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Niccie
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Location: Buckingham
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04-07-2012, 09:35 PM
Originally Posted by labradork View Post
Yes I think it 5 hours of walking plus training is way too much. There is too much of a good thing and you risk making a rod for your own back.

If a dog is getting 5+ hours of exercise per day, you are going to end up with a very fit dog who eventually won't settle for anything less than that. If your dog gets injured and needs to be rested, he will struggle going from 5+ hours of exercise to zero. Also, presumably you don't work full time if you are able to exercise your dog for more than 5 hours a day, so consider the impact of a sudden change of circumstances.
I do actually work full time;

6am field time

Walk during lunch

Long walk after work

Then night time walk before bed.
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WhichPets
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04-07-2012, 09:40 PM
Originally Posted by Niccie View Post
I do actually work full time;

6am field time

Walk during lunch

Long walk after work

Then night time walk before bed.
I am impressed! I do 2 walks a day and a training session and it tires me out

You could perhaps substitute one of your walks for trick training if you did fancy a change some days.
As Phoebe mentioned there is the Dogey trick training certification program

To be honest, I think as long as you are enjoying yourself and the dog is happy there's no need to change what you are doing
I do always think its a good idea to get dogs used to a day off though and mix things up a bit, so in an emergency if you were to leave the dog one day they wouldn't feel stressed out by the change in routine..
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Niccie
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04-07-2012, 09:48 PM
Sorry multi quote seems beyond me but;

We can do sit down, paws, lie down and roll (on to side).

He seems to love smelling things and he is learning very quick just worried I'm coming to the limit of what I know to teach

I didn't know classes had taster days so I will definitely start looking these up in the area and see what he takes to.

Is he too old for flyball? He loves nothing more than chasing his ball!

The next step after we get recall when people/dogs about will be socialisation I think, which we'll need a class for so thinking about that now. Currently giving him treats when people walk past and he's on lead. If I say his name and he looks at me not them he gets a treat.

I will think about how we can change things around, maybe Friday & Monday only 2 hours. Long walks at the weekend are kind of a given for us and we'd do that anyway.

Before Riley came up needing a home we had decided we would take in a greyhound, we actually thought we wouldn't have time to give the right amount of exercise to a more active dog but maybe this has worked out well.

Hopefully the morning walks can be reduced as well, we have a million and five things to do before 9am so this would make our lives easier - I feel guilty just writing that
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WhichPets
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04-07-2012, 09:59 PM
This is my general routine:

Walk from 7-7.30 in the morning. Another evening walk for between 45 mins and 1.5 hrs in the evening.

We generally do between 10-30 minutes more training or play in the evenings too, and she gets a food toy or chew which should keep her busy for another 10-20mins.

Between 2-6 hours at the weekend one day somewhere new (at the moment this is still possible as we've recently moved here!), and a slightly shorter one the other day.

Works for us, but not all dogs are the same!


Other trick suggestions:
Bow
Double hi five
Beg
Jump through arms
Jump over legs
Under legs
Figure of 8
Weave through legs
Cross paws
Touch (paw and nose contacts)
Open/close drawers
Hold an item in mouth
Fetch an item like the remote control
Spin
Walk backwards

Some of those should keep you busy enough for a while! My dog loves trick training, she's very keen when the clicker comes out

Don't feel pressured in to changing things if you don't need or wish to,I think people are just suggesting that you do an awful lot and don't have to pressure yourself so hard if the dog could still be happy and stimulated with slightly less or different activities.
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Niccie
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04-07-2012, 10:22 PM
As it stands nothing we do is particularly 'abnormal' - my morning cup of tea before ferret poop scooping is replaced with a walk in field - same effect!
I'd walk around park when not raining on my lunch just to get away from desk, but really I have a waterproof jacket and it's kind of nice when it drizzles.
Maybe wouldn't walk 5 miles everyday but I get itchy feet if I do nothing after work and can't sleep.
Night time is more next doors DA comes out and it's easier to take him for walk around for toilet than chance meetings (both dogs capable of jumping quite high and fence isn't big enough by any stretch of imagination).

I hadn't thought about what a day of non-exercise might do though, I actually felt like I should be doing longer walks with him of an evening as he's never tired when we come home. He settled and sleeps in house but only once have we tired him out!

All those tricks sound like a good list and definitely something to think about!

[I don't necessarily want a well trained dog, I want a dog who I can control which is where I've been focused but I come from a background of believing a well trained dog is a mentally stimulated dog]
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WhichPets
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06-07-2012, 05:58 PM
It sounds like you are both happy with your current routine, and if you're happy and it works why change it?

Personally I don't think mental stimulation and exercise are exactly the same thing. Dogs do gain stimulaiton being out and about with different smells, sights, people, dogs etc, but challenging them to use their brain is different.

It can be hard to tire a working breed of dog, so sometimes mental stimulation is the route. A mental work out can tire a dog just as much as a long walk

My dog is well trained but can also do tricks, so they can go hand in hand but do not have to.
It doesn't have to be tricks, it could be something like using their nose to search for a ball, or work out which box the food or treat is in or teaching a dog to target, stop or down on command.
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Niccie
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08-07-2012, 10:46 PM
I definitely agree on the mental-physical stimulation point. It's just easier to fit straight into a physical routine for a first time dog owner like myself.
We do training the whole time we're out walking; recalls or throwing ball into long grass (probably where my tick issues are stemming from!) but mental stimulation is something I'd definitely like to improve on and something I do need to read up more on.
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Ben Mcfuzzylugs
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09-07-2012, 12:06 AM
I agree with what the others say with a rod for your own back there

Your routine sounds like many dogs dream - but they do need to know how to chill without being physically worn out too

For example - my two (collie crosses as well) can happily go all day if thats on the cards - but they need to know to do nothing sometimes too - a couple of christmasses ago I was at my mums with them and we were snowed in SO badly
Basically the snow started when I was driving up - and made my trip 6 hours long with no chance to stop as I would have blocked the road - so day 1 pretty much no exercise

When I got there the snow kept on all night so we were totaly snowed in - managed to clear a small area in the garden for them to toilet in and that was it
for 4 days
and they were totaly fine - because they are used to random exercise - some days its walking all day - some days just in the garden, some days agility training, some days trick training, some days sleeping on the sofa all day
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Niccie
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Location: Buckingham
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Female 
 
10-07-2012, 02:34 PM
As someone suggested on here we went for a small run instead of a long walk last night and did lots of training in the evening.

We now know to get the orange boppa, the brown ball and green dumbbell - although this wasn't all last night.

Going to an agility class on Thursday as well which sounds like it should be fun for both.

I just have to say though he has been the perfect guy today; I haven't had to repeat any instructions, didn't need lead on any of our short plays/walks outside , someone tried to stroke him and he looked at me for confirmation.

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