This is very interesting. What kinds of things would be considered mental exercise?
Are they all high energy barkers?
- Thread starter truedat
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This is very interesting. What kinds of things would be considered mental exercise?
@ Dante Bella
"Exercise"
What you stated is not necessarily true for all dogs. I take my Beau out for an 1 and half walk first thing in the morning. Bring him home for Breakfast, take him out for second mile and half walk bring him home and feed him lunch and then another mile walk in the afternoon. My "baby" is tuckered. As of this moment he is on top of my back couch cushions asleep like a baby.
Mamma dog does a good job tiring her dog boy out.
I think its just depends on each individual dog and everyone's owners has to access their own level of energy.
"Exercise"
What you stated is not necessarily true for all dogs. I take my Beau out for an 1 and half walk first thing in the morning. Bring him home for Breakfast, take him out for second mile and half walk bring him home and feed him lunch and then another mile walk in the afternoon. My "baby" is tuckered. As of this moment he is on top of my back couch cushions asleep like a baby.
Mamma dog does a good job tiring her dog boy out.
I think its just depends on each individual dog and everyone's owners has to access their own level of energy.
marymrumfelt
Forums Enthusiast
@ Dante Bella
"Exercise"
What you stated is not necessarily true for all dogs. I take my Beau out for an 1 and half walk first thing in the morning. Bring him home for Breakfast, take him out for second mile and half walk bring him home and feed him lunch and then another mile walk in the afternoon. My "baby" is tuckered. As of this moment he is on top of my back couch cushions asleep like a baby.
Mamma dog does a good job tiring her dog boy out.
I think its just depends on each individual dog and everyone's owners has to access their own level of energy.
OMG! My sheltie wouldn't ever go for that. three miles a day! hahaha My sheltie, luckily, is lazy and doesn't even like to go for more than a mile, really. Thankfully, because if I had to walk three miles a day with them, I wouldn't be having one LOL
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
@ Dante Bella
"Exercise"
What you stated is not necessarily true for all dogs. I take my Beau out for an 1 and half walk first thing in the morning. Bring him home for Breakfast, take him out for second mile and half walk bring him home and feed him lunch and then another mile walk in the afternoon. My "baby" is tuckered. As of this moment he is on top of my back couch cushions asleep like a baby.
Mamma dog does a good job tiring her dog boy out.
I think its just depends on each individual dog and everyone's owners has to access their own level of energy.
That is what I was saying, it depends on the dog. Diva's big boy Porter who got too big to show was one of the laziest laid back shelties you'd ever met. We placed Porter with a couple in their 70's and they took us on the walk that they were going to give Porter everyday. 1 hr-3 miles hike 3x(they are retired). Poor Porter was pooped.
He was like OMG when are we stopping. The look on his face was great. His half sister Vouge is the same way. She likes sun bathing better than anything. With Diva, 5 hrs of ball playing, dead arm syndrome and Diva stomping at you throw it again.
Jess041
Forums Enthusiast
That is what I was saying, it depends on the dog. Diva's big boy Porter who got too big to show was one of the laziest laid back shelties you'd ever met. We placed Porter with a couple in their 70's and they took us on the walk that they were going to give Porter everyday. 1 hr-3 miles hike 3x(they are retired). Poor Porter was pooped.
Energy levels and exercise needs definitely vary from dog to dog. Missy is like Diva. I tire out way faster than she does. She would spend hours at the park if I let her! And she pretty much runs the entire time. She likes to herd the other dogs at the park, which includes a little barking here and there. She doesn't bark much at the house unless I'm egging her on, or if she's chasing the cats.
My other sheltie was more on the laid back side. Barking maniac, yes, but only outside. If she's inside, she just follows you around. When she was younger (she's 15, old lady), she liked to play just like Missy does (tug and fetch), but not as extreme. If you ignored her, she would accept defeat and just lay down. Missy just shoves her toy in your face/ lap/ laptop until you play with her.
Mental exercise is anything that involves having the dog try to solve a puzzle. This can be training it a new trick, placing treats in toys, hiding them and having the dog "track" it, the possibilities are endless really...depending on the willingness and intelligence of the dog. Since shelties are so smart, it's best if they have some sort of mental exercise on a regular basis. Also, nothing in life is free, and for my dogs, before they receive meals, rewards, going through a door, etc, they need my permission. So I usually have them sit, and wait for my "okay." this keeps them more conscious of what they are doing and more respectful of people's space.
@ Dante Bella
"Exercise"
What you stated is not necessarily true for all dogs. I take my Beau out for an 1 and half walk first thing in the morning. Bring him home for Breakfast, take him out for second mile and half walk bring him home and feed him lunch and then another mile walk in the afternoon. My "baby" is tuckered. As of this moment he is on top of my back couch cushions asleep like a baby.
Mamma dog does a good job tiring her dog boy out.
I think its just depends on each individual dog and everyone's owners has to access their own level of energy.
That is a decent amount of exercise there. However, what i was referring to was that a 30 minute walk would not do the trick for most young shelties. I was emphasizing on what Diane meant by thirty minutes of "good" exercise. If all you have is 30 mins before work, I would really suggest playtime with running rather than a walk. My dogs usually walk 4 miles to the park with me, play ball and with other dogs for 2 hours and are still raring to go haha...I don't think I will ever see them tired! In the house, if I have not exercised them, they are still chill because I don't allow too much rough housing in the house. But, if I get up, they are at each side whining telling me they want to go run. When I start walking them, they trot practically in place because they want to run but can't. After 4 miles, as soon as they are off the leash they are gone like a shot out of a cannon.
You are absolutely right, not every dog has the same energy level. BUT once you get a dog, you need to be prepared to give it what it needs. Unless you get an adult dog, there's no sure way of knowing how bouncy they'll be but there are ways to handle that behavior if you start young.