[Evil Eagle]

Im kind of curious on this. I try to play fetch/tug of war on a regular basis. And take Sam around the neighborhood for a walk/jog/catch-me-if-you-can every night before bed. I'm just wondering what all of you do, realistically, for exercise with your golden?

 

[mdoats]

Rookie is a pretty high-energy dog. His exercise is MY sanity. If he doesn't get enough exercise he can drive me nuts. When he's well exercised, he's a happy, mellow, wonderful dog.

These days he typically gets a 40-45 minute walk in the morning and a 30 minute walk at night. One day a week he goes to doggy daycare instead of the morning walk. I will also swap his morning walk for an hour at the dog park or an hour or two hiking the trails near my house. If he still has excess energy when we get home from our evening walk, I will play tug of war or fetch with him.

 

[hgatesy]

My dogs usually get a 2 mile walk daily and a chance to run/fetch at the field a few times a week. Tyson is usually my running partner (sometimes Cam) so he gets between a 3-5 mile run every other day or daily depending on my schedule. I also usually exercise the dogs with my bike once or twice a week. My dogs are fairly high energy and we exercise a lot to keep them in shape for dock diving and agility.

 

[Goldilocks]

Pippa gets walked 3-5 miles per day and we play fetch with the tennis ball. Yesterday it was pouring rain here and I only took her for a quick around the block at 7:00 AM and the energy level by dinner time was annoying. My husband took both dogs out in the rain for a quick 15 minute walk yesterday evening and they were different dogs when they got home. Excercise makes such a difference and a much happier, content dog.

 

[Emma&Tilly]

Mine get 30-45 mins first thing in the morning and about an hour in the afternoon, all off-lead in the woods or field.

 

[sammydog]

I run about 3 miles with mine every morning. That is there regularly scheduled exercise. In the evenings we do some sort of training, either agility or field. So that is good exercise as well. At lunch and before bed they get time to run around and play.

 

[chloe920]

well i'm home all day, so Chloe gets alot of play time during the day with either me or my 2 toddlers. Then she gets about 1.5 hour walk after dinner every night (that's more for my sanity than hers!).

I used to walk her for 45 minutes every morning as well, but she didn't want to go anymore, and I began to wonder why I was dragging her out for a walk at 6 am if she didn't really want to go. So now we sleep in

Also there are many days that I take the boys for bike rides or hikes and she gets off leash time for those.

I try to get her out as much as possible, but I know with the cold weather coming, it's going to get more difficult.

L.

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

Lots. Free run every day, fetching, walks, events. Lots of time on the beach.

 

[Nicole74]

I walk Bailey 6 days a week for about an hour, sometimes a little more(3-4 miles). I also play fetch with her outside a couple times for about 20 minutes each time. If I'm ever able to run again, I will take her with me and run 6 miles, 6 days a week. Bailey also plays fetch in the house, but I really don't count that as exercise.

 

[Bock]

1-3 days of daycare, they play with each other, and play-time outside a few times a day.

 

[vrmueller]

Ruby gets 2 to 3 miles walk/run 7 days a week in the morning. This keeps her out of trouble and me sane.

 

[Debles]

It's hard to judge. My boys are 10 and 6. Gunner gets alot of retrieving runs . We have a BIG yard and both DH and I throw (DH throws farther) hundreds of retrieves a day for Gunner. Selka on the other hand gets about 5. : ) He would much rather roll in the grass and wander around on his own. He still runs and retrieves but it's never been a drive like it is with Gunner.
I have chronic illnesses and can't walk my dogs anymore so the retrieves seem to keep them well exercised. We also do retrieves and games in the house!

 

[PB&J]

Lily gets playtime with her Daddy before he goes to work, our pet sitter comes in for a half hour walk in the middle of the day and then she and I do 4-6kms when I get home. On the weekends we're often at the cottage or we take her hiking in the conservation areas nearby. We try to get to the leash-free once a week instead of a walk. If she doesn't get enough exercise she gets into EVERYTHING, so even when it's pouring, we're out walking!!

 

[jwemt81]

Tucker gets about a 2-mile walk each day, plus plenty of time to play in the yard. I run 4-5 miles 5-6 days a week, but I'm waiting until he's 18 months old to start taking him running with me since I usually run on hard surfaces.

 

[Oaklys Dad]

Weekdays are pretty much a three mile in town walk. I do try to throw in some off leash running and swimming when I can through the week. Weekends are all about the dogs. I try to get them running free in the woods, at a lake or in the ocean every weekend. They really get ten times the exercise running free than I could ever do by walking. The walking on leash still plays a part though. It is important to exercise their brains too.

 

[Pudden]

most days, at least an hour of skijoring, biking, or hiking on the beach/tundra, interspersed with frisbee play. On weekends, often 3-4 hour romps in the hills.

on weekdays when I collect data in the field instead of office work, she comes along all day of course

 

[Dallas Gold]

Our dogs demand twice daily walks--rain or shine, snow, dark of night....etc. The only times they don't get a walk is if it is icing outside or I am too sick to walk (thankfully both events are rare). At his peak Barkley was walking 4 miles a day. Now he gets a total of 2 miles since he is over 12 and he's getting slower if we keep him walking too far. Barkley has an alarm clock inside him and he lets us know when it is time for his walks. Toby, almost 6, is still extremely high energy so he gets 4 miles, and several retrieves (if it isn't too hot for him). We also do vertical retrieving which is tossing a ball from our upstairs "bridge" down to the family room. Toby will locate the ball while upstairs, then run down the stairs, retrieve it, and bring it back up to us in a matter of seconds. The humans are nice and tired every night--Toby, well, he brings his ball to bed just in case we want to toss it in the middle of the night.
Both dogs have a protected course to run from inside the house, through the garage and outside into the backyard through two sets of doggie doors. They use it regularly to go outside to chase squirrels, birds, respond to neighborhood dogs and do business. Running up and down the stairs to check on us also is good exercise for both of them.
I also believe good exercise includes mental stimulation. We try to stimulate their minds by letting them window and storm door watch daily. Both are very good watch dogs. Walking also stimulates their minds.

 

[Bkhollan]

I usually drive somewhere around 2-3 times per week to walk Bella for around an hour, and she gets to go outside to roam the yard (about 1.5 acres of land) multiple times each day for a total time of 1.5-2 hours per day. I will usually play fetch or run away from her so she'll run after me to get her to burn off excess energy. When she is older, I will begin to take her on my runs 4-5 days a week, but that is still a very long time away since I run on pavement.

 

[Lucky's mom]

Im kind of curious on this. I try to play fetch/tug of war on a regular basis. And take Sam around the neighborhood for a walk/jog/catch-me-if-you-can every night before bed. I'm just wondering what all of you do, realistically, for exercise with your golden?

During the week, Lucky gets 4 very short walks....meaning around the block and through the yard. One at 7am, at lunch and two or three during the evening. After the kids go to bed we do some wrestling and tug o war that wearies us both out a few times a night.

On weekends we play "chase the ball and chase the dog who has the ball". Plus we have a new game Lucky likes which is "Lucky in the middle" as my son and I throw "his' ball. He uses lots of calories during that game, and my son can end up with bruises....

 

[Finn's Fan]

Finn walks from 2-6 miles daily, most on leash and some off leash. We do this no matter the weather, although today, he only got a 1.5 mile walk due to slick sidewalks and snow!