Is more exercise always the answer?

Did you catch this part of the article? (I am pretty sure copyrights are 4 paragraphs, proper and a link, so I will follow that guidline)

http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm

Behavior. Dogs that are reactive to dogs, people or other stimulus commonly found on walks can actually get worse with continued exposure. The dog's stress levels, including cortisol and adrenaline, are elevated with each walk.  Not only do elevated levels of these hormones lead to behavior problems, but increased cortisol levels undermine the immune response, leaving the dog more susceptible to illness.  This is why effective behavior modification programs start with teaching self-control exercises in low-stress environments, before slowly introducing the dog to increased levels of the triggering stimulus.




(snip means I cut the article and am now on my own words)
What I derived from this, is self control should be more the focus....
See where I am coming from?  The desensitizing programs seem to leave out this critical piece of info.  Which to me may be  the root of the problem.
When I read it, it made me think that self control (or lack there of) is trumping fear.
Which sounds about right in my dog.

ORIGINAL: ron2

Unsocialized, or poorly socialized, dogs often continue to have problems along those lines, and continuing to walk them in the presence of other dogs, however quiet, may only serve to let them "practice" reactivity. It's often better to work with those dogs in a controlled setting using classical conditioning and attention training. But, that's

I do agree to that. In general, I agree to the ideal of quality over quanitity. We just haven't always agreed on how to define quality.

Actually, I find it easier to work with her after mental stimulation like just going over her sit, stay, etc. that she already knows more so than if we walk or go for a hike. I've seen her way more exhausted from a day of learning than a day multiple walks.

 
I agree with that... especially after a freeshaping session, Russell will be pretty wiped - I typically end it with a little game of tug and then he'll be happy to tuck into a nice nap. []
 
I also agree with the general premise a lot of people here are stating, which is that mental stimulation and exercise are a key component in any good "physical" exercise. Some dogs will do great with walks for exercise if they enjoy seeing the neighborhood and everything going on along their route... other dogs need something a little more mentally challenging and a walk isn't going to put a dent in their energy level. I think for my dog a walk down the sidewalk in the same old neighborhood is not particularly interesting and doesn't do much to tire him out - but if he gets to interact with new people or sniff around unfamiliar territory that's often great "exercise" for him.

I did read that part of the article and I will agree that some things can't or shouldn't be desensitized. By that, I mean, the frustration of trying to walk a dog in my town and put up with loose, sometimes, aggressive dogs is due to the fact that I don't want my dog fighting and I don't want it happening nearly every time we go out. I came back from an errand a little while ago. A white, male Siberian Husky (trust me, I know) unaltered and without id or collar was running loose. Our small town has no full time animal control. They got one guy on the maintenance crew who is hand with a catch pole. And no one has the time to track this dog down. I followed him for a while. An easy trot for him was 15 mph. At a house that faces State Highway 5 is a little JRT that is tied out front, facing the highway. It may be the same JRT that would run loose before. Anyway, the owners come out and shoo away the Husky and I would like to bean the owners that leave their dog tied up out there. Fortunately, the husky was friendly, just visiting and marking.
 
I think I need to go to a town meeting and propose that the city change its name to Stupid, Texas.
 
 
Anyway, I do agree that flooding doesn't always achieve the desired affect and one can get too simple an idea from a show. And, in my town, good luck finding a person with at least 2 watts of brain power going. I've met one or two but they are rare.
 

ORIGINAL: Scout in Canada  In my opinion, exercise is not a training tool or behaviour modification tool, but it is part of the groundwork that allows training and behaviour modification to take place. Exercise in itself will not improve the dog's manners (as the results of exercise are so short term), but without exercise you cannot expect the dog to learn and work with you.

 
I couldn't have said it better myself - my thoughts exactly!!![]
 
If I tried to tire Dodger out with mental stimulation only, not only would I end up with an unfit dog, but I'd also have a VERY bored hound. As a hunting breed, not only does he need to run for a couple of hours everday but he must have opportunities to "hunt" (the dog park or chasing a frisbee do not count - so for Dodger it is not about interaction with me, its about interaction with his environment)
When we were able to practice agility everyday he didn't need to be out "hunting" as much - I could actually skip a day but its certainly not feasible for Dodger to ever get by mostly on mental stimulation [long=term]. 
 
I've recommended extra exercise in combination with additional training because I personally think it does play a role in a dog's ability and willingness to learn.  Since the average dog owner doesn't do much training (in my experience), then I do believe more physical stimulation is necessary (even though it won't necessarily modify a dog's behaviour, it certainly increases their quality of life IMO).

One theory that goes out the window on this one is socialization.  It seems like a few bad experiences trumps socialization. 

If socialization is extensive enough, it tends to outweigh the one bad experience.  If you have a thousand good experiences and one bad, the good tends to win out.  But, if you have three good experiences and one bad, you have less chance of the good outweighing the bad, especially if the bad is "traumatic" bad.  For some dogs, the ratio really matters, and sometimes we don't know how much that is true.  For some dogs, even though we try our darnedest, they haven't had enough of the good experiences.  And, if a traumatic experience happens during a fear period, that can rock the boat into capsizing, for sure.

I agree with Jetty and Scout. Exercise alone isn't a cure, but will greatly help. Heck, if my kids start acting up I've been known to kick them outside to play or give them an inside chore like sweeping and vacuuming to both distract them from being stinkers and to wear 'em out a little. I know the teachers at my sons' school are all relieved to get the kids outside after a stretch of bad weather. Now that it's cold and sometimes dark when I get home from work, Lucy has settled happily into the couch and is mostly satisfied with our clicker games. But if she doesn't get a good run every now and then, it really shows in her behavior. She gets way too excited at little things, or just starts wandering around the house and pestering the cats.

The article in that link was interesting, but I'm not sure I would classify the use of a treadmill as "forced" exercise. While it certainly can be misused that way, I've seen dogs that happily hop onto the treadmill with no leash to go for a jog. I'm thinking about working with Lucy to see if she would like hitting the treadmill with me. I look at it as another "game" to play with your dog, like bicycling, scootering, sledding, skijoring, jogging, etc. All of those things can be misused, but also can be great exercise and fun for dogs.