How often should you walk a medium dog?
Medium-sized dogs can range from low energy to athletic, depending on the breed. These include but are not limited to: Boxers, Chinooks, Whippets and Cocker Spaniels. In general, medium-sized canines need about 40 to 80 minutes of walking every day. Unlike smaller breeds, medium-sized pooches should be able to walk at a comfortable pace alongside you.
Add mental stimulation to the walk
You can help make a simple dog walk more satisfying for your dog by adding in a mental component. I highly recommend this if you have a large, working breed dog like a German Shepherd or Border Collie. These dogs need mental stimulation just as much as a ton of physical exercise.
By making your walks into a task or adding in lots of training and opportunity to work and please you, they will be far more content during downtime.
Can You Walk Your Dog Off-leash?
There is always a risk when you walk your dog off-leash in an unfenced area. No matter how remote the location or complete your dog’s training, there is always a chance that your dog will take off. That said, many people do choose to let their dogs walk off-leash. Many activities with dogs, like hunting, require that dogs be off-leash in an open area.
If walking off-leash with your dog is a goal, there are steps that you can take to get closer to doing this with your dog, but remember that there are risks in having any dog off-leash, and there are some dogs that will never be safe off-leash, due to high prey drive or other powerful instinctual drives that will override training. Before you attempt off-leash training, assess your dog’s prey drive. If she simply can’t control herself you may not be able to walk off leash with her.
Besides perfecting your dog’s recall, which is, of course, essential to walking off-leash, there is another important behavior your dog should learn. It is very important that your dog can down-stay at a distance. If you end up separated from your dog with a danger like a road between you, a down-stay can protect your dog while you get to her. If your dog is struggling with impulse control, a down-stay may be more effective than asking your dog to come.
Some tools can make it easier and safer to walk off-leash with your dog. A GPS tracker like the Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker & Activity Monitor can tell you where your dog is no matter where she is, anywhere in the US. This means that even if your dog takes off running, you will eventually be able to track her down. This monitor can also alert you if your dog leaves a designated area, which can be nice if you want your dog to run off-leash but don’t want her to go too far.