Most adult dogs need one to two hours of activity a day, but the type matters as much as the total.
Rough guide
- Small companion breeds: 30 to 60 minutes
- Most medium breeds: 60 to 90 minutes
- Working and gundog breeds: 2 hours or more, with a job to do
- Puppies: about five minutes per month of age, twice a day, until growth plates close
- Seniors: shorter, more frequent, flat walks
Sniffing is exercise
Twenty minutes of free sniffing tires a dog more than an hour of ball throwing, and does not wind them up. Let the lead go slack and let them read the ground.
Signs of too much
Stiffness, reluctance to walk, obsessive behaviour and an inability to settle at home often mean over-stimulation rather than under-exercise.
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