Appropriate Length Of Walk?

[Guest concerned]

I am curious as to what an optimal walking time would be for a 2 y/o male greyhound about 77-80lbs? While I'm sure this varies from canine to canine, I am sort of looking for a range as I've read some pretty different things about the amount of exercise they require. We usually go for 3 15-20 minute walks per day. If I know the walk will be on the shorter side, I try to jog a bit to help release energy. Thanks!

[RobinM]

We have 6. We normally do at least a mile 2x a day.

 

In the warmer weather, we do more. Our dogs need it and we believe that a tired dog is a good dog!

[locket]

We live in a very cold area, so we do 3x 20 to 30 minutes walks a day. But we are in a hilly area as well so it adds up a little. We have a 3 years old male 80 pounds.

We also try to go to the doggie park once or twice a week.

Edited March 2, 2015 by locket

[GeorgeofNE]

Well, at 2, he's really still pretty much a puppy (greyhounds are, so I am told, slow to mature), so as much exercise as you can give him, if you want him to be calm and quiet when you're not home. As someone said, above, "a tired dog is a happy dog."

 

And there is a difference between the exercise they "require" and the exercise they want to do! Many greyhounds are exceptionally lazy (like mine). My boy is only 3, but he happily sleeps the day away while I am at work, and with our 100+ inches of snow on the ground right now, although he is getting out as often, we aren't walking that far because there is really no where to walk. He doesn't care at all!

 

My last greyhound would have walked all day if I had been up for that.

[Guest sireltonsmom]

We do two 3/4 mile walks and a shorter noon walk. Our kids are 4.5 and 10.5 and they do fine with that. I agree with Robin that a tired dog is a good dog - if that's an issue in your home.

[Hubcitypam]

Factors such as if you have a dog door and the size of your yard can weigh in. My dogs have generally received one 20 -25 minute walk a day when the weather permits but I have a huge back yard and a dog door, so they do get exercise running in the yard.

[Feisty49]

I've no experience with a dog as young as yours. Annie was 3-1/4 when I adopted her and liking retirement a lot! She is now 7-1/2 and liking retirement even more.

 

We've always walked at least 20 minutes twice a day with distances between 2 and 2-1/2 miles in total, depending on how much I let her sniff (for sight hounds, they sure do like to use their noses a lot) and how many friends we stop for. Annie considers our walks a time to socialize rather than for exercise.

 

In spring/fall weather, when it's neither too hot or cold, we'll take three walks a day which adds another mile to our total. In the worst of winter weather, when the wind chill is -15 or lower, we don't walk at all. We're both unhappy about it but Annie can do her P&Ping in the fenced backyard.

 

Like GeorgeofNE above, Annie is a very easy dog. Whether we get out twice a day or not at all, she doesn't get into mischief.

 

You'll soon be able to tell if you're exercising your boy enough. If he starts doing naughty/unwanted things, he's got too much energy! BTW, we need a picture.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Feisty49

[Guest concerned]

Okay, thanks everyone for the feedback!! I really appreciate it.
I was concerned that perhaps if I took him out for too many walks that he would confuse going out to pee with walking and would then only eliminate after walking.. unless the two should be interchangeable. I sometimes get the impression that he's holding his business as a way of drawing out his walk. I don't mind but I live in Canada and it's quite cold right now for the both of us. While he doesn't seem phased by the cold, I am concerned that the cold could harm him in some way... Some days it feels like -30 with the windshield! He does have a sweater, a coat and a snood that I knitted him (though he usually tries to shake his snood off haha)

[krissy]

In the summer we tend to do one longer walk if the weather is nice (some days in the morning and some days in the evening, depending which shift I'm on for work) about 45-60 min at a brisk pace, then one shorter walk 30-45 min. In the winter we tend to not walk in town very much due to the cold and the snow. We work on indoor training, mostly tricks and freestyle disc moves in the winter. Regardless of season I try to get out for a hike about once a week. Depending on season/weather these are usually 1-3 hours long, and for us they are off leash. I also take the youngster jogging a few times a week (again, weather permitting, especially in the winter), and will probably try biking this summer. And in the summer Kili of course also has daily agility training in our backyard.

