Help With a Master Chewer?

Not to play devil's advocate, but with busy terrier/working breeds (I have four Schnauzers), a one-hour run offleash in a wooded trail or on a beach (in which I would wager they sniff....oh....90% of that time? And roll in dead things, and chase each other, and chase bugs, and find rabbit holes, et) will leave my dogs much more satisfied and relaxed than a one-hour boring walk on a four-foot leash. Yes, my dogs walk well on a leash. But I will not kid myself - there is nothing "focused" about it, other than "not pulling", and they become rather bored to be honest. I don't know that it's different for any other dog.  It's probably why I rarely "walk" my dogs, in the typical sense, now that I live on 2.5 acres and have many trails and beaches nearby - it just doesn't give them what they need to be truly relaxed after an exercise period.  I can take all of them on a walk, where they walk beside me and have one pee-break, and they still come home and run off the energy they had during the entire walk.

Offleash exercise at home, regular sport training, and a good run on the trails or beach three days a week, with daily supply of raw bones and puzzle toys keeps the "terror" out of the terriers at my house.  I would hate to see what would happen if I just walked them on a short leash once or twice per day. Walks for us these days are for continued maintenance of good behaviour and for training. Not for exercise, to be honest.

Backpack work of course would exert a little more physical energy, for sure, and I have one and used it for a while with my most energetic girl, then set it aside when I found other ways to exercise her that worked much better.

What will make walks more interesting, though, for those who have to use walks as the main form of exercise (which I did for a year when I lived in an apartment - it took some creativity!) - is to switch it up! Go to new places to walk. Don't walk in the same route every day, as it can get a little less exciting on each walk. Something as simple as walking your normal route backwards can look like a brand new walk. One of a dog's needs for behavioural wellness is environmental novelty - so two or three days a week try to switch up the walking routes.

Kim_MacMillan

a one-hour run offleash in a wooded trail or on a beach (in which I would wager they sniff....oh....90% of that time? And roll in dead things, and chase each other, and chase bugs, and find rabbit holes, et) will leave my dogs much more satisfied and relaxed than a one-hour boring walk on a four-foot leash.

I think that would be actually personal preferences and human point of view. My personal preference is to walk my dog in my neighborhood every day to burn his energy and avoid my furniture to be destroyed, is it boring? Depends, i dont find it boring and I can tell my dog either. Our neighborhood walks will be boring only if I (the owner) want to see it that way, my dog does not seem to care. On weekends we go to a national park and we walk a pretty good hill. We do fun exercise with the flirt pole. A 45 minutes walk (boring for some) leaves my dog very much satisfied ready to get home and just relax

Kim_MacMillan

I can take all of them on a walk, where they walk beside me and have one pee-break, and they still come home and run off the energy they had during the entire walk.

Same with my dog, like I said before, if I just walk him without backpack I would not be even close to burn his energy.

I just want to remind you that the OP has stated that there is a knee condition involved here that most likely will stop her from doing probably half of what you do. Also your dogs are not her dogs and you are not her, can her dogs run off leash where she lives? Is there a leash law just like it is where i live. Has the owner the condition to run or try to keep up with off leash dogs running on the beach? Is even a place close to her to have dogs run off leash?

What I propose are the minimal and most simple requirements to be able to keep the dogs happy. Can she take the dogs to the beach? great. Can she take them to lure classes, agility or flying disc competitions? Even better

Can the owner only walk her dogs during the week for 45 minutes due to schedule problems, health issues, etc.? There is nothing wrong with that, and she will always be welcome to do even more

espencer

I just want to remind you that the OP has stated that there is a knee condition involved here that most likely will stop her from doing probably half of what you do. Also your dogs are not her dogs and you are not her, can her dogs run off leash where she lives? Is there a leash law just like it is where i live. Has the owner the condition to run or try to keep up with off leash dogs running on the beach? Is even a place close to her to have dogs run off leash?

What I propose are the minimal and most simple requirements to be able to keep the dogs happy. Can she take the dogs to the beach? great. Can she take them to lure classes, agility or flying disc competitions? Even better

Can the owner only walk her dogs during the week for 45 minutes due to schedule problems, health issues, etc.? There is nothing wrong with that, and she will always be welcome to do even more

I'll simply refer back to the last paragraph of my post, which addresses all of the questions above.

What will make walks more interesting, though, for those who have to use walks as the main form of exercise (which I did for a year when I lived in an apartment - it took some creativity!) - is to switch it up! Go to new places to walk. Don't walk in the same route every day, as it can get a little less exciting on each walk. Something as simple as walking your normal route backwards can look like a brand new walk. One of a dog's needs for behavioural wellness is environmental novelty - so two or three days a week try to switch up the walking routes.

