divided into a couple of go's) and the others get some time running around (no sheep) in the field. Sundays, they get two short walks and watch a lot of TV.

[MrSnappy]

Mine used to get at least 2 hours a day, but when they started getting a bit older and RD's elbows started going to hell, I had to decrease it. If I run them hard in the AM, RD can't go again in the PM. So we go for a short stroll in the morning now, and after work they get about an hour - no more, as RD can't take it. In the summer months, we go to the beach after work and they may swim for a couple of hours, which is more palatable for the old man dog. Basically, our exercise regime revolves around what RD can do. On the weekends, they generally get one good outing a day, of between 1 and 2 hours.

 

My dogs are 5, 8 and 11 now (Woo doesn't count, he is very lazy) so I can get away with this. If they were younger, there is no way I would put them in a crate for 9 hours after a 10 minute walk in the morning. But no one needs to be crated here, and they all have adapted nicely to the change in schedule.

 

RDM

[hoku's mum]

Hoku get a 15-30 minute walk in the morning along with some fetching play, then he's in the house with me while I work, with his off switch firmly in place (he just konks out ). Late in the afternoon, we go out and play hard for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour or more, depending on the weather and if he has a doggie playmate. We play Frisbee, fetch, agility, soccer, swim, or off leash walk on our neighbors ranch behind us (now a long line walk again...), I try and mix it up so he doesn't get board. As long as I get him really panting for 10 minutes or so, with a warm up and cool down, he can chill just fine the rest of the time. We also play mind games and do trick training inside, especially when the outside time is limited due to sucky weather.

[JohnLloydJones]

Senneca gets 1 hr (brisk) walk in the morning and 1 hr off-leash at the dog park in the evening. Weekdays that's it; weekends we have agility class and random outings.