How Much Exercise?
If I have a bigger living room can I clear some stuff away to leave a big enough open space to play catch? Or is that strictly an outdoor activity? Also - if I want to play outdoor games with her - such as catch or whatever - and I don't have a gate around her - is there anyway to safley play with her? Should I let her off the leash to play with me in public? I'm thinking about getting her toys like Kongs as well - do those help out with energy? I think if she got to chew on something yummy most of the day it would wear her out... maybe just a tad. Any other sugestions on how to keep a big dog busy and happy? ^_^ |
|
|
| Hi there. My pup is about 5 months now is she never gets enouph! We play around the house (catch, chase) and she does ok with it, but i don't think its nearly enough excersise for her. Going on long walks is a very good idea, depending on how old you dog is. My trainer told me that a dog should get 2 hours of physical activity a day. So we do:
morning walk 30 min. midday play 30 min. (in house) afternoon walk 30 min evening play 30 min evening walk 30 min I heard kongs are a great idea, but mine doesn't care for them yet. She like pig's ears! LOL |
| jack is high energy, in addition to his walks, he tends to run for about 3 hours a day. usually chasing this ugly toy that looks like the immunity idol from survivor (in chew toy form)
even that doesnt completely tucker him out, so i try to chase him around the house some too. |
Catch indoors with an OES?  Sometimes I think I need a slinghshot to keep up!
Sheepies do very well indoors as long as you can provide plenty of daily excercise. Ours stay inside in the summer when we are not home, if we are home, they stay indoors. We take them out at least 3 times a week to run in the park for 1 hour, if that's not possible, we chase them around the house and play with toys for 30 minutes and they are OK... We're lucky to live in front of a gated park 
Kongs and balls are good toys because they don't need that much interaction with you if they are left alone and they get bored. Letting your dogs run off-leash may not be a good idea if you don't have a restricted area where they cannot run away. Also, there are the local ordinances about dogs and leashes. Consider an area where no strangers are bound to appear, because unless your dogs are extremely well trained, they will run to greet and meet the strangers, and seeing an 80 pound dog running at full speed to greet you can be scary for some people. It's caused some accidents in our case when they try to run away from them. 
Long walks are great because it's a continuous excercise and you get to do do some too. 30 minutes will do wonders, but it depends on how energetic your dog is. In our case, the speed bursts that playing catch requires are enough to tire them after half an hour or so, and that way they are kept away from the street. |
| We have a large open area for our living area, dining, and kitchen. It is so open that we play fetch, chase, hide n seek....all of it indoors. We all have a blast! Our dogs love their kong filled with peanut butter and cheese. It will keep them busy for awhile. Our's play in the back yard, and we take them for at least one walk a day...if not two. I have noticed with my sheepies that just normal excercise doesn't always do it and they want mental stimulation. We do a few training sessions and they fall asleep for awhile. LOL Stormi and co. |
| i think i have the laziest dog ever. give him 20 minutes and hes ready to take a nap! |
| Lots of neat ideas! I guess Sheepies are very adaptable in the energy department? Or is it just their personality that makes the dog?
In other words - if I am very energetic and take her out everyday for like... 90 min total - she will grow into a very energetic, needs lots of time to play dog? Or if I only take her out for 20 mins total and play a little fetch or some metally stimulating games she might be a bit more laid back and intelligent? Or is it that they make their own rules and hope that you follow them? ^_^ |
| I agree with the comments above, that they are very adaptable. I try to play with Max when I get home for a good 45 minutes in the back yard, but he is usually beat after 20 minutes. So we will go back in and then head out a little later. But there are days ( and many this summer, thanks to the many tropical storms, etc) that it is just too wet and rainy to go out, so we play in the house. Trust me my house is small (under 950 Sq Feet), but I have one hallway that I am able to throw his balls down and he chases it and brings it back. I will also play hide and seek with him. There are also days, like yesterday, that I didn't get home til after 11pm due to work, and all he wants to do is play, play play. But he also just wants to be near me, so he will lay down when I do, even though he hasn't excercised much. |
| I have noticed a HUGE reduction in Henry's energy in the 2 years I've had him. When a got him at age 1 he was tireless. Now at 3, I can tire Henry just playing tug in my bedroom. He jumps on and off the bed a few times and we growl and vigorously herd each other over his rope tug toy. When we are both out of breath we have a big drink of water and Henry takes a nap.
During the week we run a couple of miles most mornings and he goes to day care--that is the best exercise, he is exhausted when he comes home. But on the weekends we are capable of being complete couch potatoes, and Henry seems fine with 2 days of no exercise at all. |
| Shelly is right. Sometimes all they want to do is play, play, play. It can be 2:00 AM and they wake me up because they want to go out an play... Then comes the days where all we see is 2 furry rugs on top of each couch, it if wasn't because they are hungry, they would not move at all. Even when the breed is very energetic and needs lots of excercise to be fine, sometimes they just want to be lazy. |
| wow, i guess i got off easy because i have other dogs for my sheepie to play with....
but he still needs a lot of exercise. He's still in the play hard, sleep hard mode, where he can't play for extended periods of time, but I've noticed that playtime is becoming longer and longer. He probably gets and needs about 2 hours of playtime a day, including when he's mauling the other dogs. I don't know about catch indoors, that sounds pretty destructive to me! Roo already runs into walls, doors, and furniture, I'd hate to think what would happen if he did it at a full gallop!!! Walks are good, especially if you like to walk, just make sure they get plenty of water and don't walk them if it's TOO hot. Roo likes to get thoroughly soaked before and after a walk if it's going to be relatively warm out. None of my dogs like Kongs... I think they all have immediate gratification issues! I know right away if Roofus hasn't had enough activity for the day - he starts chewing my baseboards!! |
| full gallup so far has only cost my house a vase, and it was an old one, so it was ok. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|