And, I would wager that allowing a dog to sniff on walks will "not" leave the dog any more "sugar rushed" than it would be to allow my dogs to sniff on hikes would. Sniffing is very much a mental activity that will leave dogs satisfied at the end of a walk. Again, it comes down to - 99% of the time, the walk is for the dog. I think it's in our best interests to make sure that "our dog" gets the most out of it, and I think that if we asked dogs, the dogs would prefer to have "sniffy walks" to "non-sniffy walks". 

Honestly if my GSDs were pooped after a 45 minute leash walk I'd be taking them to the vet b/c something would have to be wrong with them!  They need to RUN 12 miles to pass an AD test, which is something that most do with little to no conditioning/training (for those that train in advance it is mostly people like myself whose dogs live on carpet and grass and need their foot pads toughened, not their bodies conditioned).

OK Kim is right though it depends on THE DOG.  Coke is just peachy getting a 1/2 hour walk a few times a week.  He is unbelievably lazy!

 Yeap, if my dog was getting tired after only 45 minutes then that would mean he is out of shape and fat, but because I dont have 2 hours every day to exercise him, if I just walk him with a back pack then those 45 minutes with one = 2 hours without one

 More great points!  We've done focused, non-sniffy walks before, but they leave both our dogs and us unsatisfied.  However, espencer may have a really good point...a very sniffy walk isn't necessarily "exercise," and if that's what a dog needs (for instance, our Angel is prone to weight gain, and she definitely needs some calorie burning time each day to help keep that extra weight off--in addition to a lower calorie intake, of course), then perhaps there can't be as much sniffing.  

 I really appreciate the points about differences in what exercise a person can handle.  Our Angel needs less exercise to be relaxed than Cody does, yet we still would run with her for a block at a time or so during her walks, because it seemed to help release some of her excitement.  When we got Cody, it was quickly apparent that he could use several blocks of running.  Just after we got him, however, I fell and the subsequent x-rays showed several issues with my knees. Even though I was in the midst of training for a half marathon, I was told that I absolutely should not run again, ever.  I'm thinking of looking for a second opinion, but in the meantime, only my husband can run the dogs. He works long hours and is often away on business trips (like right now), so that makes it hard.  We used to run in the house, too, but it involves a lot of stress on the knees due to rounding corners and changing directions, so I've avoided it.  When we play fetch inside, it does give them some exercise, though. Like Liesje confirmed with her point about Coke, there's a great variety in energy levels in our dogs, eh?

 Kim, your point about changing routes makes a lot of sense.  I do that constantly.  We're blessed to live in an area with a ton of wonderful places to walk, and I make sure that every walk is in a new direction or on a new path for the day.  We return to each one each day, though, so the familiarity is comforting and gives them a chance to smell their own "pee-mail" on the course.  Walking them backward is so much fun, because the dogs act like we're doing something totally new!

I get what espencer is saying about the sugar rush, and I can see how that may be possible for some dogs, just like in people: some of us have a little sugar and go crazy needing more and more, and other people can have one piece of fantastic chocolate and be satisfied (you know, those people who leave half their dessert on the plate saying, "It's too rich..." or some such nonsense! ;)).  Our Angel is absolutely satiated after a couple blocks of sniffing. She curls up on the top of the couch and rests with a happy sigh.  Cody, on the other hand, might be a candidate for sugar rushes...though he's almost always excited and alert when awake, so perhaps that's just his personality.

 Kim, what sport do your dogs train for?  We did a DNA test on Cody and found that he's 1/4 Schnauzer. He doesn't look it at all, as far as I can tell (do you see anything?), but perhaps it's displayed in his behavior?  I know next to nothing about Schnauzers! I think Cody would be an excellent candidate for Fly Ball, but we live in a very small town way upstate in NY, and there aren't any clubs or groups near us, sadly. 

Beachgal

Kim, what sport do your dogs train for?

I currently train for obedience, Rally, and Agility.  I am also dabbling in Earthdog this year, and am going to test them to see how they do on quarry.  Flyball is great for Mini's too, but because I do the others I just don't have the time commitment to do any more sports at this time!

 I took note of the age of the dog our OP asked about.  Almost invariably, dogs pass through a "second chewing stage" which is different from teething, and which is used to set the adult teeth into the jaw.  No amount of exercise stops this kind of chewing because it is instinctively done for that purpose.  Exercise is good for dogs that chew from boredom or hyperactivity.  I never recommend that any dog carry anything during walks unless they have been specifically cleared by their veterinarian and are at least two years old (so that not only are the growth plates closed, but clinical exam and/or x-rays can be done to rule out dysplasia, which can be made worse with unusual weight bearing.  If you really want to tire a dog out, and that's the purpose for your walks, forget it - you will tire before the dog does LOL.  But, if you, in addition to your regular walks, add some *mental* exercise by training the dog daily, you'll get better overall results. 

 Great points!  Thanks, spiritdogs!  When does this second chewing stage usually end?

 Depends on the breed and the individual dog.  Retrievers are notorious for longer stages doing this, and little dogs usually shorter.