03/05/2026
Exercise- Can we overdo this with our dogs?
The short answer is yes, absolutely! Dogs are athletes and when we are exercising them endlessly with daily long ventures on foot, with a bicycle, or motorized vehicle there is a possibility that we are doing too much physical activity. Do you give your dog long play sessions with the ball or the frisbee? One toss after another? Using a ChuckIt to gain more distance on the throws? What about a flirt pole or tug session until your dog finally flops down, panting and exhausted? Giving a short rest followed by as much play of choice again, and again?
If this sounds like your play style with your dog, you could be overdoing it! The more you provide your dog with physical activity, the stronger their bodies and endurance become, and you will never be able to keep up with the need for more. You will have a super athlete on your hands, with not enough to engage in to satisfy the need YOU developed and encouraged! What this can do is create a dog who is constantly frustrated, overstimulated, restless, demanding, and possibly even aggressive!
But, you say, I have a high energy breed! They need this kind of exercise! The truth is that the exercise needs to be tempered with mental stimulation. Lower energy mental stimulation, meaning indoor games using the ball or frisbee, hiding it in places and asking your dog to find it, using those as a reward in a short training session by tossing the item to them gently, and letting them strut around with it or chew on it. When they offer it back to you, repeat the cues or ask for a different one until you have complete a 5-10 minute session of training. It can be known cues mixed up, new cues, building on duration and distance with known cues, or chaining cues together for a short routine.
You can still do the long hikes, the bike rides, the utv adventures, and long walks but try to mix up the intensity of those with some breaks and allow your dog to sniff and explore safely during the slow downs or the breaks. Try stopping in an area that might be rich with new scents such as a meadow or clearing, along the bank of a stream or river, and watch your dog to see what they are focused on, for how long, and how they engage (just sniffing? urinating on it? air scenting or following a scent along the ground? sniffing one spot for a long time or up and down an item?) and when they are preparing to disengage with the spot and move on. I would suggest limiting those higher intensity activities to one or two times a week and utilizing daily mental stimulation.
Another argument for shorter and less frequent repetition exercises is that they can put tremendous strain on joints, muscles, ligaments, and bones. If the only exercise is chasing that ball, or that a frisbee over and over, your dog is at risk for injury, acute or chronic! Fixing them can be quite costly! Maintaining them can also be costly.
Try some of the suggestions above and see if your dog becomes a little less intense, and more focused on you. For more tips, keep following me, or reach out to inquire about training! Dogs have so much to offer and we are only tapping in to a teeny amount!
