19/08/2026
This is quite a long article but it gives reasons why our dogs need exercise. I know my own dogs get âcrazyâ digging, barking etc if they do not get a good run where they really can run at least 3 times a week. In between they are doing agility training. Yes your dog needs a good recall to allow this freedom so prioritise teaching your dog the recall and do this right from when you first get your puppy.
Have We Really Reached the Point Where Dogs Donât Need Exercise?
There seems to be a growing trend in the dog world suggesting that perhaps weâve got it all wrong about exercise.
That dogs donât need long walks. That physical exercise is overrated. That enrichment, training, sniffing, scatter feeding and mental stimulation can replace the need to get out there and physically move.
And I think we need to be very careful.
Because in our attempts to become more enlightened about dogsâ emotional and behavioural needs, I worry that we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Dogs still need exercise.
As long as I have owned dogs, exercising them has been one of my greatest sources of joy. Walking, hiking, exploring, watching them run, sniff, play and simply be dogs. It has been good for them, good for me and an enormous part of the relationship I have built with every dog I have owned.
And now, as a professional dog trainer and behaviour specialist helping people across the globe with behavioural challenges, one of the most common contributing factors I see is remarkably simple:
The dog isnât getting enough appropriate physical exercise.
Not because the owner is lazy.
Not because they donât love their dog.
Not because theyâre negligent or a âbad owner.â
Life is busy.
People work long hours. They have children, families and commitments. Winter brings dark mornings and dark evenings. Summer brings extreme heat. Some people live in areas where safe off-lead exercise is difficult. Others have dogs with reactivity, poor recall or other behavioural challenges that make exercising them more complicated.
There are a hundred perfectly understandable reasons why exercise can become difficult.
But an explanation for something doesnât necessarily change the dogâs need for it.
The Five Es
I talk extensively about what I call the Five Es:
Education.
Enrichment.
Exercise.
Entertainment.
Emotional Stability.
Theyâre all important.
And notice that exercise has its own category.
Enrichment isnât exercise.
Education isnât exercise.
Training isnât exercise.
Giving your dog a stuffed Kong isnât exercise.
Sniffing for treats in the garden isnât the equivalent of being able to stretch their legs and physically move their body.
All of those things have enormous value, but they fulfil different needs.
Sometimes I think weâve started treating these things as interchangeable when actually they should complement one another.
What Would the Ideal Look Like?
If we were talking about best practice, I would love to see the average healthy dog getting somewhere in the region of an hour to an hour and a half of appropriate physical exercise each day.
Ideally, where appropriate, some of that would involve freedom of movement.
Running.
Trotting.
Exploring.
Sniffing.
Playing.
Moving over different terrain.
Interacting appropriately with other dogs if they enjoy doing so.
Being able to choose where they go, what they investigate and how quickly they move.
In other words, opportunities to move and behave like a dog.
Obviously, that picture has to be adjusted for the individual.
A young Border Collie and an elderly Pug arenât going to have identical requirements. Breed, age, health, physical condition, temperament and lifestyle all matter. Exercise needs to be appropriate to the dog standing in front of you.
And no, relentlessly throwing a ball for an hour isnât necessarily healthy exercise either.
Exercise doesnât simply mean exhausting your dog.
It means giving their body an appropriate outlet for what it was designed to do.
But What If I Canât Do That?
This is where I think the conversation needs to become practical rather than judgemental.
Because telling somebody, âYou should walk your dog for 90 minutes every day,â doesnât magically give them another 90 minutes.
We have to help people think laterally.
If your lifestyle means you cannot provide the textbook ideal every single day, ask yourself:
How can I tick that box differently?
Perhaps itâs a dog walker.
Perhaps itâs secure field hire.
Perhaps itâs two shorter walks rather than one long one.
Perhaps itâs meeting somebody whose dog yours enjoys and arranging regular walks together.
Perhaps itâs incorporating exercise into training.
