HO dog walking time

Worth writing a note to the HO?
A sluggish dog could be a sick dog
Or could just be the HO hoping the Sitter will get the dogs in shape!
I’d send a note saying,
“We love long walks and have tried to take Bowser & Beatrix for the 45-60 min walks you suggested, but Bowser won’t do more than 20 - should we be concerned?”

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I went with the HO to the dog run when I first got there and we stayed 20 minutes. I found that if I stayed an hour, the puppies were ready to go home and exhausted. Fetch almost the whole time. They were 5 months old at the time. They then were cool with the relief walks, which were about 15-20 minutes, every 4 hours, except during the night.

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Dont worry, @ASASG - this relaxed state is very normal for them.

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There have been posts where sitters say dogs don’t have to be walked often, etc. I have been big on walking dogs 4 times a day and I walk. I am on a sit now and, since it was going to be a hot and sunny day, wanted to get a good walk in, went 90 minutes for almost 5 miles. Checked on google maps, and the owners were thinking 8-10… I doubt there is very many sitters that will do that daily for a sit. That is a lot of walking daily. Especially on a hot sunny day. Though it will be getting cooler and cloudy the next few days. I was on a sit last Jun near Griffith Observatory park, and I walked this young setter up to the observatory, 5 miles, 810 ft of incline, since the trail was up and down. The dog was exhausted and we took an AC bus back most ot the way.

We average around 60-90 minutes of walk time per day across long walks and bio breaks with our dog but sometimes he just doesn’t want to walk and so it’s less. Some days we end up doing bigger explorations so it’s longer.

for us, we’re happy to tell HS to follow our dog’s lead if he tells them he’s done so long as he at least has a chance to relieve himself.

I’d be a bit wary if an HO insisted on me making a dog do xyz every day unless it was in place for health reasons (such as obviously medications or minimum exercise due to a weight loss regime, etc.)

But every dog and HO is different.

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Replying to this cause my pup looooves walks but hates high wind and cold.

Under 50° super early morning/late night or super windy? My pups will flash her ears all the way back and zig right home. When we lived in an area with snow, she detested walks.

The same pup will gladly walk 3-4 hours in the daytime in 60-80 weather.

I have what we’ve coined a “Florida pup”.

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We have a fair weather walker, too. And as he’s grown older, sometimes he just refuses, because he’s not in the mood to do more than his business on our own grounds.

He does much better when we take him to new neighborhoods, because he loves variety and new experiences and smells.

As I walk my current sit dogs, 6-7 miles per day, 2 long walks, 2 relief walks, It is over 2 hours altogether. I doubt there are many sitters who would do this. And I understand they would like me to take them to some county park and do 8-10 miles, which is 3 hours at least, it is hot, the smaller dog is peaked at 4 miles in the morning. Sometimes the HOs don’t get it.

So question, how many would do this every day?

Out of curiosity what kinds of dogs are you caring for on that sit?

Definitely doesn’t sound like that would appeal to many but clearly appeals to enough folks for them to find value in the platform (such as yourself) :smiling_face::heart:

Yea I think a lot of folks care more about their inner perception of what good ownership is supposed to look like as opposed to truly listening to their dog. It’s unfortunate (and arguably a bit self-gratifying) but it’s also not at all uncommon.

The vast majority of my time working with owners is spent undoing their preconceived notions of what xyz is supposed to look like because they were brought up thinking that’s what a dog is supposed to do or they’re a good owner if they do x. Oftentimes a lot of what folks know is either incredibly dated or more a projection. :sweat_smile:

At the end of the day though, I have to assume everyone is just trying to do their best and hope that eventually they’ll get to where they need to for the sake of their dogs…sadly doesn’t always happen though.

One, I am assuming, is a ridgeback mix. Looks like a hound, ridgeback kind of thing. The other, is a westie mix. Bigger than a regular westie, but not a large dog. As we walk past shrubbery residue, it can get caught in her fur, she is low to the ground. But that dog doing 8-10 miles in heat is ridiculous.

Also, I am very regular with walks. I do the 4 walks. I find dogs like the 4 walks, despite having access to a backyard. They hardly do their business in the backyard now, waiting for the walk. That usually happens. When I sit dogs, they start only doing their business on the walks. Since they don’t walk them regularly, they like to take them to a county park and do these big adventure walks. Thinking the dogs like this. Dogs like this, but they also like the regular walks.

It’s opposite for us. She’ll walk/hike/jog with me as much as I like. With my husband she’ll stop, sniff a bit, then look back towards home like, ‘wheres Mom?’ :joy:

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When I was younger, I ran 5 miles every morning (before work) with my dogs. That would take about 45 minutes. And I would do some other shorter walk, socialization in the park kind of walks, may take some time, as you chat with friends, but the 5 miles running was their main exercise. Sometimes I would do a walk on the weekends for my massage, or visit someone, so they would get another few miles in but they were 45/50 lb dogs. That worked for them. Last sit, it was a year old pit mix. The guy said he took him on 3 mile walks. But then they didn’t know there was a dog run on the other side of the park, which was a mile away…after I found out, I walked there, let the dog run and wrestle with other pit mixes in the dog run, get exhausted and walk back. Did that twice a day.