 

In this house walks are not considered exercise... it's just stretching the legs. Jogging, long hikes, agility, disc, off leash running... those are possibilities for tiring out a young dog. Fortunately, Kili has finally started to use her off switch on occasion now that she's 2.5.

[Guest concerned]

I've no experience with a dog as young as yours. Annie was 3-1/4 when I adopted her and liking retirement a lot! She is now 7-1/2 and liking retirement even more.

 

We've always walked at least 20 minutes twice a day with distances between 2 and 2-1/2 miles in total, depending on how much I let her sniff (for sight hounds, they sure do like to use their noses a lot) and how many friends we stop for. Annie considers our walks a time to socialize rather than for exercise.

 

In spring/fall weather, when it's neither too hot or cold, we'll take three walks a day which adds another mile to our total. In the worst of winter weather, when the wind chill is -15 or lower, we don't walk at all. We're both unhappy about it but Annie can do her P&Ping in the fenced backyard.

 

Like GeorgeofNE above, Annie is a very easy dog. Whether we get out twice a day or not at all, she doesn't get into mischief.

 

You'll soon be able to tell if you're exercising your boy enough. If he starts doing naughty/unwanted things, he's got too much energy! BTW, we need a picture.

I'm new to the forum and am not sure how to upload a photo yet haha! I'm working on it though- he's too adorable not too show everyone

In the summer we tend to do one longer walk if the weather is nice (some days in the morning and some days in the evening, depending which shift I'm on for work) about 45-60 min at a brisk pace, then one shorter walk 30-45 min. In the winter we tend to not walk in town very much due to the cold and the snow. We work on indoor training, mostly tricks and freestyle disc moves in the winter. Regardless of season I try to get out for a hike about once a week. Depending on season/weather these are usually 1-3 hours long, and for us they are off leash. I also take the youngster jogging a few times a week (again, weather permitting, especially in the winter), and will probably try biking this summer. And in the summer Kili of course also has daily agility training in our backyard.

 

In this house walks are not considered exercise... it's just stretching the legs. Jogging, long hikes, agility, disc, off leash running... those are possibilities for tiring out a young dog. Fortunately, Kili has finally started to use her off switch on occasion now that she's 2.5.

Okay, that's great! Thanks! I'm realizing he's probably not getting enough rigorous exercise. I'd like to take him jogging with me since I run quite often but am just not sure how to go about it without us getting frustrated with each other. He has a hard time "picking" a side while we're walking... he doesn't pull on the leash and I am really happy with walking him but he crosses in front/behind me if I give him too much leash and am trying to correct that. Should it matter what side of your body you walk him on?

[Feisty49]

IMO, let him walk on the side that feels most comfortable to you. Annie walks on my left side. I put my right hand through the loop of the leash, the rest of the leash crosses in front of me, and my left hand holds that part of the leash to a length that generally gives Annie no more than 2'. It also controls where she wants to go in case she wants to walk somewhere of which I don't approve. I let out more leash when it's OK, such as when she wants to poo (she likes a bit of distance) or when she wants to climb the snowbank that another dog has pee'd on (the last one to pee wins, ya know ).

 

I almost never let her out the full 6' of length because if she decided to run -- which she hasn't done since 3 months post adoption so I doubt it would happen now but one never knows -- she'd pull me over because I'd have little leverage to hold her.

 

It appears you know the answer to not letting him walk where he wants is to keep the leash short. Be consistent, toss in some "heeling" training, and soon he'll walk nicer.

[Guest FloridaGirl]

Make sure you start out slow, too, if you're going to be on anything but grass or dirt. His feets are only used to sand, so he needs some time to build up his pads. I've kept Claymore to about 30 minutes max - but I try to read him, too. If he's still rarin' to go, continue the adventure. If he starts to lag behind or act extremely tired, it's time to head home.

 

As for walkies etiquette, the first few days were a ridiculous slapstick of me falling over him falling over me. We're still working on not walking too far ahead of me, but his pulling never was too forceful. I had a great suggestion from a few folks on here that jogging in big figure 8s on a short leash helps him get to understand that he should be paying attention to where his human is and where they're heading.

