# How far do you walk your dog each day???



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

"It depends."

Ideally we go out and walk at a good pace for an hour. My two older dogs are on leash or longlines, the young one is off leash. Sometimes we're out less, but sometimes more. I try to go to town and walk them off-property multiple times a week, usually these walks are shorter.

I dont count play time in the yard as exercise, but I do count some of the agility and other training as exercise. We also are now dilligent about stretching and using an exercise ball. 

In the summer we'll swim almost every day for 30+ minutes (with some breaks in between. usually it's in the context of training).

Today the dogs only got to go out to potty...wtih a layer of ice on the ground it would be unsafe for me but also for the dogs!


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Around the neighborhood, it's usually 1 1/2 miles. When I take them to the park, it's usually 2-2 1/2 miles. If I go to my mom's neighborhood, it's 3 miles. Up at the lake, where they're off-leash, it's 2 miles for me in the morning and 4-5 miles for the dogs and the afternoon walk is 1-1 1/2 miles for me and around 2-3 for the dogs.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Flora does not let me walk her on a leash anymore, so we do everything off-leash in a wide open park. I would say, on average, she gets about 1.5 miles of off leash activity. I would love to do more but she refuses.


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## lily101 (Nov 8, 2010)

don't know how many miles but usually an hour or longer each day. depends on how cold it is out there...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Normally 3 miles. I was doing the "steps/miles" workout thingy a couple years ago and had a pedometer on to clock it exactly. 

But er, we haven't gone walking for a couple weeks. I keep meaning to stop at the petstore to buy booties for the four legged one.


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

Not sure how far, I usually take the dogs out several times for 15-20 minutes all day. 

I'd say they get a total of 2 hours of outside time a day during the winter (its cold, Reece is very cold sensitive).

In the summer we're outside A LOT.


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## NJgoldengirl (Jan 16, 2011)

we do 3+ miles a day here


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Normally it would be about a 3 mile average per day. But with all this snow it is more like a mile a day. With all the effort to slog through this stuff it is probably the same amount of exercise for Fiona and I.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

2-3 miles a day.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

3 to 4 miles a day, weather permitting...


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

No outside walks today because it was too icy outside. I worked out on the treadmill while Toby supervised.

On cool/cold/non-icy days--4 to 5 miles daily ( broken into 2 walks). 

On hot/humid days--3 to 4 miles, divided into 2 walks. Toby has some heat/humidity intolerance issues and he walks according to the THI indexes.

We walk rain or shine, just not sleet or ice. Also we often walk to do errands--up to the grocery store, to Redbox, to Post Office, to Bank, to and from veterinary clinic, to the car garage, etc. We enjoy walking together and he sometimes reminds me when it is time, though he is more reliable about reminding me of feedings. 

Toby was adopted as a puppy and we slowly worked up to these levels after maturity. He also has no hip or orthopedic issues, which should be factored into a recommended distance.


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

We usually do 2 or 3 miles a day, split into two or three walks, except on days we go out for a real hike. Since my husband's knee surgery, we haven't done any real hikes. Ben and I still go on the walks though, rain or snow. When Jim is completely recovered, we'll go back to short hikes a couple of days a week in addition to our evening walk.


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## nixietink (Apr 3, 2008)

MINIMUM of 1 1/2 miles a day, usually more.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Last spring, Ranger and I were logging 3-6 miles a day and up to ten miles on the weekends. Then I was out of commission for oh, 9 months, and he was down to a 2-5 miles a week when I could beg someone to walk him for me (thanks mom!). 

Now, I'm finally getting going again so I'm walking about 2 miles a day three days a week while I strengthen. BUT my mom walks Ranger about 3 miles every day, so I'd say he gets on average 3 miles a day. Except when it's brutally cold or the roads/sidewalks are too icy. It was -28 C these past few days and the sidewalks are like ice, so he was down to around the block and that was it!


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## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

I normally walk Shelley to the oval and where there for a good 30 minutes she is off lead runing around. Then she normally got 30 minutes of swimming, Sometimes we go to the lookout too and walk around there for 20 minutes. But cause its summer here in australia we hardly get to go for walks.


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## willip (Oct 27, 2010)

Chester gets about 2-3 miles out of me in the morning normally along the shore. Then he normally comes with me if I need anything down the street. Then peter takes him out at night normally down the pier and up for a run in the old school field. At weekends (and soon during the week as the eveings are finally getting lighter) he gets extra swims at the old water works or the beach and we go on long family walks if its weather. 
We are very lucky that Orkney has millions of good walking routes!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

We go 3 to 6 off leash miles 7 days a week. The drawback to this is that it becomes really difficult to tire them out for a special reason.


