Why should I walk my dog?

Personally, I hardly ever walk my dog.  He benefits much more from laying frisbee in the backyard or fetch. I do take him running on leash sometimes. But taking an adult weim for a walk would be for me like walking with an elderly person in a walker who takes one step every 10 seconds. I would need to walk 15 miles probably to get him the same amount of excercise he would get playing in the backyard with me.
Don't get me wrong, I think walks are great, but for my dog he has never really enjoyed them. More of something to put up with.

See thats where I'm coming from.  The walk to the park seems to be more of a chore than anything else.  I mean its ok for training but the park is the reward.

So, if they're getting plenty of exercise without the leash walk and they're getting socialized in the park, etc.  then the only other reason I can think of is training? 

I use walking to train, eliminate behavior problems, and build the dog/owner relationship.  Outside of that...well honestly, a lot of my clients that have problem dogs are over weight.  I take this as an opportunity to get them to exercise with there dogs.  Most of my clients have dropped a good 15-20 pounds by the end of the training process because I force them to do sooo much walking.

I agree with Emily about the exercise part. Walking my two big dogs, on leash, always seems pointless from an exercise standpoint. I take them off-leash for about an hour a day and they run about 10 times as much as I do (if not more). I just don't think I could adequately fulfill their exercise needs on a leash. They also have a fenced in yard and get lot of other activity.

I do, however, take them on leash just for the novelty. They like to see who's been in "their" neighborhood. They also get the chance to meet and greet people.

Another reason for on leash walks could be exercise for YOU. (If that's a factor)

There are those that will verbally beat me bloody, but, I don't take mine for regular walks either.  At least three days a week we do offleash work in the fields of the property  The rest of the time they run and play in our fenced area.  Today is cold, wet and raw.  Yesterday and Saturday were in the 50's and lovely.  The dogs went outside this morning, did their thing and quickly came right back in.  I have tried in bad weather to take them out for off lead work......they won't go.  Literally.  They keep going right back to the door no matter how I encourage them.

I agree with Mic. I think dogs MUST get used to having a collar on and a leash on, too. I take mine with me to stores and coffee shops--places where leashes are a must.
 
I suppose, though, there are people who are probably not interested in doing those types of things with their dog and that's okay, too. Growing up, we took in a stray Dobie who never got to go anywhere. My parents didn't believe in walking her, let alone allowing her to join the family. We did take her with us camping a couple of times and though I loved her a lot, she was a royal pain in the butt. I still remember my dad going off on her because he had had enough. She couldn't control herself in different situations and it certainly wasn't her fault. We'd all made her that way.
 
When I think about that now, I realize why I walk my dogs--twice a day, for 2+ miles (so it's not that long, really). I don't want that to happen to me. I want to be able to run into Home Depot with one of them and not have him/herpulling, freaking out, and unable to deal with the commands I'm givin.  I want a dog that looks and acts good/comfortable on a leash. I want to be able to take them to the Pet Expo and say "Heel" and have confidence that they'll do exactly that. (You know, so I don't get dragged through the buildings.)
 
Anyway, I like what you said, Mic. Why can't I lose those last 5 lbs, though? Man . . . One more thing--it helps that I like to exercise. We all need and I like that my dogs like walking. I really do, so I guess I'm lucky that way.
 
 

I should qualify what I wrote before, about my dad. I certainly don't condone that behavior--getting all worked up over an out-of-control dog. I don't. That's why I train, practice, and take them with me. I never want to be like that with mine.

Perhaps I too should qualify my statement.  I don't take my dogs for on leash walks on a regular, daily basis.  We are in the country as well, so leash walks generally require going into town where there are actual sidewalks so that we CAN walk safely.  And I do make a point of getting everyone into town at a minimum of once a week so that no one forgets how to walk on a leash politely. I do take the dogs with us various places and I do want to be able to continue to do that, so it's absolutely neccessary to "practice" on leash manners now and then.  We don't go a TON of places since Todd works so danged many hours every week, but even if we are running to the store, someone does get to ride along.

I have no problem with that, Glenda. Another thing is you do what you can. If it were a perfect world and I (we) had lots of time, I'd do lots more for the dogs!

One reason I do exercise them off leash for a long time is because it actually helps me with dog time. I don't have behavior issues with my extremely tired dogs. I guess I'm substituting exercise for more training time that I probably would have to do if the dogs were awake enough to think about it! (misbehavior)

I think it's important to regularly walk young dogs on leash for training and socialization purposes. But yeah, walking on leash at a human pace is no exercise at all for a dog. If you have alternatives, do them.

For Brown and Grey, walks serve as a change of scenery (and it gets my lazy butt moving). We don't have much of a yard here, so the boys don't get to run around everyday like they'd love to so I take them to the park around the corner, the wildlife refuge, or to the lake on campus. They're either running around or swimming depending on the weather. On other days, they go out for a walk around our small neighborhood, and it literally takes Grey three laps just for him to calm down over the fact that he's going somewhere (even if it is in a circle). lol  ersonally, I can't wait until we move because we'll be out in the country with a fenced yard, and even outside of that fence is several acres, and a lake is within walking distance, although I'm not sure how much I trust letting the boys swim with alligators nearby. 

I guess what I am getting from this post is that most of you (at least the ones with big dogs) that have posted here walk your dogs on leash for training purposes and not for exercise.  I mean I do walk them on leash to the park and back which is about 10 minutes each way.  And if they arent walking well we take a round about way back.  Also I walk them through downtown a few times a week each, not together, so they get some extra training with distraction.

After I posted the last time I took the girls to the rink and they ran around chasing balls and each other.  We were gone for maybe 45 minutes and now they are both crashed on the floor.  If I had kept them on leash I would still be walking or else they would be running around in here.  So I guess I'm on the right track.  I guess I just always thought of walking my dogs as exercise for them and not training.

And Mic yes I certainly could stand to lose a few pounds myself!

Huskysmom,
 
Dogs love to walk. That is all they do, walk, walk,walk.........
 
It keeps them balanced and bordom free.