 

Also, not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but this is a great time to start name training to get him to look at you for cues. His name should be his cue to look at you for further instruction - that's all his name should be used for. Even though as a domesticated canine he's genetically inclined to look to humans for cues, his life up til now has involved very little in the way of paying attention to someone for his next step - it's all been perfection of instinct and rigorous training. And there has been very little if any purposeful attention to a human's face (while they're quite adept at tones of voice, actions, etc). What I started doing with Claymore is saying his name and holding a really tasty treat up at my nose. As soon as his eyes meet mine, I click the clicker and a treat is had. We've been doing this in short sessions (4-6 times) a couple times a day, and it's really helping him connect with me. This, in addition to running figure 8s, has helped him realize that I'm on the walk with him, and I make the rules. Sometimes if he speeds up, he'll catch himself and look back at me like "Oh, pardon me, ma'am!"

 

Of course, it's just going into week two, so there is a LOT of work to be done with Claymore in terms of training. However, getting him to respond with "Yes, human????????" to his name is one of the best first steps you can take to connecting to him.

 

Here's a great site that has a lot of greyhound-specific training tips - this page in particular describes the name training: http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-is-name.html

[rsieg]

I take my two for morning and evening walks of about 45 min-1 hour each. One is 4.5 yo, the other 10.5 yo. On weekends we may go for 4-5 hours total per day, though broken up over two or three walks. We go very slow, 1.5-2.0 mph usually (and that is not counting potty breaks). BTW, if you want to track your walks, there is a free phone app called "Walk for a dog" that tracks distance and time, and also let's you set up to make donations per mile to an animal shelter. I would use it even without the donation feature, as its fun to see the walk mapped out.

 

Just keep in mind that if it is below about 20 degrees Fahrenheit they have a tendency to have their feet freeze up so need to shorten it. (I've noticed the Canadians on this board seem to keep going in a lot colder weather, not sure if their dogs wear boots or if Canadian GHs are just tougher :-) Also, in the summer they are very heat-sensitive, mine start slowing down even in the mid 70 degree range and by the 80s we need to be really shortening the walks up.

[RedHead]

I walk twice a day. In the winter they are only about 20-30 minutes each. When the weather is decent we go much further (4-6 miles per day) and do a lot of hiking. For most young greys off leash running is important. Walking is great for mental stimulation and exercise but a lot of active young greys just need a chance to run and gallop. Do you have any off leash places you can go?

[Guest FordRacingRon]

My 2 cents would be, whatever your dog can handle and needs. After a while you'll get use dto what your dogs needs to be happy and you'll stick to it.

 

My girl was 2 1/2 when we got her. We worked her up to a 4 mile walk every morning (about an hour). then she would get another 30 minute walk in the afternoon. But time goes so fast and before I knew it I have an almost 12 year old and if we go 1/2 mile a day we are doing great.

 

The bulk of her life was one 45 minute walk in the morning,,,distance to be disregarded,,and 30 in the afternoon. We still do 30 or more minutes in the morning now, but it is more of a sniff-a-thon then a walk. I just want her to stand and move for that long. NO more afternoon walks needed.

Edited March 2, 2015 by FordRacingRon

[forevergrey]

I think it varies form dog to dog. I like walking my guys, I have two boys ages 6 and 4. We do an hour in the morning and an hour at night, (we try to vary our route when possible) and they get a short potty break at noon and another one before bedtime. Cold weather or snow on the ground does not slow us down though. And since we don't have a yard--we have to go for walks. My greyhounds do love to run off leash and when possible I take them to areas that are fenced in where they can really run. When the weather warms up I like to drive to different parks, or the beach or hiking for special outings. I think our walks keep them in great shape. They are well muscled and not overweight.

[cleptogrey]

weather permitting it's 4 to 6 miles for my dogs and ME!

 

it's been a lousy winter, so when it's in the warmer 20s we have been off to town or the local college campus- either 4 or 2 miles and mine are very happy. when they were that young a good game of ball/frisbee in the yard and 2 of the local 2 mile walks and i could deal with their energy. the dogs also thrive on the social contact during their walks.