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## sameli102 (Aug 23, 2009)

Ljilly28 said:


> We go 3 to 6 off leash miles 7 days a week. The drawback to this is that it becomes really difficult to tire them out for a special reason.


Wow, I want to live where you live! You all must be super fit!


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## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

I was walking Harley and Miri 3 or so miles a day.... but they were still driving me crazy at night with their energy. Now they go to the park for an hour or two and I let them burn themselves out.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

sameli102 said:


> Wow, I want to live where you live! You all must be super fit!


Maine is great with dog-friendly open spaces, and I never let the weather stop me. We went in a huge blizzard yesterday- to the beach as the tide went out. The problem is that I have dogwalk OCD, and the dogs are too fit & habituated to take a day off easily.


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## sameli102 (Aug 23, 2009)

Can you walk to the beach from your house or do you have to drive to get there? I would love that.


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## cisobe (Feb 22, 2010)

Wow, now I feel like I neglect our dogs! I walk Tobey atleast 1 mile a day with training (sit stays, down stays, and heeling) along the way. It usually takes us 30-45 minutes in the evening (distance wise it's a mile, but we do a lot of about face left and right turns, figure eights, etc. hence the 30-45 minutes).

I do the same for Bailey. Sometimes I take them a bit longer ~1.5-2 miles(each), but typically it's 1 mile.

I love the time with them, but doing the two dogs separately takes quite a bit of time and Tobey is 1, and Bailey is 7 months, so they both need the individual training time... Guess I'll start getting up early and try to walk them together in the morning...

For those of you who have Iphones or Android phones, check out the RunKeeper app, it uses gps to track your course, and it gives you your time, distance and rough calorie burn. You can also save activities (walks) and see it on a map and keep track of your walks/runs.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

cisobe said:


> Wow, now I feel like I neglect our dogs! I walk Tobey atleast 1 mile a day with training (sit stays, down stays, and heeling) along the way. It usually takes us 30-45 minutes in the evening (distance wise it's a mile, but we do a lot of about face left and right turns, figure eights, etc. hence the 30-45 minutes).
> 
> I do the same for Bailey. Sometimes I take them a bit longer ~1.5-2 miles(each), but typically it's 1 mile.
> 
> ...


The sporty pal app does the same thing as the RunKeeper. Once I downloaded the app I was able to vary my walks, explore new streets and know with precision how far we've walked. It's been a fabulous tool to keep me honest about walking distances.


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## Moxiesmom (Nov 21, 2010)

At just a pup, we do a maximum of 2 miles a day, weather permitting. Looking forward to thaw, romps in the park and swimming!


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

Four miles in the morning most days, another mile in the late afternoon. NO walks for the past two days, as it was -17 degrees here this morning and not much better yesterday. We did just come in from a one mile off-leash walk to alleviate cabin fever


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I'm so jealous of all of you. I used to be able to walk Flora around the campus lakes here (which is about 4-5 miles) and I LOVED it... but as of the last 6 months she just flat out refuses to walk anymore and I get so bored taking her to the same park day after day and letting her run around. Enjoy your walks with your dogs, it's a great time to just breathe the air and relax.


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## Katie and Paddy's Mum (Mar 31, 2010)

Katie and I walk (she runs and goes crazy) about 6 miles every day. The majority of that is off-leash. We live right on Lake Ontario and there are so many great paths/trails/parks to discover. 

Katie is one of those dogs that comes alive outside. She's never happier than when she is romping through the snow or green grass. And for me, our walks are an escape. I swear, I smile the entire walk ... just watching and laughing at her crazy antics!

Kim


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## musicgirl (Jul 26, 2009)

I don't know distance wise, but we would usually walk Teddy 3 times a day for half an hour. On weekends, we'd usually do 2 half hour walks and probably a 1-2 hour walk in the middle of the day. In the summer, I'd take him out for like 3 hours down to the river in the afternoon and probably an hour in the morning and evening.