Perhaps itâs getting in the car and travelling somewhere once or twice a week where your dog can have more freedom.
There are solutions.
But first we have to acknowledge that the need exists.
Freedom Starts With Training
One of the biggest barriers I see to people adequately exercising their dogs is actually a training problem:
They canât let the dog off the lead because they donât have a reliable recall.
And I completely understand why.
If your dog disappears over the horizon, chases livestock, runs towards roads or charges up to unfamiliar dogs, letting them off lead isnât responsible.
But rather than accepting a lifetime of restriction, make recall training a priority.
Work on:
* Name response games
* Collar grabs
* Restrained recalls
* Conditioning a strong recall cue
* Reinforcing voluntary check-ins
* Teaching your dog that coming back to you doesnât always mean the fun ends
And while youâre working on it, use a long line appropriately or find secure spaces where your dog can experience greater freedom safely.
A recall isnât simply a useful obedience exercise.
A good recall can dramatically improve a dogâs quality of life.
Find Safe Spaces
Public spaces arenât always easy.
Youâre at the mercy of other peopleâs dogs, other peopleâs decisions and occasionally other peopleâs lack of control. And however well trained our own dogs are, theyâre animals â mistakes can happen.
So find environments where you can safely give your dog opportunities to move.
Secure fields have become enormously popular for good reason. They can be invaluable for reactive dogs, dogs in training and owners who simply want to allow their dog some freedom without constantly looking over their shoulder.
A secure space can transform what exercise looks like for a dog who otherwise spends their entire life attached to a lead.
Exercise Doesnât Cause Every Behaviour Problem â But Lack of It Doesnât Help
This distinction matters.
Iâm not suggesting that every reactive, anxious, destructive, frustrated or hyperactive dog simply needs âa longer walk.â
Behaviour is far more complicated than that.
But when Iâm looking at a behavioural problem, I want to know whether the dogâs fundamental needs are being met before I start trying to modify their behaviour.
Because asking a dog to demonstrate emotional regulation when their physical needs are chronically unmet is stacking the deck against them.
Sometimes the dog doesnât need another protocol.
Sometimes they donât need another enrichment toy.
Sometimes they donât need another training exercise.
Sometimes they need to get out of the house and move.
We Made a Commitment
This might be the uncomfortable part.
When we choose to own a dog, we make a commitment to meeting the needs of another species.
Not just when itâs sunny.
Not just when we have spare time.
Not just when itâs convenient.
Thatâs part of the reality of dog ownership.
That doesnât mean beating ourselves up when life occasionally gets in the way. It doesnât mean that missing a walk makes somebody a terrible owner.
It means recognising the difference between occasionally being unable to meet a need and redefining the need because it has become inconvenient to meet.
Those are two very different things.
And thatâs where I think some of the current conversation around exercise is becoming problematic.
Rather than helping owners find realistic ways to meet their dogsâ physical needs, weâre sometimes telling them those needs donât really exist.
I donât think thatâs progress.
Donât Replace. Complement.
Give your dog enrichment.
Train them.
Educate them.
Play with them.
Give them opportunities to problem-solve.
Teach them how to settle.
Build emotional stability.
Let them sniff.
Give them choices.
AndâŠ
Exercise them.
These things arenât competing philosophies.
Theyâre pieces of the same puzzle.
The goal isnât to create an exhausted dog.
It isnât to create an overstimulated adrenaline ju**ie who needs three hours of running every day just to function.
The goal is a dog whose physical, emotional and behavioural needs are being appropriately met.
So perhaps instead of asking:
âDoes my dog really need exercise?â
We should be asking:
âWhat does appropriate exercise look like for the dog in front of me â and how can I realistically provide it?â
Because sometimes the answer to improving our dogsâ behaviour isnât found in another training technique.
Sometimes itâs waiting outside the front door.
Pick up the lead. Get outside. And go enjoy your dog.
