Meeting Your Dog’s Need for Exercise
Ozymandias enjoying a decompression hike in the coastal forests
Since I frequently work with adolescent dogs and their parents, I have seen the following scenario often: Dog parents, who have just weathered the storm of potty training, teething, wanting to chew everything in the house and engaging in intense witching hours, are feeling optimistic now that their dog has hit the 6 month mark. SURELY things must get easier any day now! However, many discover that their dogs is now bouncing off the walls and seems crazier than ever. While adolescence in itself is a challenging time (a blog post for another time), a reason for this particular behavioral challenge is very often that the dog’s need for exercise has changed.
Of course, we could see this as a training challenge and say that this dog needs to learn to settle - a long down-stay, a place behavior, etc. While that is likely true as well, dog owners will often see a huge positive impact on their dog’s behavior simply if they add age- and breed-appropriate exercise to their dog’s life.
On the topic of exercise, trainer Sarah Stremming of the Cognitive Canine posits that most dogs should have off leash decompression walks or hikes in nature as frequently as possible. That sounds like a lofty goal that is hard to achieve for dog parents, especially if they’re still working on things like recall. But I’m here to tell you that there are ways to accommodate your dog’s needs without having to completely change your lifestyle:
Buy a long-line, like, a REALLY long line - I would suggest 50 feet or more - and take your dog to a quiet park or parking lot to sniff all the good sniffs. Let them set the pace. Please always attach long lines to the back clip of your well-fitting harness (more on harnesses in a later blog post!). Long line management is a total pain and needs to be learned, but it can give you peace of mind and your dog some much needed freedom.
Rent a yard or field at Sniffspot. I’m crazy about this service and use it all the time for dogs that I’m boarding but cannot trust off leash - because I know getting them out will contribute to a much better rest of the day for me and everyone else in my house, especially my long-suffering husband Jesse.
Employ someone to take your dog on off leash hikes. There are a number of great companies in the Portland area, such as Dog Adventures NW, if you don’t enjoy long hikes. (Full disclosure: I contract with them and hike with several dog teams every week. It’s the best!) But even if you can’t afford these kinds of boutique services, maybe you have a friend or a neighbor who’d like a hiking buddy or is exercising their dog on trails anyway?
Go to a fenced dog park AFTER or BEFORE HOURS. (Disclaimer: I’m not greenlighting the activity of going to a dog park. In fact, I’m actively discouraging you from going to almost any dog park at almost any time .) That said, larger fenced dog parks offer a safe venue for your dog to sniff and run without having to be managed by a leash. But for the sake of your dog’s safety and behavioral well-being, avoid small urban dog parks when it’s busy and instead go very early or very late when nobody but you is there to avoid its unpleasant aspects.
Find a quiet trail - many to be found on timberland - where you can safely hike without having to worry about other dogs and people - but do so judiciously as some dogs can find the scent of deer or elk very alluring indeed.
You might notice that I didn’t add playing fetch or frisbee with your dog to this list. One of the main things that decompression walks and hikes do for your dog is that they make them the GOOD kind of tired, the kind of tired you get after hiking a good chunk of the day or getting a really good workout in. Fetching the ball and catching a frisbee definitely lets your dog run, but in addition to being hard on your dog’s body it is more like riding a rollercoaster than a good hike. In small doses, a rollercoaster here and there is fun, but it’s not an activity that should constitute the main part of our human enrichment. Same with fetch in dogs. Because fetch play increases arousal, it can actually contribute to behavior issues when done excessively. If your dog loves fetch or frisbee play, consider giving them a few throws of the coveted object and then redirecting them to a treat scatter, sniff area, or chew. Go back and forth for 10 or so minutes and see how your dog is doing with that. You can also play some fetch into water if your dog likes to swim, as swimming after a stick is less taxing on your dog’s joints. If you consider your dog a fetch junkie, I recommend rethinking your dog’s exercise routine to get them off the rollercoaster.
Most dogs have a Goldilocks level of exercise they thrive on. Observe your dog closely while you’re dialing in their exercise. Their behavior will tell you if you’re on the right path. If your dog is settling more in the home and showing fewer frustration behaviors, such as jumping, mouthing, and whining, you are doing well! If you are seeing an uptick in undesirable behaviors, you might want to either increase your exercise or change the kind of exercise you offer your dog.