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## Mayas way (Jan 23, 2011)

I've followed the 'Golden Bond Rescue' GR profile recommending (at least) two vigorous 45 minute daily walks. Spring into fall we (Casey & Maya) do the local lake as well weekends for swims (45 minutes--they rip it!). When we get to the field (half mile) they go leashless, and I follow their pace, alternating walks with fetch balls. They never tire. If I can only do one walk due to weather I make it an hour plus. Distance wise it's 2+ miles human, but they criss ross probably twice that. Maybe every 3rd walk we do a lot of "dicipline" tricks, evening walks are all theirs (sniff walks). Occasionally we'll find a big hike (packing in lots of water, which I take as well in daylight). They play with each other inside and out as well.

I do the walks every day. One thing I found is that they are somewhat my personal trainers: workdays I get up very early, do a series of yoga and stretch bands, then jog to the park with them, power walk on return. I would NEVER get out that early winters solo. Side benefit I guess.

Even though we have a huge neighborhood park and familiar dogs (mostly GR's) I go early and just after dinner to avoid the less disciplined dog folk---especially when the weather clears. Also I don't go out in big sun or heat above 75 degrees++. ~Dave

++ Oregon weather is more temperate, occasional brutal winter storms. So when it get's hot in the willamette valley the sudden humidity is really tough. Which means we are not used to it as in southern states. Maybe the reverse is true where we'll go out in a lot colder weather than California for example. I do think GR's are built for weather and adapt to whatever local conditions offer.


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## GoldenJoy (Jul 30, 2009)

Our "norm" is very... variable! Thankfully, Joy is EXTREMELY laid back when it comes to the schedule. When there ISN'T an inch of ice on the ground, we walk 4 - 5 times a week. Each walk is either 3-4 miles in the woods or 5 miles around the walking/jogging path at the park. We live on a main road, so I have to drive somewhere to walk her. With all of the snow and ice lately, she's been getting a LOT of yard exercise - loads of fetch. She doesn't seem any worse for wear because of it. We adjust her food according to the amount of exercise she gets. In the summer, we add on a lot of swimming, which is great. Indoor games like tug, hide and seek, and LOTS of obedience really tire her out, too. I love to put her in a down stay and then sprinkle her kibble around the room. Honestly, I think that practicing her self control burns as much energy as walking a few miles!  Plus, she seems SO excited when I release her and she goes hunting for her chow!


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## LauraBella (Feb 9, 2010)

Wow, awesome replies!

Apparently, I'm the slacker. We do about a 2-3 mile walk around campus and park (mostly leisurely pace, really; I just follow her) once a day (but not in snow or otherwise awful weather). When I do walk her longer, it's really not bc of exercise but because there are lots of people out that day, and I want her to get a chance to socialize. Or because the day is particularly grand. Aside from that one longer walk (which is short compared to what some do!), it's just a few (usually 4) quick "business walks" around the neighborhood. In "awful weather" (Snow, Monsoons) we manage about a mile in neighborhood.

Is that bad? We do "play ball" inside....


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## LauraBella (Feb 9, 2010)

I just google mapped a typical route, and I am excited to report that we walk about a mile farther than I thought!!!! Woo-Hoo! So, we're up to 3-4 miles. Yay, us.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

We do a 2-3 mile walk early in the day, everyday, at a pretty good pace. The only exception is if it happens to be hot and humid or super, super cold and I can see that he's really not into it. On those days, we cut it a little shorter and probably do a little less than 2 miles. That doesn't happen very often, though.

We usually do another mile - mile and a half in the late afternoon/early evening. That's his evening "poop stroll", so part of the walk is usually at a slower pace since he's more interested in sniffing for the perfect spot than getting actual exercise.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

I'm jealous! Part of the reason I got a dog was to have an exercise buddy, but turns out Summer has bilateral HD. Up till a year, the ortho had us walking a maximum of 10 mins at a time, throughout the day. Not much workout for Mom!

Now that shes a year, we are allowed to do whatever she can manage, increasing it slowly of course.. That takes us to 15 minute walks several times a day. I doubt she will ever be doing miles - darn it for me!

She does have a buggy that I can push her in while I walk a little more, but its really not the same...


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## Kevthegolden (Mar 29, 2017)

Usually 4km a day, but kev wears a backpack with hardcover books in it so he feels like he has a job and it tires him out a bit more. I'm doing heavy training for him right now so we will usually train on the walk as well, so it's mentally tiring for him too. He's a goofball, if he's tired he will sit right down and wait it out a couple minutes, he used to do that when he was younger too 

he will get maybe one off leash run a week right now, but as his recall and heeling gets better I'm hoping for about 3.


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