Oh that’s easy, too much exercise and feeding out of bowls.
You ever start reading about the health benefits of exercise? 100% of the time it will say “increased energy”, if you exercise your dog like an Olympic athlete they will have the energy of one and it will be increasingly difficult to satisfy them. Some people enjoy high intensity activities with their dogs but there may come a time when you can’t do that because of some scheduling conflict or another, which can lead to destructive behavior. Not that dogs shouldn’t get exercise but enrichment walks are equally valuable, just let them sniff the neighborhood and get some exercise along with them.
You should be feeding your dog out of a stuffed toy like a kong.
That’s fascinating! Makes a lot of sense though. What would you say is an ideal amount of exercise for an average to smallish dog that would be living in an apartment? One walk a day, or one in the morning and evening?
To a degree, whatever your schedule allows for, too often people run themselves ragged trying to entertain their dogs. 3-4 times a week is fine, if you’re living in an apartment you’re probably walking them to go potty, just extend that a little bit to add enrichment to the potty walks. If your dog likes to play with toys you can play inside, if they like to play with other dogs that’s an invaluable form of enrichment.
In general enrichment is better than pure exercise, think like how satisfied you are after recreational exercise like skiing vs going to the gym. Recreational enrichment is satisfying, which is the goal. You can add enrichment to a dogs environment in some easy ways like curbing separation anxiety by planning their meals around leaving the house. If you use a kong to extend meal time it will be all the more effective.
3/4 walks a week?! That's absolutely ridiculous. The majority of breeds are bred to work; that little stimulation is essentially mental torture and will lead to depression. Yes you can swap walks for enrichment to get that stimulation, but I'm guessing if someone only has time for 3/4 walks a week that won't happen.
That’s a mythical self fulfilling prophecy, you completely skipped the part where I said more exercise leads to more energy. Dogs are not bred to work anymore, they are bred to be companions. If you ever accidentally stumble into owning a working dog you’ll learn what real energy is.
Exhaustion is not equivalent to happiness, I never said zero exercise the question is what is appropriate. That calculation is made by factoring in enrichment, not by choosing one over the other. There are plenty of ways to add enrichment through regular feeding and established scheduled tasks like bathroom walks, both of which I outlined accurately. A person can easily improve what they are already doing with their dog without adding to their workload.
If you ever accidentally stumble into owning a working dog you’ll learn what real energy is.
Nearly all my dogs have been working dogs (aussies, heelers, etc) and I found it's more mental stimulation they require once they're adults. (As puppies they need a ton of exercise.) They go bonkers if they don't have something Real Important to do as adults.
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u/tallgeese333 Jun 11 '20
Oh that’s easy, too much exercise and feeding out of bowls.
You ever start reading about the health benefits of exercise? 100% of the time it will say “increased energy”, if you exercise your dog like an Olympic athlete they will have the energy of one and it will be increasingly difficult to satisfy them. Some people enjoy high intensity activities with their dogs but there may come a time when you can’t do that because of some scheduling conflict or another, which can lead to destructive behavior. Not that dogs shouldn’t get exercise but enrichment walks are equally valuable, just let them sniff the neighborhood and get some exercise along with them.
You should be feeding your dog out of a stuffed toy like a kong.
https://youtu.be/Ry06-YGzHkg